Speaking of Identity

Over the past few months, I've thought about my identity more than ever before. My experiences here have reshaped my sense of self as an individual as well as a global citizen, not only on a personal level but as a professional individual - a student that is about to graduate and pursue a career in global health. For me, growing up with the influence of several different cultures and a family that emphasizes travel, my personal identity has always been intertwined with my identity as a global, multicultural citizen. Specifically, through my time in India, I have realized that my identity is a little complicated and can be really difficult to explain to people. Using this example, I have been able to better understand people’s outlooks and thought processes in understanding multiculturalism.

What has stood out the most when explaining my identity is that people have an incessant urge to categorize each other. And it is really hard for people (often those who haven’t had the opportunity to travel much and who come from very homogeneous societies) to understand that the world is changing and people are often no longer solely identifiable by one ethnicity or race but by a mosaic of backgrounds.

I look Indian, I talk like a Canadian, I’ve spent years growing up in Africa…what does that mean? How could I possibly be expected to sum up who I am by using only one of those options? In my eyes, I’m like a puzzle and all the pieces come from different places. Growing up in Canada has perhaps made me take it for granted that people will accept this complexity without a question. In India, this concept is certainly harder to relay. When asked if I’m Indian, contentment fills the persons’ face when I say that I am but disappointment soon follows when I can’t speak much Hindi or Bengali and have little more Indian about me to offer. In a way, I feel like I’m disconnected from my true heritage (a sentiment I’ve never felt so strongly before). 

At one point during our trip in Kerala, we were on a tour of a rural village located in the backwaters of Alleppey. We were being led by a local Indian villager and spent the tour mingling with a group of non-coloured tourists from England, Germany, Spain, and Israel. It was an odd experience because I truly felt divided between two worlds. I felt as though I understood the customs, habits, hospitality, and food we were exposed to by the locals and wasn’t weirded out by any of it. But I also understood the confused looks the other foreigners were giving each other at times and why the experience was slightly odd to them. It was strange being the only one straddling both cultures in that moment and having to overcome the surprise I felt at being the only one that felt so torn. 

All in all, the lessons that came out of these sorts of experiences in India have made me realize that although in so many ways people around the world are mixing cultures, being influenced by different ways of life, and identifying as more than one thing – in other ways many are still very untouched by this concept and compartmentalization/categorization is still very common and necessary in forming understandings of each other. I never realized how much we take multiculturalism for granted in Canadian culture. I am grateful to say that this experience jolted a new understanding, on a global level, that we have a long way to go when it comes to learning how to openly define each other in order to peacefully work together for a brighter, globally unified future.