Jassa Ahluwalia: “I’m not waiting for others to define me”

The actor on how language has been a powerful tool in retaining his Punjabi identity

Hi, welcome back to Mixed Messages! This week, I speak to actor, writer and filmmaker Jassa Ahluwalia. Jassa is of Punjabi and White British heritage, and his TEDx talk, Both Not Half, looked at how the language around identity has helped to shape his sense of self. As Punjabi-British myself, I was really excited to hear how Jassa’s experience compared to my own.

How would you define your ethnicity?

I grew up identifying as half-Punjabi and half-English. I didn’t question that paradigm of ‘half’ as a kid; I remember reading the poem Half Caste by John Agard at school and not getting the critique the poem was presenting.

Now, I see how terms like ‘half-caste’ and ‘mixed-race’ are rooted in race science and racism. I feel a shift towards mixed-heritage, as it allows a more universal conversation on mixed backgrounds in terms of culture, class and economics. A friend of mine with a Russian mum was born in Czechoslovakia, grew up in Germany and now works in London. He probably wouldn’t describe himself as mixed, but we have commonalities in our experiences.

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