ITS FINALLY HERE!!!
What it’s like being Indian OUTSIDE of India. No one tells it better than the supreme brown rapper of Colony Gang, Vinayak Menon aka Skivinnie. We discuss the little things that mean a lot. Finding yourself outside your country even though you will, and should always carry the label with pride. We end the video with a comedic touch about our views on Indian politics and how the elderly enforce their opinions as facts. How we, the younger generation have the rights to voice our opinions too. Hope you enjoy the last official part of this amazing journey with our first official rapper interview. Like, share, and subscribe!! Please, it really does help 🙂
Stay tuned for the SPECIAL EDITION episode about Indian family politics!
Comment below, let’s engage the Indian community! 😀
The gist of our conversation goes as follows:
Skivinnie: True, we don’t know what it’s like to be Indian in India, but we know what it’s like to be Indian outside.We get treated like it too. It’s not like when I’m in Dubai I’m an Arab. I’m not. I’m an Indian. I’m being told I’m an Indian. When you’re in Thailand you’re not Thai.You’re an Indian. You’re told you’re an Indian yeah?
Manav: There are so many different types of Indians. Indians who grew up in India, Indians from Asia, Indians from Europe, and Indians born in the United States of America. It really is super cool to see and experience.
Skivinnie: There are so many different kinds. So many different kinds. I’ve met people straight out of Delhi and people that have lived here their entire life. Just in the same house for 20 about years. I’m just like what the f***? What like you grew up like a white suburban kid but you’re Indian in an Indian household. First generation.
About the Indians in Canada, the ones that grew up here, straight out of here, they’re like you know, “mans”, you like “mans, Toronto mans” and I’m just like okay that’s cool and all. That’s cool. I get it though, like if I grew up here I’d probably stick with the lingo, like if I was born here especially. However, I hate it when they don’t understand us. So frustrating. That’s when it gets frustrating. It’s like you have to know your roots to settle.
Manav: I’ve never lived in India right so I could never really understand what it’s like, although I keep making myself believe that I could. Every summer for two three months I have stayed there like I lived there. I would walk though the streets and all.
Skivinnie: We don’t know what it’s like to be Indian in India, but we know what it’s like to be Indian outside. We get treated like it too. I’m trying dawg, I’m taking south asian history and sh**. The problem with that argument is that it denies our nationality to a certain extent. You know? when you say like we didn’t live in and I get it we didn’t… so I can’t… I don’t have this sh** down.
Manav: Dude I completely get where you’re coming from so like when I came to university I took Hindi one, two, and three. I didn’t know how to speak Hindi that well. I would always make grammatical mistakes if I’m speaking for a long enough time like you know like if i have to say short phrases and stuff I could say it. I would always be able to understand pretty much everything due to my exposure to Bollywood frequently as I grew up, and the strong Hindu community that surrounded me even in Bangkok, Thailand. Even in Hindi like grammar there no specific way to do it like each word has its own masculine or feminine. It’s pretty f***** you have to get used to the language. When I came here i was like a big thing I want to do is hang around hang around Indians and take Hindi as a class. I want to learn how to read and write as well. I understood everything before and i could speak decently but I couldn’t read or write for sh**.
Therefore, I learned how to read, write, and speak better. Both of my roommates are from Delhi and I speak in Hindi all the time here. You know, I hear them too right all their childhood stories like what kind of schools they went to what atmosphere was like I’m living in their situations that they explain so it’s pretty cool. They’re always speaking in buttery smooth Hindi.
That’s what made me feel more complete. It has made me feel more complete as me. Me understanding my culture has made me feel more complete.
Skivinnie: That’s true bro. That’s very true for being Indian outside. It’s interesting, we have to stay in touch. We can’t lose touch.
Loved it? Read Part 1 and Part 2 of this interview.
Creator: @manavion aka Manav Thakker
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