Guest column | Diaspora deeply rooted in Punjabi culture
This summer, artistes such as Arijit Singh, Kapil Sharma, AR Rehman, Diljit Dosanjh, and Neha Kakkar performed in Canada;
Dosanjh’s performance at Rogers Arena got the loudest cheer Indian artistes often tour foreign countries to perform
and entertain the Indian diaspora. They are highly sought after in the USA, Canada, Australia, and the UK This summer, artistes such as Arijit
Singh, Kapil Sharma AR Rehman, Diljit Dosanjh, and Neha Kakkar performed in Canada. Sponsors and organisers chose a venue, befitting
the popularity of the artistes and the crowd they were expected to draw We, too, attended singer Diljit Dosanjh’s performance in Vancouver
He performed at Rogers Arena, which is perhaps the biggest stadium. It is primarily used for ice-hockey matches a game as popular
in Canada as cricket is in India. It is said that this venue is booked for the most popular stars of the USA and Canada. No Indian artiste had ever
performed there before Dosanjh. Perhaps, the organisers and sponsors knew of Dosanjh’s immense popularity. It was a matter of pride
that the stadium, which can seat around 19,000 spectators, was almost packed to capacity As we headed to the venue, we could see a large number if Indians,
mostly Punjabis, converging there, in their best attires. Ladies were dressed in flashy suits and their best western attires,
as if they were attending a wedding. Men, too, were dressed to the nines, flaunting their gold and silver chains and bracelets. The ambience was that of a great party
The seating was almost vertical from the ground to the ceiling, and the tickets ranged from $70 to $ 500 and even went higher, as per the proximity
and view of the stage The audience restlessly waited for Dosanjh to arrive on stage. The scheduled time for the show was 7.30pm,
but he appeared around 8.30pm. The crowd went into a hysterical frenzy, cheering, whistling and shouting, drowning his initial speech.