News from
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
Office of Communications
Stanhope Hall
Princeton, New Jersey 08544-5264
Telephone 609-258-3601; Fax 609-258-1301Contact: Justin Harmon 609/258-5732
Date: March 17, 1999
Group Writes "Ethnic Comedy" about Issues "Familiar to All South Asian-American Students"
PRINCETON, N.J. -- Princeton South Asian Theatrics, a new student performance group, will make its debut on March 26 with an "ethnic comedy" called Desis of Our Lives.
"Desi is a Hindi slang word that refers to someone of South Asian origin," explains Karthick Ramakrishnan, a graduate student in politics. Used more frequently in this country than in India, the term means "someone from the homeland," he says.
According to Sachin Shah '01, Desis of Our Lives deals humorously with "issues of assimilation familiar to all South Asian-American students: the pressures of traditional values and parental expectation vs. the pressure to become Americanized."
Ramakrishnan and Shah are both co-authors and co-directors of the play, which concerns two South Asian families living in New Jersey.
"One family is upper-class," says Ramakrishnan, "and the other is not. Both have children -- one a boy, one a girl -- at Princeton. The students like each other but don't want their parents to know. They're supposed to be pursuing their education, not having fun."
To complicate matters, the girl has a brother also at Princeton -- "a hyper-assimilationist who wants a job on Wall Street," says Shah. "And he definitely doesn't want his sister dating a desi."
The plot comes to a boil on Freshman Parents Day -- but not until the play has satirized (among other aspects of South Asian-Americana) Hindi pop films and music, Prospect Street eating clubs, and, of course, intergenerational dynamics.
In one scene, says Ramakrishnan, "When the son comes home, his father tells him he got into Princeton. 'How do you know?' the son asks. 'Was it a thick envelope?' 'Oh, nothing like that,' says the father. 'I just opened your letter.'"
While the play focuses on "situations all South Asian-American students will recognize," says Shah, "there's a lot any student -- or parent -- could relate to."
The play will be presented at 8 p.m. on March 26 and 27 in Forbes College Theater. For ticket information, phone (609) 258-CALL, PSAT.