At Zakir Khan’s historic Madison Square Garden event: ‘Sakht launda, narm dil’

While Zakir kept us engaged for over two hours, what was also special was the atmosphere inside the venue. There was such an overwhelming sense of pride and patriotism in the air. A man from our country was performing at the same venue that has seen artists like Elvis Presley, John Lennon, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Madonna, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, U2, and Bruce Springsteen. We smiled at each other, took pictures of each other and guffawed together when reminded of how parents in the 90s focused on three main things: feeding us, educating us, and disciplining us with a variety of slaps and whacks. Yet when the time came, they let us go. Let us leave home, let us leave them behind, and let us make mistakes as we seek our purpose and identity.

There were two extra special moments that evening. The first was when Zakir called his parents on a video call after his performance and had all of us say ‘Thank you, Papa’ together. The joy and pride on their face to see their son fulfil his dreams and find so much appreciation was heartwarming. The second was when all of us turned on the torchlight on our phones for a picture and became a night sky of shining lights for the man who dared to soar.

My friend and I had dressed in Indian clothes, since Zakir had said, “kurta pehen ke aiye, sundar ban ke aiye”. Ordinarily, I feel conscious about wearing my Indian clothes in public in the US since it makes me feel like the odd one out. All the stereotyping in cinema, television, and now OTT content has not helped things either. But that day, we wore our Indian finery with pride. People all around us had come dressed in Kurtas, sarees, Salwar kameez or western clothes. But each one of us there wore our identity as an Indian or person of Indian origin with pride. In the current political environment in the United States, where racial minorities are being made to feel unsafe, and India is being targeted with tariffs and punitive economic measures, gathering in such a large group at Madison Square Garden and later Times Square was a moment of great significance.

In addition to the thousands of Indians there, there were also Zakir’s fans of Pakistani origin in the audience. A man from Karachi was three seats away, and two more men of Pakistani origin were sitting in the row ahead. If he hadn’t said he was from Karachi, I would have never known. Here, thousands of miles away in America, we are just brown immigrants looking to forge a connection to home, our childhood, and the experience of growing up in the subcontinent. Blending in while living in a foreign country often demands erasing parts of yourself that cause you to be othered. Thanks to Zakir Khan, for two hours, all of us at Madison Square Garden felt whole again and laughed like we do when we are in a safe space.