http://desicritics.org/ Superior South Asian bloggers on Culture, Media, Politics, Sport, Business, and Technology. en Copyright 2006 by the authors Tue, 8 Apr 2008 17:41:38 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss BC custom software http://desicritics.org/2008/03/02/080930.php#comment-328531 Rumana, Thank You ! How lovely to have this nice mix of language and culture ! You are lucky indeed. Ayan, Thanks - I really like the quote. I do agree - appreciating the different does make you richer. 328531@desicritics.org Tue, 8 Apr 2008 17:41:38 EDT http://desicritics.org/2008/03/02/080930.php#comment-327171 A very apt quote w.r.t. this article: "To me, it seems a dreadful indignity to have a soul controlled by geography" - George Santayana Love and peace to all, Ayan 327171@desicritics.org Fri, 28 Mar 2008 03:22:09 EDT http://desicritics.org/2008/03/02/080930.php#comment-327166 Very nice article, Amodini. For some people caste, ancestry, religion, roots are very important. It's sad however that they miss out on many new ideas, experiences and cultures because of their exclusive thoughts, and because of their decision to open up (or not to open up) to people based on these factors. I try to open up to anyone who is genuinely nice to me and is a good human being at heart; whether he/she is African, Chinese or Arab, or more locally a Tamilian, Gujrati or Assamese, does not matter to me at all. (Yes, it does help to have a common language to ease exchange of ideas! :-)) Personally, as far as time permits, I try to appreciate and learn about all types of people, ideas, religions, philosophies, food, art, music, etc. from all over the world. I believe this makes a person richer and well-rounded. But that does not mean that I neglect or denigrade the Bengali culture taught by my family. I think it's best we all try to consider ourselves as 'Earth humans' or 'Earthlings' as Annamma put it so nicely. Love and peace to all, Ayan 327166@desicritics.org Fri, 28 Mar 2008 01:56:59 EDT http://desicritics.org/2008/03/02/080930.php#comment-327078 amodini, i enjoyed your post thoroughly, also the comments. our son has a pakistani passport, just like we do, but our daughter-in-law (half pakistani, half brazilian), has a brazilian passport as well. they were studying and later working in the US and they now live in china. while our son's parents were born in pakistan, his four grandparents come from four different cities in india, and nearly all their relatives still live there. We have an 8-month old grand daughter who will soon be speaking chinese, urdu, english and probably portuguese and gujarati as well. we hope that she is going to turn out into this marvelous blend, belonging to different cultures. And then there is our daughter...well another time! 327078@desicritics.org Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:41:28 EDT http://desicritics.org/2008/03/02/080930.php#comment-327077 amodini, i enjoyed your post thoroughly, also the comments. our son has a pakistani passport, just like we do, but our daughter-in-law (half pakistani, half brazilian), has a brazilian passport as well. they were studying and later working in the US and they now live in china. while our son's parents were born in pakistan, his four grandparents come from four different cities in india, and nearly all their relatives still live there. We have an 8-month old grand daughter who will soon be speaking chinese, urdu, english and probably portuguese and gujarati as well. we hope that she is going to turn out into this marvelous blend, belonging to different cultures. And then there is our daughter...well another time! 327077@desicritics.org Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:39:03 EDT http://desicritics.org/2008/03/02/080930.php#comment-323764 Annama, Thanks - yes I do see what you mean. I think we are all OK knowing that we are different - ie; different in language, state etc. as long as we don't use that to exclude others (as in the Mumbaikar controversy). Kerty, Yes, desis are highly "networked", but "networking" should not be used to exclude others. Yes, ties to similarities are important, but then do "dissimilar" people become "the enemy" ? The "slice of Desiana", as you put it, for me, is inclusivity, and understanding. Understanding that we are all essentially the same, it's human vs. human, not Mumbaikar against non-Mumbaikar. And if appreciating this "slice of Desiana" actually means telling others that they "don't get it" (the whole us vs. them thing again) then I'm better off not appreciating it. Commonsense, Thanks for understanding ! Good to know that there are people like you around (there is hope yet !). 323764@desicritics.org Wed, 5 Mar 2008 18:27:17 EST http://desicritics.org/2008/03/02/080930.php#comment-323391 Amodini, Great post! My point exactly...we are all polycultural, hybrid and mongrels, and that's a damn good thing too. It does not mean we are confused. Just more flexible, more agile and more open to new influences. Not so open that our brains fall out, but still, open enough such that our brains can select, filter and retain whatever fits our lifestyle. As for the seekers of purity, or unadulterated cultures (hint: Kerty and his ilk), they are welcome to their wild goose chase... 323391@desicritics.org Sun, 2 Mar 2008 23:36:38 EST http://desicritics.org/2008/03/02/080930.php#comment-323387 Amodini.. Being on the move all the time, obviously your family does not belong to any one particular place. Therefore, issue of identity, belonging are irrelevant for you, and perhaps irritating. However most Indians do have a definite place, roots, ancestry, castes, religion, language - which they identify with or can be identified with, and it helps them understand each other better, establish appropriate level of understanding and connections. Asking each other where they hail from is a way to break the ice, and keep the conversation flowing. Its is also a way to discriminate and decide with whom to open up at more personal level and with whom to keep it strictly at professional level. When I meet a person, I try to know if a person comes from same region as I do, speaks same language as I do, shares same caste as I do, knows same places as I do. If that person does, than it establishes a special connection and helps take the interaction to a next level, resulting in a stronger relationship and often into friendship. If we both hail from same linguistic region, it allows us to switch to our mother tongue. If he or she hails from same town or caste, the discussion immediately moves to establish if we have common friends or relatives, well-known places that we both may have common liking for etc. Indians are highly networked people and that is the instinct at play when two Indians meet and first thing they ask is where each of them are from. People who have no roots to their past, who have left or dropped out from their roots for whatever reasons will probably not understand or appreciate this slice of Desiana. 323387@desicritics.org Sun, 2 Mar 2008 22:56:22 EST http://desicritics.org/2008/03/02/080930.php#comment-323381 Amodini, The way i see it, we belong to several communities at the same time. Beginning from all of us being earthlings....:-) In that for me, lies freedom, and inclusivity, at the same time. Narrowing it down to state, village, age group, choice of food, professional groupings, religion, and so on is also alright, as long as I remember that ultimately we are all earthlings! On a lighter note, that may be the big question for our descandants : "Should we think of ourselves as earthlings, or martians, or Planet Xians?" Planet X may quite possibly be in some far-flung galaxy that earthlings have colonised... 323381@desicritics.org Sun, 2 Mar 2008 21:42:22 EST