You are Not Ready for Desilicious

Desilicious is a monthly phenomenon featuring the frenetic gyrations and contortions of the dark and the beautiful, orientation (sexual, political, vertical) be damned. In a city long past “firsts”, it is New York’s first social space for queer desis to party amongst their own. In doing so, they have defied the accumulated traditions and prejudices of their native and adopted lands. Politically aware to boot, they named an event “Inspect This: The Axis of Pleasure” in the buildup to the Iraq war.

Despite all that, they – Ashu Rai, Atif Toor and Raj Parwatkar – are not activists.

“Not overtly activist. I mean, we’re not going to demand a float in the India day Parade,” says Toor. “But what we’re doing is providing a space for people who haven’t come out to enjoy themselves comfortably and have fun. The very act of socializing is empowering.”

The founders of Sholay Events are having wine at a well-apportioned apartment on the Lower East Side, discussing their collective. India-born, California-bred Ashu Rai, Sholay’s resident DJ, is seated on the far left. With her short cropped do and sharp features, Rai could pass for an Elf from off the set of Lord of the Rings. Next to her is Toor, the creative influence behind Sholay’s legendary flyers and the décor at Desilicious venues, featuring free-floating projection screens randomly playing Bollywood scenes, psychedelic lighting blazing from every nook and corner with Rai spinning bhangra, drum & bass and simple house beats over filmi oldies.. Think: Laila in the Sky with Diamonds. And then there’s Parwatkar, the business mind of the venture.

“Must you compartmentalize us?” asks Raj.

The three met organizing events at the New York chapter of the South Asian Lesbian and Gay Association (SALGA). In August 2001 they joined with comic Vidur Kumar (no longer a partner) to form Sholay, the name of the deliciously campy 70s film starring Amitabh and Dharmender. “Definite homoerotic undertones, wouldn’t you say?” asks Toor of no one in particular.

“No, no, no, that’s not why we named it that. Sholay means ‘spark’, ‘fire’, it’s passion,” interjects Raj.

Atif looks at Raj and laughs.

Parwatkar describes the genesis of Sholay: “I think we just got tired of the political world. We wanted to do something beyond just supporting South Asians who were coming out. There are so many queer desi writers, artists, and comics. We wanted to give them a platform where they fit. The best way to do that was to form our own company.”

The three share a fondness for the kind of club one used to find in New York – hot, filthy and moist, where what happens in the bathroom stall stays in the bathroom stall. “In thinking of what we might do,” says Toor, “we wanted the real underground vibe.”

Then 9/11 happened.

“I think we all felt very insecure about where we fit in this country after that,” recalls Toor. “If anything, it made us more determined to succeed with our vision. We made an effort to include Middle Eastern organizations with the event, because after that we were all marginalized”

From their first party in early 2002, Sholay realized they had something going.
“The vibe was just so cool, so mellow,” says Rai, who speaks, despite her pixie-like appearance with confidence of someone who has earned their way in life. “I remember club owners were wary of hosting us at first, because of the bad reputation of violence at Indian parties. After one Desilicious, though, they couldn’t wait for us to come back.”

“You walk in the room, and Ashu is playing a tune from Pakeeza over house beats, and you think, I was sitting in India listening to this and now I can dance to it,” adds Parwatkar.

And that was before the drag queens. The statuesque Bijli, the sultry Jennifer St. Cartier, the frankly indescribable Zeena Diwani are now an integral part of the scene, attractions in and of themselves. At a recent party, crowds gather around Zeena, as she performs dance moves I am sure God did not intend for Pakistanis.

“Yeah, they are interesting, aren’t they?” understates Parwatkar. “They live in New York, you know, we don’t airlift them from the subcontinent on H-1 visas. They have day jobs – hairdressers, bookstore, paralegals. They don’t come because we pay them, they come because it’s fun, and, really where else can you do this?”

A cross-cultural hit, Desilicious has grown beyond its South Asian focus. Indeed, it is growing beyond the simplistic label of being a “queer” event.
“I’d say the breakdown is now 60-40, 40% non-desi,” says Rai. “We get a lot of hetero couples too, looking for a chilled out joint with good music.”
Sholay Events itself is moving beyond the Desilicious parties. Laff-O-Rama , a South Asian comedy festival headlined by Shazia Mirza (“Hello, I’m Shazia Mirza. At least that’s what it says on my pilot’s license.”) recently concluded a run at the Baruch College Performing Arts Center. There have been cultural events at Queens Museum of Arts and book launch parties at the Cosmo Lounge.

Ashu, Atif and Raj know the score, though.

Parwatkar: “We’re known for the parties. I don’t think we mind that, for now.”


Further information on Sholay Events can be found at www.sholayevents.com