"How come...?"
"Oh my god... you have not changed at all.. how come?"
" how come you still remember kannada? Oh goodness you still talk in our style!!"
" You just came from Canada no? how come you are still wearing a bindi and saree? you dont do style????" ( !?!)
" She is lying. She did not go to foreign. Look.. she does not wear western clothes."
"She still sings in kannada songs. Why will a person from foreign sing in kannada.. that too before god?"
" How come you dont have beads and different colour hair streaks?"
" Thank God... you dint cut your hair."
I am sure most of us would have been subjected to such conversations specially when we get the status of ' foreign-returned'. I have never been able to understand the reason behind such converstaions: whether they are conversations for the sake of starting a meaningful one or presumed to be meaningful perse. I would be apalled if it is meant to be the later. In either case, What I can read is the unequivocal presumption of occidentalism. It has nearly been a month since I am back home. I am still hearing them. What amazes me is the thought process, mostly subconscious, behind this conversation.
Man is a social animal who is influenced by his surroundings. I agree that there have been several instances where there is replacement rather than assimilation which I believe to be the reason for such uncalled-for exclamations. But at the same time, let us look at the entire aspect from the other side. Are we generalising? Is it a good thing to generalise specially before a younger generation? Have we taken replacing ourselves too much for granted? By this attitude, we have 'sacrificed' the idea of inculcating the idea of assimilation in the younger crowd for we dont think replacement is a big deal!
We are not trained to see subtle changes. We think the only way to change is by replacement. In the process we are depriving ourselves from enjoying the diversity that we can imbibe in ourselves. Imagine the charm of two cultures harmoniously co-existing within ourselves! The very thought brings a smile on my face.... I am not going to deal with the societal implications of assimilation. Lets not go that far. Just imagine what we are losing within us by such actions, and the next time we will neither expect nor accept a replacement. Nor will we ever have such conversation starters!
" how come you still remember kannada? Oh goodness you still talk in our style!!"
" You just came from Canada no? how come you are still wearing a bindi and saree? you dont do style????" ( !?!)
" She is lying. She did not go to foreign. Look.. she does not wear western clothes."
"She still sings in kannada songs. Why will a person from foreign sing in kannada.. that too before god?"
" How come you dont have beads and different colour hair streaks?"
" Thank God... you dint cut your hair."
I am sure most of us would have been subjected to such conversations specially when we get the status of ' foreign-returned'. I have never been able to understand the reason behind such converstaions: whether they are conversations for the sake of starting a meaningful one or presumed to be meaningful perse. I would be apalled if it is meant to be the later. In either case, What I can read is the unequivocal presumption of occidentalism. It has nearly been a month since I am back home. I am still hearing them. What amazes me is the thought process, mostly subconscious, behind this conversation.
Man is a social animal who is influenced by his surroundings. I agree that there have been several instances where there is replacement rather than assimilation which I believe to be the reason for such uncalled-for exclamations. But at the same time, let us look at the entire aspect from the other side. Are we generalising? Is it a good thing to generalise specially before a younger generation? Have we taken replacing ourselves too much for granted? By this attitude, we have 'sacrificed' the idea of inculcating the idea of assimilation in the younger crowd for we dont think replacement is a big deal!
We are not trained to see subtle changes. We think the only way to change is by replacement. In the process we are depriving ourselves from enjoying the diversity that we can imbibe in ourselves. Imagine the charm of two cultures harmoniously co-existing within ourselves! The very thought brings a smile on my face.... I am not going to deal with the societal implications of assimilation. Lets not go that far. Just imagine what we are losing within us by such actions, and the next time we will neither expect nor accept a replacement. Nor will we ever have such conversation starters!
good analysis.
ReplyDeleteI agree with every point.. btw why should one change. What ever we do we should never forget our roots!
I completely agree. But just as the saying goes, "let the good reach us from every side", It is agreeable to assimilate the good things into our beliefs. Such an assimilation is also a kind of a change. So I am only trying to say, assimilate but do not accept replacement.
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