My family are among the 2% of the Indian population who have had their vaccines. Still, my beloved auntie and uncle have already tested positive, my mom is now also sick, and as of today, my dad is symptomatic.
I don’t think I’ve ever felt so helpless as I have this week. As I watched horror unfolding in India, I desperately did whatever I could to raise awareness, support, and funds for the country that has given so many of us in the West so much.
I was genuinely shocked to find that this urgency was not shared by the many, many people who have very loudly enjoyed the life-changing benefits of Indian culture for so long. I’ve never known these people to have less to say about India as they have this week.
It felt like my house was on fire, and that I was trying to douse the flames while others stood around, avoiding looking at it; the same people that had frequented my home, enjoyed its hospitality and food, and walked out with things they liked.
For the first couple of days, I couldn’t understand why wellness influencers, in particular yoga instructors, were not amplifying the crisis via their platforms. I was especially disappointed with Adriene Mischler aka Yoga With Adriene, who often proclaims her love for Mother India and our culture.
One morning I stepped onto my mat for what I believe is the last ever practice I would do with her. It opened with sitar music–by the time it closed with “Namaste”, I felt sick.
I understood in that moment that India only exists in wellness as a commodity that practitioners use to enhance their products with a veil of cultural legitimacy; in wellness, Indian culture is reduced to an accessory.
(EDIT: Since I wrote this, she has sent out a newsletter asking her community to support India. It comes at the end of a week of pressure from people commenting under her posts asking why she hadn’t addressed the crisis. The way she responded to these comments was nothing short of gaslighting; I’ve been checking back periodically, and those comments–including mine–keep getting deleted. So, make of her wholesome declarations what you will.)
I immediately canceled my subscription and expressed my frustrations to my friend Daphni, an Indian American in New York–she felt the same way:
“I was faithful to Yoga with Adriene. I used to do her videos almost everyday. I haven’t done yoga in a month now because I’m so tired of white instructors that don’t acknowledge ANYTHING about Indian culture, amplify our causes, show solidarity with our communities, etc. Especially now more than ever. It’s heartbreaking.”
The only yoga practitioners and wellness influencers whom I have seen to not only show support for India, but acknowledge India’s influence on their work and their lives, have all been people of colour. From white influencers, I’ve seen almost no support or accountability.
I’m certain this is not a coincidence, nor is it surprising. In the global scheme, there are two cultures: those that experience colonialism and cultural exploitation, and those that perpetrate it.
Historically, there is an engrained sense of entitlement in Western (white) culture to anything from other cultures that they like; a sense that they can help themselves and claim it as their own. They might argue, “Well yeah, you could say it came from there once; but now we’ve brought it over here, so it’s ours.”
I’ve been startled this week by several conversations I’ve had with very open-minded, progressive white folks, who are good people, that have unquestioningly bought into the idea that they have a right to the ownership of non-Western cultural practices. One replied, when I remarked that Western wellness influencers had shown little to no support for India, “Yeah, but why should they?” It’s as if by virtue of them liking it and deciding to use it, it has become theirs–end of story.
BIPOC, on the other hand, have been stolen from for centuries; because we have experienced it, we are much less likely to appropriate anyone else’s culture, and not without showing due respect to the cultures of origin. This is, of course, a generalisation, and I’m sure there are exceptions–it’s just that I’ve not known it to happen.
Does the fact that white influencers and consumers benefit and profit from India oblige them to acknowledge it and support India in its hour of need? I unequivocally believe so. But can they be wrong if they believe that what they practice is theirs, and not owed to anyone else? In their reality, no–but this is colonialism.
What also stood out this week, when I started looking for South Asian practitioners I could follow instead, was how inaccessible their offerings are by comparison. Daphni shared my frustration here, too: “It’s not easy or as accessible to find brown yoga instructors. Which is WILD. Why do I have to look so damn hard to learn yoga by someone who looks like me, when it’s something we created?”
I have a couple of theories. First, I don’t think it occurs to us to commodify our culture and heritage. Unlike non-South Asians, we don’t look at our culture and see an opportunity–therefore we haven’t been as savvy in productising it.
I also think it’s possible that many of us have internalised the colonial idea that we can’t profit from our own resources; we just have to stand around and watch others do it. Colonialism has left us on many levels with Stockholm Syndrome, which is yet another reason reparations are due.
Arguments aside about a question of obligation and duty to India by white wellness brands and consumers, what is undeniable is that Indian culture has been co-opted and appropriated by the West.
co-opt /ˌkəʊˈɒpt/ (verb)
adopt (an idea or policy) for one's own use.
appropriate /əˈprəʊprɪeɪt/ (verb)
take (something) for one's own use, typically without the owner's permission.
Among the many, many wellness brands whose pages I visited, the most egregious appropriation of Indian culture on display may have been on yoga apparel brand Alo’s tagline: “Let’s get it OM.”
I reached out to many platforms directly, including several founders of popular wellness brands that I know personally, to encourage them to use their platforms to raise awareness about India’s crisis within their communities. My messages were seen and ghosted.
I also saw the private exchange between a friend and a very well-known yoga influencer, whose response to being asked for support was extremely disheartening: it revolved around how hurt and attacked she felt, rather than addressing the crisis itself. She didn’t ask once after my friend’s family.
What is abundantly clear is that there exists a billion dollar wellness industry that commodifies the Indian culture from which it originated, but from which India has now been erased as all but an accessory; and that the industry feels no obligation whatsoever to the motherland that birthed its practices.
Lizzo said something about the body-positivity movement that applies perfectly to how the Western wellness industry treats Indian culture: “we can’t get left out of something we created, because it is ours. But I think we have been left behind and grossly neglected when it’s been taken to the mainstream.”
I was disappointed at first, even angry; but now that I’ve understood what the wellness industry is, I no longer feel the same hostility. I acknowledge the disingenuity of wellness influencers and brand owners who enthuse about Indian culture when it suits their brand; I recognise it now simply as a hypocritical and exploitative entity that exists.
However, I do not accept it; indeed, I reject it. Now that I see it for what it is—an industry whitewashed to exclude me, my people, our culture and heritage—I see it was not intended for me. I’ll be seeking my wellness now from the source, a culture that resonates with me.
It would be an error to mistake the generosity and hospitality of our culture for passivity and weakness. We are the origin of so much of the richness, wisdom, healing, and beauty that the whole world enjoys and makes money from; our culture and civilisation has endured for millenia because of our strength. We’ve been happy to share what’s ours for centuries, but we have noticed who hasn’t given back in our hour of need.
As we always have, we’ll come back stronger. The Western wellness industry can keep what it’s made: a frankly cringey facsimile of the original–but we’re going to reclaim ownership of our culture. Watch this space :)
“Namaste.”1
Things that have helped this week
People who checked in, asked about my family, asked where they could donate, and used their platforms to acknowledge how they’ve benefited from Indian culture and amplify the crisis to raise awareness and support. I see you, I appreciate you.
You might have seen me sharing a fundraiser on Instagram–Divya Balakrishnan is an Indian American yoga educator who has spent all week tirelessly promoting this event, raising awareness for India, and generously reaching out to wellness brands to voluntarily guide them through how they could use their platforms to show support–on top of her day job. She’s secured a corporate partner who has offered to double donations–if you haven’t signed up yet, I hope you can join.
As well as raising funds for India, South Asian yoga instructors need our support and acknowledgement right now.
It’s today, at 6pm Berlin time:
There is also currently a very active scene on Clubhouse providing regular updates from the ground from doctors, industrialists, and citizens. If you are interested, follow Indian Startup Club for their daily updates–this is the link to today's meeting.
In the last call, I met Sarabjot Singh, who provided a heartbreaking testimonial about friends he has lost in the past week. He is committed to preserving the stories of the many nameless dead that history will forget; in his words, we can’t let them disappear into oblivion.
Sarabjot has founded The COVID Scrolls Initiative and asked me to share it with anyone who is interested in helping him record and preserve these stories. For any storytellers in my audience, or people with platforms, please reach out to Sarabjob to collaborate with him.
Finally, here is a list of verified, trustworthy and highly reputable organizations doing fantastic work directly on the ground:
3) GOONJ
4) Milaap - Various efforts
5) HELP NOW Ambulance Services
6) GIVE INDIA
Thank you reading until the end. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you need more information.
Until next week,
While searching for an image for this newsletter, I searched for a stock image of “namaste”: the search spoke VOLUMES.