Finding the Real Punk

By Richa Jha and Sandhya Gurung

From Kantipur

“Anarchy”, “Punks not dead”, “Burn in hell” and other more hostile graffiti spray painted on the walls of buildings and even temples grab your eye while walking around Kathmandu. The typical reaction is, "Must be the work of a punk”.

And when you think of "punk" you visualize young people with torn clothes, unkempt hair, spiked or dyed and usually carrying a bad attitude with a loitering intent. But is punk all about vandalizing public property and being a nuisance to society? Is it only that?

"Punk was an activist movement in the late 70s in the UK and spread across Europe. It was a synthesis of music and action that opposed fascist and imperialist foreign policies formulated by governments there that usually ignored problems at home (e.g. the US today), which rendered qualified youth unemployed”, says Sareena Rai who has been involved in punk since 1990, and is in the punk band Rai Ko Ris in Nepal. "It was initially to stand against suppression especially of a ‘classist’ nature, but with time, it certainly has got lost in translation."Rai further goes on to explain that image-wise, anti-fashion was a form of protest where youths wore torn clothes and indulged in self-mutilation, vandalism. This image, rather than stating that these youth were a threat to society, implied that society had become a threat to them. They had to defend themselves; they were crying out for a new way where there was no way. They were unable to afford new clothes and they had nothing to do (no employment) all day.

These elements along with attempts to stand against suppression and depravity spread their wings to what is established as "punk" today. However, as mainstream media would always have it, it grabbed on to this discontent and began to sell it to millions of youth world wide, therefore diluting its validity. At this point, Rai explained why she herself avoids hyped media, and said that the anarchist band Crass said it well when they referred to media people reducing punk to - “Just another cheap product for the consumer’s head”.

What is punk, after all?

Indeed Punk and the awakening of youths were all about breaking the chains of capitalism which has paralysed society. But vandalism many-a-times took over before, during, or after gigs (where Rai claims a music performance becomes a public protest in itself) and Punks have often been branded as hooligans. However, unlike hooliganism, Punk aims to reform society.

“Anarchism has also been negatively portrayed. In punk, anarchy does not mean lawlessness. It rather means evolving a small society or community without any power base (or government) in which everyone shares equal responsibility for his/her own deeds, focusing on individual responsibility more than state. This is what existed in, say Native American culture before the so-called United States, and still exists in many indigenous communities here in Nepal today, ” Rai goes on to say.

The crux

Apparently there is a deeper meaning to Punk but do the youngsters in Nepal understand it? Binoj, 13 a self proclaimed punk says, “Well, I don’t know what exactly punk is but it has got to be about looking cool and playing music just like those punk bands do.”

Binoj's age and attitude prove that the punk scene in Nepal is highly influenced by foreign media. The punk craze for pure commercial gains of the likes of MTV has, in a way, blinded teenagers from the bigger picture.

In recent years, punk has become more of a fashion statement than a social movement. Whoever is not a punk is not considered to be “cool” these days on say, New Road. Due to advancement in technology and widespread communication, happenings around the globe are easily available to everyone at the tip of the finger.

The abundance of the MTV style "Punk elements" over the internet, television, movies, and music has now established its roots among Nepali youth in urban areas. These young people are highly influenced by various (and perhaps just fashionable) Punk bands and music and end up imitating the dress, hairstyle, and even ideology (e.g. ‘down with the system!’ etc.,) without even caring to know why and or engaging in action themselves.

From our research and reading, we found that the real people into "Punk" do not look for fame and are often not on TV, but are determined to prove a valid point and are always looking to make the world a better place. Youth who follow the "Punk" icons blindly without even knowing the ethics behind anarchism, are usually just in it for the ‘rebellion’ without thinking about the consequences of their actions. In most cases the fake "Punk" who boasts and seeks attention in the popular media provides a pretty negative idea to people of the roots of underground, protest music.

Fashion punks tend to think that tattooing, spiking hair, dressing outrageously, and hanging guitars on shoulders just about defines punk. They continue in this trend because they usually don't know what "Punk" has evolved into today (a thriving alternative (and political) news press; alternative schooling for children; community responsibility; alternative workshops and seminars from topics for people with mental health issues, to women’s self-help in reproductive health issues; etc.

This misunderstanding of punk usually stems from youths who perhaps haven’t had to struggle enough in life to ever know what it really means to fight or resist, thus sticking to the mainstream slogans and complaining that this type of resistance is too ‘political’ for them.

Original Nepali punk is hard to find among teenagers. Most of the “punksters” that we find (crouching in a corner of an abandoned building) are high on alcohol and drugs. To them, punk is all about bunking school and college, playing music in a big show, using foul language to prove a point, and taking drugs. Thus, there is the association of dope and petty crime with punk where stealing, extortion, and forceful acquisition become a part of life. How cool is that?

Whose responsibility?

“People themselves are responsible for what they put into their bodies, whether it is an apple or alcohol," says Rai again, "Punk does not compel anyone to consume alcohol and drugs; it is his/her own freewill. Ultimately, one is judged by ones actions, not by what one consumes or what words one says.”

It turns out to be a totally personal battle then.

Yesterday, a skinhead was a fascist, nazi hooligan actively involved in murdering non-white people. Today, to be a skinhead (punk) in Europe is also a sub-culture without a hooligan mentality; it is a way to engage youth in a form of solidarity to fight against capitalism and all discrimination, as outlined by the ‘Oi’ skinhead band, Los Fastidios. ‘Fight’ here, means to try as much as we can to resist corporate society, and exist in an alternative society that focuses on grassroots action towards a better world.

They agree, like the Nepali band Rai Ko Ris, not to have felt like the leaders of any movement but relish being a part of the greater movement together with ordinary people and punks world wide.

Punk is thus a powerful tool in building resistance to the corrupt systems around us that dehumanise us, and make our lives a misery. Apparently many have had their eyes and minds opened up by what people in the punk community have had to say. Punk, if taken seriously, or rather, positively is a life style, which can bring about a significant change in you, and society.