Being Indian and Being who we are
Many people connect being Indian as with being a Hindu. No. Being Indian means that one has a linage to India. It does not mean that one is Hindu. There are Muslim Indians, Christian Indians, Jewish Indians, Parsi Indians, Sikhs and so on and so forth. There are too many religions in India to count. So it is a stereotypical thing to say that being Indian is to be a Hindu. Don't get me wrong. I am an Indian, Hindu. And i strongly believe in my religion. But i also belive that everyone has a right to be what they want and who they want. How can people be so one-track minded when it comes to matters such as religion and race?Indians are not a superiour race....no particular race is. Hinduism did not start out as a religion. It was a way of life, a set of rules for people to follow so that they can become better people. When there was a following to this way of life it became a religion. A transiton that was inevitable. So many of the traditions and things that are now associated with Hinduism was not long time ago. So Barathanatyam is not or does not have strong religiouis ties. Christians and muslims can learn this dance and still maintain their religion. I've talked to people who've told me that they were not allowd to learn Barathanatym because 'you have to pray to an Indian God before you dance'. That is not praying, sorry as i don not know the exact term for this as i am not a dancer. This is respecting the floor that you are going to dance on.
To me being an Indian means that i have a linage that i can trace back. Means that i belong no matter what the religion or the state. Means that i am someone. But i will accept someone who is 1/2 or 3/4 indians too. Ive got friends who have Chinese mothers or malay fathers.They are part indian too, to me that is. But there are INDIANS who call themsleves Hindustani and maintain that they are not Indians. WHAT? Hindustani means people of the counrty called Hindustan (India). So they are Indians. I asked this girl i know, "What are you? as in which part of north India?" and she said "no im Hindustani." and i said "ok....but which part of north india?" and again she said that she was Hindustani and so i tried to explain to her that Hindustani means that she is Indian and that i knew she was indian. But to her and many others, Hindustani means North Indian. Its a North Indian term but it means Indian. I am Hindustani. I am Indian. And when i said this to her, her face changed as if ive said the most vile thing in the universe.
Indians have a problem of "You are south indian, i am north indian, you are tamil, you are punjabi, you are malayalee....." and this can go on till thy kingdom comes. North Indians and South Indians cannot get along for some wired reason. Indians of different states cannot get along too......WHY? They are all indians. It is sad coz it is the way we have been brought up. We've been taught at a young age that 'other' indians are not the same, but this is changing slowly and this is a good change.
The same must be of Singapore. Yes im Indian and you are chinese or malay or eurasian or any others who i have left out or have mix parentage but we are all Singaporean. There is still a strong division btw the races here in Singapore. It is always thoes Indians or thoes chinese or thoes malays. Our ancestors all came to SIngapore to make a better living. Most of us were brought to Singapore. We were no from here. So we all have a similar hold to this land. And for the media to portray us as different people is misleading. Yes we are different but we are where we are now BECAUSE of our difference. We are united coz we know how we are different. If we continue to highlight our differences from now on, we might not be as peaceful as we are now. The media and the government must now try to emphasise that we are similar underneath it all. We believe in the same thing and so on. And this will be continuned in another post. But this is something that we must all think about. Are we like this coz we are different or that we similar?
posted by ponga @ 9:25 PM
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