Why Now?
A successful entrepreneur friend asked me a question yesterday that got me thinking. When talking about my desire to create something like a magazine to highlight South Asian artists, he asked "why now?". This is my attempt at thinking through my answer.
First, I think the world is quickly becoming disillusioned by technology's ubiquity and its promise for connection and efficiency. I don't know many people that would say they feel like the world is generally better off because of recent consumer technology advancements. Everyone's tired, addicted, and is slowly losing themselves to their finely tuned algorithm. We're craving analogue experiences to bring us back to our physical world and bring us closer to physical people. We've had enough of the digital experiment and generally, we feel it failed.
Next, the South Asian demographic in the GTA has beyond critical mass. Given how many South Asians are in the city, it's shocking to me that the infrastructure to support, celebrate, and employ artists is so under-developed. It doesn't feel like we have our own "scene". There are fragmented pockets for different sub-genres and sub-ethnicities but there isn't a unifying publication with reach and respect when I think I'd expect one given our population. I am confident that if I don't try to make something, someone will. There are enough different types of people here now that there are now massive gaps in the market. We're no longer just looking for the basic services to meet our basic needs, we are a mature population with many middle-aged members who've been here their entire lives and craving connection with their culture.
The final reason is personal - this makes sense now simply because I can. I have time in my life to actually dedicate my energy to making something from scratch that I can be proud of. Until recently, I've been dedicating myself to professional development in the corporate machine, financially supporting my wife and I through her further education (which I'm thrilled she pursued). I couldn't have set aside my financial priorities until now.
Urgently, Vandan