Maintaining identities in a melting pot of culture

Culture and tradition survive by generations of practice. Living in a world interspersed where cultural identities keep intermingling, it is a challenge to preserve our own.

And, if you have just moved to the US, as an immigrant you are expected to follow the rules and melt into the cultural pot. One would think that the process requires a lot of compromise, but interestingly, Indian immigrants here emerge as those multi-grain bars that retain their original flavour and taste even if they are stuck to other grains.

If this sounds unbelievable, all you need to do is to walk into the kitchen of any Indian home in the US (with permission, of course). You will find containers of rice, wheat, pulses, tamarind, jaggery along with pressure cookers, food processors, tawas and traditional coffee fitted snugly into the kitchen with toasters, sandwich makers, pizza pans and baking accessories. 

Next, as you move towards the closets, you cannot miss the beautiful kurtis, salwars, dhotis and sarees hanging by the side of formal trousers, shirts and dresses. The drawers in the women’s closet are sure to stock kumkum, bangles and mehendi sticks. Even in case of studio apartments, most Indians, irrespective of their religion, would have made room for a little altar.

When shopping for grocery, you cannot miss shops with the names of Patel and Pattidar printed on their boards, luring people with groceries popular across the Indian sub-continent. What’s more, these shops are found alongside the ShopRite and Wegman stores. And, if you decide to dine out, you should be able to spot Saravana Bhavan or Amma’s kitchen or even Anjappar next to Chipotles, Panera breads and IHOP pancake shops.

Indians here may have lived decades away from their homeland, but their ethnicities remain rooted to their original identity. This is particularly true of Tamilians living abroad.

For instance, if you are a child from the Indian American family, you are expected to be studious. In a neighborhood dominated by Indian Americans, you can expect mushrooming of Aloha and Kumon centers that provide intenseafter-school training and would be a usual with the competitive environment that comes with spelling bees and science Olympiads.

If you look into the job market, you will find Indian immigrants dominating in the fields of software and medicine.

Besides Indians, people with other cultural backgrounds such as Chinese, Africans, Jews, Mexicans, Korean, Russians and Italians among others, retain a distinct ethnic identity of their own. But, even among them, Indians manage to stand out by the virtue of their rich cultural heritage.

Does this, however, mean that Indians in America lead an isolated life? Absolutely not! “My teen son’s best friends are Americans of non-Indian origin. Also as muchas he indulges in the mainstream Western culture back home, he has no problem leading our Indian way of life,going to temples, watching Indian movies and having home-made sambar and rasam,” says Kesav Krish, who moved to the US 20 years ago.

Another Indian parent, Rajeev Venkat, says, “My son married an Irish American girl, but in their home, the prayer hall is replete with Hindu Gods and they have no problem in celebrating Deepavali. They also visit Hindu temples on all auspicious days.”

“Not only that, my grandson plays the piano and is learning to play the Carnatic classical violin. He also enjoys listening to Bombay Jayshree’s rendition in the car while travelling to work,” Rajeev adds. 

Speaking about her initial days in the foreign land, Rekha Ranjith, says, “I used to hesitate to wear kumkum on my forehead to work, but later I felt comfortable enough after being accepted as a part of the Indian community. It helps me to showcase my cultural identity,” she says. 

Here, it is not uncommon to find check boxes asking for your origin and ethnicities while applying for a loan, or drivers’ licence with an option to not disclose.

Contrary to the belief back in the homeland that Indians abroad embrace Western culture and shed their Indian way of life, it is hard for us to let go off our culture even when we are thousands of kilometres away from home.