Something I wrote for a publication-
Advantages of knowing one’s root, language and culture in this era of world citizenship
-Amrita Datta, Tulane University,
New Orleans, LA
Dated: 26th august’08
While going global, and, east meets west is not a bad idea, in the long run when one takes a step back, to look at things from a third person perspective, the idea of world citizenship lands, most, if not all globe trotters and citizens of the world, if you will, in a grey area, namely identity crisis.
While you, as citizens of the world are able to make intelligent wisecracks on the open french food market and seem to have developed a taste for wasabi and raw fish, how comfortable are you in your own skin, or how much do you know about the land of your forefathers? In essence who are you and what makes you different from any other person reading this article?
To know who you are and where you come from, is imperative, and more so in today’s era.
And while I am not a great believer in building a microcosmic community feeling, I nevertheless take a pride in the fact that I am firstly an Indian, and then a cosmopolitan Bengali.
As I see the sun go down on the banks of Mississippi, I close my eyes, to smell the water, transcending myself to the banks of Haridwar, with its chiming bells and thousand lights. That is who I am. So many such things, give me a sense of belonging, keep me rooted, keep me cocooned, keep me going, so no matter where I am or who with, I know I have a long line of ancestors and an unparalleled history in terms of culture, traditions, religion and faith over looking me. That to me is all the advantage I need.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Lineage.....
A great lineage could mean so many things....to some it means a family history of Harvard or MIT degrees...or IIM and ISC graduates....to some it may mean a family history of great film stars......to many more it may mean.....a family background of politicians, civil servants, engineers or doctors.
To me a great lineage is, a family history of shared roof, a family history of loyalty, love, fearlessness, self empowerment, girl power and selfless work.
My mother often asks me to think about giving the civil service exams when I get back home, and more often than not the idea is ridiculed by my father, saying that....in the civil services lineage is very important...you have to have a background in it...a family history of civil servants.... for you to survive, else like so many others you are just a pawn, not to say that if you have a family background of civil servants then you are not a pawn, but then that is a whole different line of discussion in itself, let's keep that for some time later.
My concern here is less contextual, the question i ask myself is what is lineage?
My paternal aunt, while still a young girl, single handedly took it upon herself to bring up three brothers and two sisters, sacrificing her personal life....and becoming an income tax officer at the tender age of 21.......my maternal grandfather rose from a red cross volunteer to being the Secratary general of Red Cross simulatneously bringing up younger siblings his own five children and supporting his older siblings....
It is simple chemistry, like the change in oxidation state. To me, My aunt and grandfather add more value to the word lineage than a family history of IITians .
Ofcourse it is a great honour and responsibilty (if not burden too ) to carry the family name forward for all those who are children of privilige and lineage, in the generally percieved sense of the word, and I agree that they deserve a pat in the back for being what they are BUT to me when I see a a guy , my own classmate of four years..... from a small village in Bihar(, India), mortgage his father's only piece of land and earn an engineering degree, learn to speak english in an environment with reeks with mockery at the non english speakers, survive financial difficulties and personal struggles and get a dream job, that to me, is, lineage in the making.
To me a great lineage is, a family history of shared roof, a family history of loyalty, love, fearlessness, self empowerment, girl power and selfless work.
My mother often asks me to think about giving the civil service exams when I get back home, and more often than not the idea is ridiculed by my father, saying that....in the civil services lineage is very important...you have to have a background in it...a family history of civil servants.... for you to survive, else like so many others you are just a pawn, not to say that if you have a family background of civil servants then you are not a pawn, but then that is a whole different line of discussion in itself, let's keep that for some time later.
My concern here is less contextual, the question i ask myself is what is lineage?
My paternal aunt, while still a young girl, single handedly took it upon herself to bring up three brothers and two sisters, sacrificing her personal life....and becoming an income tax officer at the tender age of 21.......my maternal grandfather rose from a red cross volunteer to being the Secratary general of Red Cross simulatneously bringing up younger siblings his own five children and supporting his older siblings....
It is simple chemistry, like the change in oxidation state. To me, My aunt and grandfather add more value to the word lineage than a family history of IITians .
Ofcourse it is a great honour and responsibilty (if not burden too ) to carry the family name forward for all those who are children of privilige and lineage, in the generally percieved sense of the word, and I agree that they deserve a pat in the back for being what they are BUT to me when I see a a guy , my own classmate of four years..... from a small village in Bihar(, India), mortgage his father's only piece of land and earn an engineering degree, learn to speak english in an environment with reeks with mockery at the non english speakers, survive financial difficulties and personal struggles and get a dream job, that to me, is, lineage in the making.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Many years ago...I had heard this song on radio...under dim lights, sleeping with ma. I would have to think it was tenth grade, the summer of '99. In the heart of the night,the sound of sweet lilting music filled me with so much warmth...I was sleepy because I never quite caught the name of the song or the artist. I never forgot the song, ofcourse the words faded, and the music was no more than a very faint jingle.
Today, 9 years down the line, I was searching youtube for John Denver's "leaving on a jet plane", the video ,the lyrics of the song ,for a reason I still cannot quite comprehend, compelled me to know more about the man who made such beautiful music and wrote such exquisite words.
Wikipedia ,like many occassions gives me a detailed account his life, works, and other trivia.
It talks of this and that. I can almost see, imagine the man right in front of my eyes.
I quote from wikipedia, Denver's first marriage was to Annie Martell of St. Peter, Minnesota. Annie was the subject of his much-beloved hit "Annie's Song".
I am alone in the lab and it's a sunday. So, as my trypsin-EDTA thaws, I hit the link for 'John Denver - Annie´s Song' posted by one...lsauria.
I get back to sifting through papers on the desk.
The music begins...there is a strange trembling in me.....much like when I heard the notes for Celine Dion's "evrynight in my dreams..." as i saw jack go down into the atlantic.
And then it all came rushing back.....the summer of '99. It wasn't a magnificent summer, but it was the summer I had heard this spectacular, almost haunting, lovely love song.
The magic was all over the room, recreated almost 9 years later.....
A thousand salutes and more to the "One" above...God....He sure has His ways......
"......you fill up my senses...like a night in the forest...like mountains in spring time...like a walk in the rain....."
Today, 9 years down the line, I was searching youtube for John Denver's "leaving on a jet plane", the video ,the lyrics of the song ,for a reason I still cannot quite comprehend, compelled me to know more about the man who made such beautiful music and wrote such exquisite words.
Wikipedia ,like many occassions gives me a detailed account his life, works, and other trivia.
It talks of this and that. I can almost see, imagine the man right in front of my eyes.
I quote from wikipedia, Denver's first marriage was to Annie Martell of St. Peter, Minnesota. Annie was the subject of his much-beloved hit "Annie's Song".
I am alone in the lab and it's a sunday. So, as my trypsin-EDTA thaws, I hit the link for 'John Denver - Annie´s Song' posted by one...lsauria.
I get back to sifting through papers on the desk.
The music begins...there is a strange trembling in me.....much like when I heard the notes for Celine Dion's "evrynight in my dreams..." as i saw jack go down into the atlantic.
And then it all came rushing back.....the summer of '99. It wasn't a magnificent summer, but it was the summer I had heard this spectacular, almost haunting, lovely love song.
The magic was all over the room, recreated almost 9 years later.....
A thousand salutes and more to the "One" above...God....He sure has His ways......
"......you fill up my senses...like a night in the forest...like mountains in spring time...like a walk in the rain....."
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