It’s bhangra and bhaichara for Africans in Punjab

You don’t expect African students living in a society as patriarchal as Punjab to proudly sing a cover version of the hit Punjabi song, Patiala Peg, upload it on YouTube and harvest 3.8 lakh hits. This isn't only because the Punjabi language is difficult to grasp by non-native speakers, but because Jalandhar, where these students live, doesn't exactly have a great reputation for African-Indian bhaichara, much like the rest of India.
The city has seen one of the region's most brutal attacks on a Burundi boy - Yannick Nizhanga - who, after being thrashed by a group of 10 youngsters in April 2012, slipped into a coma for two years and passed away in 2014 in Burundi.
But even as the recent brutal attack on Masonda Ketada Olivier, a Congolese student in south Delhi, puts racism against Africans on the front burner, Jalandhar is coming out of the shadows of race-based crimes.
"When I landed here four years ago, people were surprised to see African students travelling on a bus or going to the market," says Gabriel Mushota from Zambia, who is pursuing her MBA at Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Jalandhar. "Some would even touch our hair, but now it seems as if we’ve all evolved." He now counts the occasional insult as an aberration, not the norm.
A change in attitude is evident in the comments that follow the Youtube video of five African students dancing Bhangra and singing "Oh tu te aakheya bhull geya hun, Hor kisey te dull geya hun…" from the Daljit Dosanjh hit, Patiala Peg. The comments show that many Punjabis are proud to see the students adopt their language. 'Ehi gallan tan proud feel karvoundian aaa.....that we are Punjabi. Chalo shukkar ee (It is such talk that makes us feel proud about being Punjabi. Thank god)', says one comment. 'Veere sach gal bolti (Brother, you speak the truth)', agrees another.
The Patiala Peg video was uploaded on April 24, and the group is now recording another song with well-known Punjabi singer Jassi Gill - a cover of his hit, Tera pio hai, Laden ta nahi (This is your father, not Laden’s). One of the boys in the group is Daniel Ngoma, a first year BSc (IT) student, from Zambia. "I have has just one problem here," he says. "Barbers overcharge me." It’s a far cry from the complaints other Africans have of the way they're treated by Indians.
Today, African students say they attract fewer racial slurs on the streets. They’re not stared at as much, and their Indian friends keep an eye out for them. If shopkeepers try to fleece them, their Punjabi friends advise them on the right price.
Ngot Dheliat, a Congolese student in the final year of his BSc course in hospitality management at the PCTE Group of Institutes in Ludhiana, even speaks and sings Punjabi fluently. "I have hired an autowallah, Kulwinder Singh, to drop me to college every day," he says. "He has helped me learn Punjabi, by playing songs on the ride and helping me understand the meaning of the lyrics. My classmates also helped me pick up the language."
Recently, Ngot surprised some Punjabi boys at a mall in Ludhiana with his Punjabi. "They were pulling my leg thinking I would not understand them but I immediately replied in Punjabi… It was really funny to see them shocked at my ability to speak the language," he laughs.
Management student Gabriel Mushota lives with his friend and fellow Zambian Mwiinga Hamavwa, and another African roommate in a rented house in Deep Nagar on the outskirts of Jalandhar. Their landlord lets them live in peace and does not needlessly harass them as is common in other Indian cities.
"I find them very nice," says their landlord Sukhdev Singh. Gabriel says their neighbours have adjusted well to them. "Except for the difference in language, they’re treated no differently from others in our locality," observes Raj Kumar, who runs a grocery shop in Deep Nagar.
A Nigerian student, Delight Abdul Azeez, pursuing an MBA at LPU recalls an earlier incident of discrimination: "I was travelling in a bus that was almost full. I had one seat empty next to me but the guy standing nearby did not take it." Now, people are much nicer to her. "I am welcomed at the local church and some women have even tried to teach me Indian cooking," says Azeez.
Pavit Preet Kaur, an Indian student at CT Institutes, believes relations between Indians and Africans have progressed to the next level. "I have around 20 African friends now," she said. "And some even come home with me during vacations."
With inputs from Payal Dhawan and Harsimran Singh Batra in Ludhiana