Born and brought up in Mumbai amongst very diverse community, it was not long before I lost my gujarati touch. Idli dosa for breakfast, samosas for snacks and curry getting spicier, everything from food to festival and language got blended. Life was fun. Until I left Mumbai.
Everytime I come across my fellow Gujarati friends/strangers, I always get volley of questions like what kind of Patel am I, what sect, what diety do I worship, etc... Honestly, I don't know. I never asked my parents and they never forced me to know these answers.
Once they come to know that I am weak in speaking my mother tongue, they seem not pleased. I am lectured on how important it is to learn and keep mother tongue. I am not against my parental language, just that I grew up more with mumbaiya hindi. So why is that look which says I am missing something? Not that I care but it does make me feel uncomfortable.
Just the other day in one of the parties, I was relishing chicken tikka and there comes my guju friend and ask me how chicken is. Once I told him it is good, he walks away from me. This started few questions go around my head(Gujus are not supposed to eat any kind of meat...well most of them.) but I started smiling again. He came back with chicken on his plate ;)
Back home, things got more global. All the kids in family and around are more Hinglish than any other language. (Hinglish = Hindi + English(American)). Wonder what's in store for them.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
25 comments:
Indeed we r all going global. In a way it's good. Gets all cultures together. Aus is very multi-cultural country and I love how alot off ppl start to appreciate each other because of that. But then again one shouldnt forget his/her origins as well as it's traditions/language/ways etc. A good balance is always the best.
Keshi.
Learning our language is always good whereever / whatever we are.
Oh yes..everones going global..but i sumhow feel its always gudd to know ur mother tongue.again,its jus an opinion! :)
p.s and if ur in a city like Mumbai,learning new langs and customs is inevitble and nice
Great post! I do think it's best to know a little english where ever you are. Especially now adays more people are becoming bi~lingual. Thank you so much for stopping by, I'm very glad you enjoy my latest work! :o)
thts beauty of being in india..even after being in same country, you can go to two places that are entirely different from each other..
india is more globally diverse thn any other country.
Your mother tongue is important within your 4 walls between friends and fmaily only. Once yous tep out, you have freedom to choose what language you wanan speak. Just becoz you come across your gujju guy, its not ok to say hi in same language. You have a choice. If he likes it let him proceed, if not just walk off. Thaz me!!!
Eating wat you like is different from your religion. Time is different and many ppl' go what comes first. If yous tick to your religion, I wonder how many days you have to starve, looking for veg' hotels in NA.
Its your life and your choice. Nobody dares question you coz its you who decide.
In spite of going global, we are truly indian in heart and not speaking in mother is not a crime but knowing it makes you feel closer to your roots, kind of gives you an identity... i feel so :-).
So true we are going global in every sense. I think we need to keep an open mind about people and places and not think only of ourselves and where we come from.I have to say that each and every person no matter where they come from have something to being to the table.something we can learn and adapt to.
Priya, thanks for caryying on further. That was the point I was trying to make ;)
All, I was talking about how my graph is interspered with different cultures. I thought that was different from forgeting. I do admit, balancing is the issue here but I had no control.
Mumbaiya language itself means language of many different languages. Hindi got mixed with many words.
banditarme, lord anshul : Thanks for stopping by. Comments appreciated.
Times are indeed changing fast... and it takes some to acclimatize with the shifts in environment a bit more time than the rest. But going global, as u rightly said, is indeed is whats happening all around!!
:)
it's really good
yep!! going global is the in thing..and then you should have a grasp of your mother tongue too..you don't need to get a gyaanpeeth award in your mother tongue...but yeah at least basic know-how will help you avoid such situations..
-aby
hahaa... atleast being totally out of sync wit de lingo cld help them not understand wat ppl goota say bout their apparent ignorance!!!
the word "global" is going too much global these days! :P
great post. its vert true we are all going global
I have basically started eating everything that walks or crawls but doesn't talk :)
However, with the increasing mix tongues, it is important for parents to make sure their child learns his traditional mother tongue...or that will be one big tradition lost.
I can understood ur feelings. Our generation is fast veering towards foreign-style lifestyle!
golbguru, Karthik, White forest, Markiv, vibhor, cardamom, prabhakar : Thanks for your comments and welcome to my blog.
Prabhakar : May I ask why you choose to localize your blog? I do understand hindi and respect your decision. But personally I think Internet is all about making easy for world to communicate. This localization will only restrict your communication. Cheers.
Yes, that's ehat is happening in most of the families all around...
Wow, i found this very very interesting! It's amazing how your identity becomes intrinsically linked to outside things like food and language. I mean, you can't change that your gujarati. No matter what you eat, what you speak, what you worship, your always goign to be that. But i think it's important not to lose your culture as well, although a good way to not lose your culture is to simply respect it.
Cya!
-Amy
http://portviladreamer.blogspot.com
hiya
just one thing to add on: going gung-ho about being global is fair enough in this world, shrinked to a macrocosm, but roots give your the element that you are. Someday when you will be lost in the maze of universality and walk on the shadows of your entity your roots will provide you firm ground to boot on. seriously...
Amrita,
Not sure where I went "gung-ho" about going global. Post was not about ridiculing culture or roots. It was about how things get distorted due to circumstances and how "perfectionists" look at you.
Do not want to ignore/forget traditions but at same time cannot help getting mixed with surrounding. Actually, I wouldn't even try not mixing.
Thanks for stopping by.
I really wish I could speak my mother tongue well, but I can't. It embarrasses me sometimes, to be honest. I would really like to pass it on to my kids when I have them, and keep this thing going, but... it's hard.
Nice post.
Post a Comment