“What is the most appropriate way of describing you,” I ask Waris Ahluwalia, as we sip coffee together one morning. “Are you Indian, American, American-Indian or American of Indian origin?” His off-the-cuff response has us both smiling, “Why not just an interesting man, or a mysterious gentleman? Isn’t that a great way of describing me?”
That does set the tone for a conversation with the talented, multidimensional artist — Ahluwalia draws his identity from the plethora of roles that he plays in life. He is an actor, previously seen in two Wes Anderson films The Darjeeling Limited and The Grand Budapest Hotel. Here in the private confines of ITC Maurya’s Summit Lounge in Delhi, I manage to spend a morning catching up with him, during his fleeting — and almost under-the-radar— trip to India. Expanding on his mixed-identity, Ahluwalia, dressed simply in a denim shirt, loose trousers and sandals, tells me, “When I started House of Waris and I had a jewellery line, people called it ‘Sikh jewellery’ and I wondered what my religion had to do with anything. What is Sikh jewellery anyway? Religion never comes up with any other designers or actors, so why me? I find it funny but I’ve learnt to deal with it. People love to put other people in boxes. It’s easier for them when you are, say, a banker or a doctor or a New Yorker. However, I exist in a world that doesn’t have a framework, a world that I have created for myself with no borders. I consider myself as American as I am Indian. I am 100 per cent Indian and American. It doesn’t have to be one at the cost of the other. There is no identity crisis to note here.” Ahluwalia has run into spots of trouble before, and faced discrimination for his Sikh identity. Last year in February 2016, he was stopped from boarding an Aero Mexico flight to New York City. The security had asked him to remove his turban, which he had refused to do. Ahluwalia took to Twitter to point this out, citing how this wasn’t the first time he had been discriminated against, and that to ask a Sikh man to take off his turban is akin to asking him to undress. Ahluwalia is an icon for brown pride in the Indian diaspora. However, this time, he visited India with a different cause in mind.
What, then, explains this need to forge a new, profound link to India? And how does he tie it up to the larger picture, of his involvement in elephant conservation? “I am here out of a sense of responsibility and duty to myself and to the country I was born in, and the world I live in. I don’t want to live in a world where eventually when I have children, they see elephants in picture books and I have to tell them that they don’t exist anymore.”
While this rally charted a course through the entrails of rural India, with 85 patrons, there was a visible absence of Indian participants, a fact that Ahluwalia laments about. He is worried that India doesn’t take conservation seriously till now, even though the adverse effects of climate change are already becoming hard to ignore in the country. He feels that the industry needs to pitch in more to do their bit to conserve the diversity of our environment. “It’s ironic that people from other countries are here to save the Asian elephant, and care about India’s environment. India’s strength is its nature, not its palaces and mahals. If we lose this, we lose India. To not see more Indians in this rally is a missed opportunity and a slight embarrassment.”
Responsible luxury: The future Ahluwalia believes that a conscience and luxury can coexist, and luxury need not be harmful for the environment. He proffered some insights on responsible luxury. “I feel that it is a marvellous trend that has come about, one that needs to be encouraged. The feeling of joy that you can get from your luxury experience is enhanced when you know you’re on a mission to do good and it makes everything taste sweeter. Leave the guilt at home. Business has to be about people and what drives them. And of course, connecting with the right, like-minded partners in a positive environment is of utmost importance.”
Ultimately, it all boils down to celebrating life, “Doing good should also have a celebratory tone, in my opinion. I know I am here in India to do my bit to protect the elephant and nature. But I am also acknowledging its majestic heritage, while we try to make it a better place for our communities. I don’t see why I shouldn’t be dancing till four n the morning or staying at a nice place to do good. Have a good time. People often speak of wellness. You don’t have to live in an ashram to enjoy wellness. You can enjoy the luxury of a glass of wine and still be a good man.”
Riaan George is a Mumbai-based lifestyle journalist