Comments on: I am an Indian! At least I think I am… http://www.beyondsindh.com/blog/i-am-an-indian-at-least-i-think-i-am/ Sindhi Magazine about Sindhi People and Culture Sat, 23 Jan 2010 11:16:33 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Jyo http://www.beyondsindh.com/blog/i-am-an-indian-at-least-i-think-i-am/comment-page-1/#comment-310 Jyo Wed, 13 May 2009 10:18:47 +0000 http://www.beyondsindh.com/?p=1007#comment-310 Hi, I just had conversation with my mum (who lives in India) and every time I have a conversation on this topic, it just gets me thinking. Before I babble on, I must clarify a few things about me. I am a female, born and bred in India. Lived there for 20 years, then moved to New Zealand. I found a loving Indian man here and settled down. I am not sure about being a Sindhi because I am not, but I can definitely relate to the feeling of not belonging. I felt I did not belong for as long as i can remember. I ate, lived, breathed Indian culture, not that I had any choice, all my life but never believed in it. I had trouble conforming with the so called rules. I see you have lived in India for 4 years and still not feel Indian, I don't blame you. For some reason, the society in India can be very good at making you feel Alien. I have lived there for 20 years and have been abroad for only 5 years and yet every time went back for a visit, I got the same treatment as you. Coming back to the topic, it is regarding going through a traditional Indian wedding, which is a process of spending and excess I don't want to go through. I am legally married and that is sufficient for me. And trust me given the current state of the economy, I am glad that I saved all that money. Every child does something in their life to disappoint their parents once, sometimes it is studies or something else, well for me it will have to be this. I have learned one thing being in India, the more you try and please people around you, the more they will ask and expect from you. Gossiping is us Indians favorite pass time. If you stand your ground, your beliefs they will learn to accept you for who you are.So throw caution to the air, and live as you want to. Don't be a football of other peoples opinions. I have given up and stopped visiting India. I have laid a rule, if you wish to me, come and visit me in NZ, it is my territory and I lay the ground rules here. Hi,
I just had conversation with my mum (who lives in India) and every time I have a conversation on this topic, it just gets me thinking. Before I babble on, I must clarify a few things about me. I am a female, born and bred in India. Lived there for 20 years, then moved to New Zealand. I found a loving Indian man here and settled down.
I am not sure about being a Sindhi because I am not, but I can definitely relate to the feeling of not belonging. I felt I did not belong for as long as i can remember. I ate, lived, breathed Indian culture, not that I had any choice, all my life but never believed in it. I had trouble conforming with the so called rules.
I see you have lived in India for 4 years and still not feel Indian, I don’t blame you. For some reason, the society in India can be very good at making you feel Alien. I have lived there for 20 years and have been abroad for only 5 years and yet every time went back for a visit, I got the same treatment as you.
Coming back to the topic, it is regarding going through a traditional Indian wedding, which is a process of spending and excess I don’t want to go through. I am legally married and that is sufficient for me. And trust me given the current state of the economy, I am glad that I saved all that money. Every child does something in their life to disappoint their parents once, sometimes it is studies or something else, well for me it will have to be this.
I have learned one thing being in India, the more you try and please people around you, the more they will ask and expect from you. Gossiping is us Indians favorite pass time.
If you stand your ground, your beliefs they will learn to accept you for who you are.So throw caution to the air, and live as you want to. Don’t be a football of other peoples opinions.
I have given up and stopped visiting India. I have laid a rule, if you wish to me, come and visit me in NZ, it is my territory and I lay the ground rules here.

]]> By: Rajan Shah http://www.beyondsindh.com/blog/i-am-an-indian-at-least-i-think-i-am/comment-page-1/#comment-309 Rajan Shah Tue, 12 May 2009 16:43:12 +0000 http://www.beyondsindh.com/?p=1007#comment-309 You can contact me at rajanshah@yahoo.com. I am from USA. By the way, I will be moving with my family: wife and two kids. Please advise by contacting me at my email address. Thanks You can contact me at rajanshah@yahoo.com. I am from USA. By the way, I will be moving with my family: wife and two kids. Please advise by contacting me at my email address.

Thanks

]]> By: Rajan Shah http://www.beyondsindh.com/blog/i-am-an-indian-at-least-i-think-i-am/comment-page-1/#comment-308 Rajan Shah Tue, 12 May 2009 16:41:49 +0000 http://www.beyondsindh.com/?p=1007#comment-308 Hey Vishal, I am planning to move to Guam. I need to know how many indians are in Guam? Could you give any contact leads? Rajan Hey Vishal,
I am planning to move to Guam. I need to know how many indians are in Guam? Could you give any contact leads?

Rajan

]]> By: Vishal Hemlani http://www.beyondsindh.com/blog/i-am-an-indian-at-least-i-think-i-am/comment-page-1/#comment-47 Vishal Hemlani Thu, 12 Mar 2009 09:43:42 +0000 http://www.beyondsindh.com/?p=1007#comment-47 Shawn Genomal, After reading your article, I was really intrigued. I'm sure many others were also intrigued. I've thought of this same issue many times before in my life. I'm the type of person that's looking who I should put the blame on. I don't like to do it, but I find it almost inevitable for me to point my finger toward my parents. I know they were only looking for a better life, and I usually convince myself that I have a better life because of the decisions they made to go abroad when they were younger. I believe that my generation has no hope in finding home anywhere in the world in the sense that you seek it, but I'm still optimistic in that I can always worry about making it right for my future kids. I still wonder though. Would it be a better life for my kids to be raised in India? Is a sense of home or an identity more important than the quality of life? What do I mean by quality of life anyways? Can't people have a good quality of life in India? Maybe the search for a good quality of life seemed highly impractical for my parents in India, and therefore they were obliged to seek for a better quality of life abroad. You got me thinking, and you're probably wondering if I'm even a credible person to be talking about this. I was born and raised on Guam, USA. I moved to Hawai'i, USA when I was 15. I am currently 23. I've visited India a number of times, and always felt like an outsider. In Guam, our Indian population is probably about .00001%, so I've felt like an outsider there too my whole life. In Hawai'i, I see an Indian person aside from myself and my sister probably about once a month. There are barely any Indians. Now move forward to imagine how many Sindhis are here, very few. Shawn Genomal,

After reading your article, I was really intrigued. I’m sure many others were also intrigued. I’ve thought of this same issue many times before in my life.

I’m the type of person that’s looking who I should put the blame on. I don’t like to do it, but I find it almost inevitable for me to point my finger toward my parents. I know they were only looking for a better life, and I usually convince myself that I have a better life because of the decisions they made to go abroad when they were younger.

I believe that my generation has no hope in finding home anywhere in the world in the sense that you seek it, but I’m still optimistic in that I can always worry about making it right for my future kids.

I still wonder though. Would it be a better life for my kids to be raised in India? Is a sense of home or an identity more important than the quality of life? What do I mean by quality of life anyways? Can’t people have a good quality of life in India? Maybe the search for a good quality of life seemed highly impractical for my parents in India, and therefore they were obliged to seek for a better quality of life abroad.

You got me thinking, and you’re probably wondering if I’m even a credible person to be talking about this. I was born and raised on Guam, USA. I moved to Hawai’i, USA when I was 15. I am currently 23. I’ve visited India a number of times, and always felt like an outsider. In Guam, our Indian population is probably about .00001%, so I’ve felt like an outsider there too my whole life. In Hawai’i, I see an Indian person aside from myself and my sister probably about once a month. There are barely any Indians. Now move forward to imagine how many Sindhis are here, very few.

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