I am an Indian

Where are you from? I get asked this question a lot, mostly by taxi drivers. And usually I never reply straight away. I play this game where I turn the question on them. Where do you think I am from? I've gotten the most intriguing answers. Mostly it's Malaysian or Indonesian (Has everything to do with me being in Singapore and having chinki-ish eyes). Occasionally, I get called Thai or Nepali. One taxi driver was convinced I was European if not eastern European. I'd like to smoke whatever he was on.

But I digress. So as I was saying, in this funny little game I play, I rarely get called Indian. Most get very surprised when I reveal my nationality (Some in a Russell Peter's type 'Noooo' and other in demented Singlish- Cannot be lah!) And somehow that always gets me thinking about my indian-ness. Not questioning it, just thinking about it.

Growing up in Urban India, I was never confronted with questions about Indian-ness, mine or anyone else's. Everyone around was Indian. It was nothing new, nothing out of the ordinary. Differences emerged in other ways. The mallu who has relatives in 'Gelf' v/s the Gujjubhai who wants Dhokla for 'Snakes' , The Subramaniam who eats curd rice with his hands (and sometime the forearm too) v/s the Khanna who swears by his chole puri. What makes anyone different is the language they speak, the way they eat, what they eat, which state they come from and sometimes (sadly so) even where they pray. And as Indians, we usually revel in our differences, we very often poke fun at them, we sometimes fight over them, but we never let go of them.

And that is why, in India you can never be just an Indian. It is never enough. What use is that? It can't help anyone label you. You have to be a Gujarati or a Punjabi or a South-Indian (yeah that category gets lumped together) or a delhite or some equal denomination. You just have to be from somewhere. Somewhere Different.

But where does that leave me? I am a product of north and south-east indian intimacy. A Mumbaite in attitude and a Delhi-ite at heart. A lover of mooli parathas, paani puri and all things rassam. I speak comfortably in 3 different Indian languages besides Hindi but I think mostly in English. I appreciate the colors and beauty of a Hindu Temple as willingly as I take in the serenity of a church. I am equally likely to be found slurping curd rice from my hand as I am to be found enjoying spoonfuls of Rajma-Chawal. And now, add to all that- eating with chopsticks and speaking in Singlish. So what does that make me?

I say, it makes me an Indian. 100%. Nothing more, nothing less.

Currently Reading- Shalimar the Clown- Salman Rushdie
Currently Listening- Tum Pukar lo- Khamoshi, Little Boxes- Devendra Banhart, Karma Police- Radiohead