Nothing really happened today for me to post this on my blog. These are thoughts that are always present in my mind.
I have always felt that I belong to this category called ‘Cultural Disconnect’. I do not think such a term exists but let us say I have coined it….hehe….my blog after all, I can churn out any terms I want.
‘Cultural Disconnect’ is the set of people whose root background has nothing to do with their personality in terms of language spoken, the style of communication and dressing, line of thoughts, attitude, pre-conceived notions, etc. It is in such a situation that such people end up making friends who have absolutely nothing in common culture-wise. Most of them do not have pre-defined notions that a community has towards certain ideas or customs.
I am a Mallu but I do not think I know everything that a Mallu should know. I feel I do not know much about the language, customs of Kerala, and typical Kerala cuisine, and have not seen most of the places in Kerala. One reason is that most of my childhood has been outside India and I never really got any exposure to the Kerala culture. During my childhood days, my parents were not very keen on ensuring I got to know all about Kerala. I did have exposure to some amazing and wonderful Malayalam movies of the 80s so thankfully the language is not very alien to me. I was quite a rebel to learn the language as a subject outside of school hours. Not too much of regret this lack of exposure as this resulted in my thought process and mannerisms being distinct in their own way. Hence, the cultural disconnect becomes more evident. It is a sad feeling at times to feel disconnected this way. I feel great when I come across a Mallu and engage in endless chatter, which would be a mix of Malayalam and English. I do talk at home a lot in English than Malayalam. I am very comfortable in conversing in English and many people misunderstand that as some sort of pompous behaviour from my side. Of lately, I say to myself, “To hell with those people. I rather have nothing to do with such people.”
Out of keen interest, I do read up on facts about Kerala and I feel great when I see the gleam in people’s eyes when I say I am from Kerala. I get to see backwaters in that rare gleam of theirs. I am sure there are those like me out there who do not mind connecting with the disconnected ones!
I have always felt that I belong to this category called ‘Cultural Disconnect’. I do not think such a term exists but let us say I have coined it….hehe….my blog after all, I can churn out any terms I want.
‘Cultural Disconnect’ is the set of people whose root background has nothing to do with their personality in terms of language spoken, the style of communication and dressing, line of thoughts, attitude, pre-conceived notions, etc. It is in such a situation that such people end up making friends who have absolutely nothing in common culture-wise. Most of them do not have pre-defined notions that a community has towards certain ideas or customs.
I am a Mallu but I do not think I know everything that a Mallu should know. I feel I do not know much about the language, customs of Kerala, and typical Kerala cuisine, and have not seen most of the places in Kerala. One reason is that most of my childhood has been outside India and I never really got any exposure to the Kerala culture. During my childhood days, my parents were not very keen on ensuring I got to know all about Kerala. I did have exposure to some amazing and wonderful Malayalam movies of the 80s so thankfully the language is not very alien to me. I was quite a rebel to learn the language as a subject outside of school hours. Not too much of regret this lack of exposure as this resulted in my thought process and mannerisms being distinct in their own way. Hence, the cultural disconnect becomes more evident. It is a sad feeling at times to feel disconnected this way. I feel great when I come across a Mallu and engage in endless chatter, which would be a mix of Malayalam and English. I do talk at home a lot in English than Malayalam. I am very comfortable in conversing in English and many people misunderstand that as some sort of pompous behaviour from my side. Of lately, I say to myself, “To hell with those people. I rather have nothing to do with such people.”
Out of keen interest, I do read up on facts about Kerala and I feel great when I see the gleam in people’s eyes when I say I am from Kerala. I get to see backwaters in that rare gleam of theirs. I am sure there are those like me out there who do not mind connecting with the disconnected ones!
3 comments:
whr u get the time to think and write?...nice one connecting the disconnected one.
@Vikram
Finding time to blog is becoming very difficult for me because of my hectic work schedule.
Whenever any thought comes up to my mind, I note it down somewhere so that when I finally get time, I can post the same on my blog.
I love yr attitude!!! Spunky girl!!!
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