“There is a difference between South Asians born and raised in Canada and South Asian youth that immigrate here, however, I think I can relate to everyone,” says Vikas Khanna, a corporate sales agent with IBM as well as a musician. I asked him to pinpoint the difference between the two. His answer was “there’s a lot of grey area, so I can’t really say what it is.” However, he did mention that “there is a cultural disconnect between home and the society if the youth has been born and brought up here, if – your were raised in India, the disconnect is not so much, then you understand.”

After being born in Canada, his family took him back as a toddler. He returned to Canada after finishing high school from India. He fondly recalls his mother’s assertion that he used to hum in a tune at the age of 1. Elaborating on differences between Canadian and Indian education, he says “the focus here for every teacher is that the student understands the concept well and not score, scoring is obliviously good but the focus is on to know the concept and where the teacher is coming from and what it is teaching you and then you take the exam and then you get it. In India it is completely different; they do not focus that much on concepts, especially in high school.”

Naturally good with people, Vikas thinks South Asian community is a very diverse community and they are “fantastic.” His feeling is that diversity within South Asian cultures allows South Asian youth to be more open to both the eastern and the western cultures. Among his group of friends, the number one issue “is the choice of career. Whether it is a Canadian boy or it’s an African person or an Indian, their main focus is what are you doing in your life, where is my career going, when will I buy a house.”

Tall, lanky guy, Vikas has a potential to attract a lot of girls, and he wants to go for love marriage. The urban cities like New Delhi in South Asia, Vikas says, are as Westernized as Canada. Therefore, it is not as hard to adjust in the Canadian society.

Like many Vikas urges parents and South Asian youth alike to have the “right focus.” He has made enough mistakes in making wrong choices. And, now, he does not want youth to err in the same manner.

Not into politics, Vikas believes “I tend to try not to get into political things, they are very touchy. All I can say is live happy ‘Kal Ho Na Ho.’” His philosophy of life is that there is much more to life than pursuing materialistic goals. Yet, Vikas is sceptic about pursuing his career as a musician because of the unstable pay checks in the field. He is a talented young man who has had an opportunity to sing for “a Canadian producer.” He has sang with another French Canadian, Piere.

In the long run, Vikas sees himself in a happy place “with 0 stress level, with a beautiful wife and a fair amount of money. As long as I can wake up in the morning and say life is good then that means I am successful.”

Author: Kiran Takrani