REFLECTIONS
`Where are you from?'
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The decision to go abroad is the easier part, but becoming a global citizen is the more complicated one, says SARAH JOHN.
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REUTERS
IT takes a certain personality to want to leave the native land and go abroad to live. At least, this used to be the case four or five decades ago. The last two or three decades have seen folk-movements between continents and countries vastly increasing. The motives and purposes have changed too. There seems to be something irresistible and more attractive about the idea of seeking an easier, simpler, more enjoyable, more fulfilling, better life somewhere else. Obviously, the person under scrutiny is one who has voluntarily or willingly moved. The sad story of those who are forced to move or flee is something else.
The decision to go abroad is the easier part. Becoming a global citizen is the more complicated one.
The issues of settling in a new place can be complex. Some find it easier than others, some places and cultures are more welcoming than others to an outsider. Life becomes more interesting after you have ceased to notice the strangeness of things around you, when the new language is mastered and new friends are made.
This may take longer for some! It depends a great deal on how you are perceived and accepted in the new place. For those who are fortunate to find a local community they can fit into, the new place becomes home. Over time, the old home begins to lose its hold. As the umbilical cord frays, you begin to feel different. For this to happen it takes longer than a few weeks of holidaying or even a few years spent studying at an academic institution. It is only possible when you have cut the cords and burnt your bridges.
Once you have loosened the ties to your place of origin, other questions pop up. Who am I really? Where do I really belong? Some find it easier to say, you belong wherever you happen to live. If only it were that simple or straightforward! Indians who have gone to live in the relatively newer countries like the United States or Australia find it easier to say they are "American" or "Australian" than those Indians who have settled down in older countries like Britain or Germany.
There you remain a "person of Indian origin" even 40 years after you got there. A friend in England once said to me, "Long after you believe yourself to be British, you are asked by some old lady in the Church: "So, how do you like it in England?" "When are you going back?" ... and at some point it ceases to be funny!"
The question is, do you want to be known as one or another? When you have moved several times in your lifetime between states, countries and continents, like I have, the question of "Where are you from?" can hardly be answered in one sentence! You were probably born somewhere, went to school in three different countries, attended University in a fourth, and are prepared to move wherever your work takes you.
What would your answer be to the above question? I am very sceptical of the simple answer, "Once an Indian, always an Indian". Which Indian? What do you have in common with someone somewhere in India, who has never had to move more than a few hundred kilometres from where he was born? The cultural affinity within the subcontinent and among all peoples of the subcontinent seems like a myth to me, although certain aspects of values and general philosophy may be common.
Proof of this can be seen among Indians abroad. They have formed exclusive "Associations" or "Samajs" for various language and/or religious groups like the Keralites, the Tamils, the Bengalis, the Punjabis and even smaller communities like the Coorgis. Each group likes to associate itself with its own cultural base.
Needless to say, these groupings are not without intrigues and even violent fights among themselves. I have personally witnessed and/or heard reports of local police — whether in New York, Newcastle, London or Cologne — being called in to intervene! Not pleasant, especially for the second generation. But, we do carry our "ancient traditions" with us wherever we go! People who have relocated have to deal with different questions of belonging and of national identity. Do they find the "escape" they were looking for? They have probably discovered the excitements, stimulations and frustrations of living in another country and of being part of a multicultural, perhaps even a truly global community. They will have also had to deal with the difficult questions asked of their notions of belonging and of national identity. There are drawbacks too, to trying to become a global citizen: The problems of acceptance and the problems of nostalgia (at least for some), to name just a couple! There is also the reality of return: The inevitable disdain, jealousy and rejection, even from other family members.
You may become more Native than the Natives themselves! Or, you may find that a part of you will always remain unchanged. The sign of becoming truly "global" lies in the openness, in a truly liberal outlook, and, most important, in the tolerance and enjoyment of cultures and lifestyles other than your original one.
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