The other day I was having this conversation with a friend of mine. She told me that she identifies herself with the city she comes from. She is extremely fond of it and anything said against it would offend her to no end. Many Muslims identify themselves with their religion, many Hindus with their castes, most notably Brahmins and Rajputs.
This got me thinking. I am not proud of where I come from. I don't identify myself with any of the following things.
1. Being from Jaipur, Rajasthan or India.
2. Studying from St. Anselm's, MNIT, or IIM Lucknow.
3. Being an engineer (former) or a Management student. (I am still confused about either of them).
4. Employed at Samsung or Emerson.
5. Working at Noida or Mumbai (Thane actually )
6. Being a Kayastha (Shrivastava) or a Hindu.
7. Son of a doctor and an engineer.
I am not passionate about any of the above mentioned stuff and am proud of none. I don't belong anywhere.
I have a family, friends and some people I am extremely fond of, some of whom have influenced my life a lot, in a number of ways. I have learned from them, love them, admire them, respect them and look up to them.
These people make me. Probably that is my only identity.
This got me thinking. I am not proud of where I come from. I don't identify myself with any of the following things.
1. Being from Jaipur, Rajasthan or India.
2. Studying from St. Anselm's, MNIT, or IIM Lucknow.
3. Being an engineer (former) or a Management student. (I am still confused about either of them).
4. Employed at Samsung or Emerson.
5. Working at Noida or Mumbai (Thane actually )
6. Being a Kayastha (Shrivastava) or a Hindu.
7. Son of a doctor and an engineer.
I am not passionate about any of the above mentioned stuff and am proud of none. I don't belong anywhere.
I have a family, friends and some people I am extremely fond of, some of whom have influenced my life a lot, in a number of ways. I have learned from them, love them, admire them, respect them and look up to them.
These people make me. Probably that is my only identity.
I once thought that being an Indian did not matter to me, it was not a part of my identity. One day I was talking on stage and a member of the audience, a German, rightly criticized something about India. I reacted almost violently.
ReplyDeletethis is something i strongly connect with.
ReplyDelete