‘American Desis’ Podcast Explores the Definition of Community with Actor Parvesh Cheena

This week, our friendly "American Desis" Podcast hosts Arjun Gupta and Akaash Singh sat down to chat with Parvesh Cheena, the actor best-known for his work in the former NBC comedy series “Outsourced,” and who has had an active Hollywood career since 2002.

This week, our friendly “American Desis” Podcast hosts Arjun Gupta and Akaash Singh sat down to chat with Parvesh Cheena, the actor best-known for his work in the former NBC comedy series “Outsourced,” and who has had an active Hollywood career since 2002.

This cuddly conversation got off to a light, albeit mistaken, start when Singh accidentally said “Cheema” instead of “Cheena.” Right off the bat, this took the conversation to the desi-ness—or lack thereof—of Cheena’s surname.  All three boys took the conversation in stride, and so began a discussion around the community, South Asian culture, and Cheena’s idea about “global humanism.”

Cheena supports the idea of a global community over the idea of any particular community tied to culture or religion while Gupta and Singh asserted the importance of shared backgrounds when forming deep personal ties. Gupta even went so far as to assert that this concept of “global community” could actually be a bit overwhelming, at which point Cheena further clarified that he feels it is important to have a sense of community both locally and globally. And for Cheena, this idea is not overwhelming at all—for him, community boils down to the people who make him laugh and the people with whom he wants to spend time. He even challenges both Singh and Gupta by asking them if their friends are exclusively Indian Americans—to which both of our favorite hosts quickly replied no.

Facetious challenges aside, Gupta’s point about the importance of common experiences should be noted. I do agree with Gupta, that shared background, the wholeness of a culture and its associated language, food and clothes, can really bring people closer together. Most people with diverse friend groups may notice that at least at the outset, it can be easier to form friendships with those of the same cultural background. Whether I am bonding with a South Asian friend over the ridiculousness of desi expectations or over shared love for a recently released Bollywood movie, much of our connection as friends stems from our shared heritage.

Now, that being said, it is equally important to take into account the drawbacks that can come from knowing too much about another friend’s culture.

Cheena is openly gay, and he discusses how some of his lack of identification with South Asian culture may stem from the homophobia that was present in his local desi community while he was growing up. Thankfully, perspectives are shifting with newer generations of South Asians—but it is hard to ignore generations of flawed thinking, misguided stigmas and unfair judgment, within our own culture.  Here’s hoping that things only continue to get better, for both our local and global communities, desi or otherwise.