All of India means home for cosmopolitan Indians, discovers Anuradha Varma
Labels of statehood don't stick easily on author Mukul Deva. When the ex-Indian Army officer wants to go pubbing, he hops across to Bangalore and if he feels a need to get far from the madding crowd, he unwinds in his Kasauli home. For work, Gurgaon is his base.
"I'm simply Indian," he states. This is exactly what Gul Panag, who has changed about 14 schools while growing up, also proclaims, "That's my standard answer when someone asks me where I'm from. I have special memories of every place I've lived in - studying in the world's highest school in Ladakh to visiting Lucknow where my father is now posted."
From becoming prefect in a new school like Panag, to learning the local language from the kaamwali bai like M u k u n d Menon, vicepresident, HR, Satyam, the rites of passage become lasting memories of a city that eventually catches you in its embrace. Menon grew up in Chennai, moved to the US and worked in several cities there, before shifting to Hyderabad for his current assignment. His wife is from Kerala, his children grew up in Chennai, while his mother is Sri Lankan. "Our hybrid culture helps us adapt to new cultures and move out of our comfort zones."
Like Menon, most working adults would choose a city in terms of the growth prospects available for one's career. And, for the cosmopolitan yuppie, every city comes with its own unique charms.
In fact, more than the state that it's geographically linked to, a city comes with its own separate identity. If Mumbai is considered safer for women, Delhi surprises someone with the warm welcome it holds out, while the Bangalore weather beckons another. Come December, and one yearns to relive memories of Christmas in one city, while another remembers the community gathering - across religious lines - to bring down Ravana during Dussehra.
Take Akriti Bhargava, who grew up in Allahabad, studied management in Ahmedabad, moved to Bangalore for work and is now based in Delhi, working with the job portal Naukri. Her grandfather was from Lahore. She declares, "I love the weather in Bangalore and miss Ahmedabad during the Navratras! I have friends from all across the country that I keep in touch with." Her fiance, too, has lived in various cities, a fact that she finds appealing.
Deva's wife, too, is from "God-knowswhere", but spent her early years in several cities, including Darjeeling, Shimla and Mumbai.
And, moving around, due to forced postings or simply a case of wanderlust, makes one more open to people and experiences. Moving to a new city becomes an adventure to look forward to.
Says Ayesha Banerjee, "I strongly feel that once you belong, you can never disassociate from whatever it is that claims you. Mumbai gave everything to me -friends who took me to doctors, threw parties on birthdays and adopted me on weekends, a landlady who waited up every time I was late from office."
Religious lines also get blurred somewhere along the way. Says Deva, "For me, a religious occasion is simply a day off work! I don't visit any place of worship, unless my family wants me to accompany them." For Banerjee, religion is just a sense of peace and calm. She says, "A memory from childhood that endures is the visit to Harmandir Sahib. I was overawed by the glittering gold of that beautiful shrine, the bustle of people, the gurbani... I felt I was as much a part of it as the old sardarni standing next to me."
That's why, when cosmopolitan Indians are hit by the inevitable question "Where are you from?" the answer is complex as the mind gets flooded with a rush of memories from places lived in. However, there is a simple answer - We're Indian!
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Were-hybrid-we-re-Indian/articleshow/3561539.cms
Labels of statehood don't stick easily on author Mukul Deva. When the ex-Indian Army officer wants to go pubbing, he hops across to Bangalore and if he feels a need to get far from the madding crowd, he unwinds in his Kasauli home. For work, Gurgaon is his base.
"I'm simply Indian," he states. This is exactly what Gul Panag, who has changed about 14 schools while growing up, also proclaims, "That's my standard answer when someone asks me where I'm from. I have special memories of every place I've lived in - studying in the world's highest school in Ladakh to visiting Lucknow where my father is now posted."
From becoming prefect in a new school like Panag, to learning the local language from the kaamwali bai like M u k u n d Menon, vicepresident, HR, Satyam, the rites of passage become lasting memories of a city that eventually catches you in its embrace. Menon grew up in Chennai, moved to the US and worked in several cities there, before shifting to Hyderabad for his current assignment. His wife is from Kerala, his children grew up in Chennai, while his mother is Sri Lankan. "Our hybrid culture helps us adapt to new cultures and move out of our comfort zones."
Like Menon, most working adults would choose a city in terms of the growth prospects available for one's career. And, for the cosmopolitan yuppie, every city comes with its own unique charms.
In fact, more than the state that it's geographically linked to, a city comes with its own separate identity. If Mumbai is considered safer for women, Delhi surprises someone with the warm welcome it holds out, while the Bangalore weather beckons another. Come December, and one yearns to relive memories of Christmas in one city, while another remembers the community gathering - across religious lines - to bring down Ravana during Dussehra.
Take Akriti Bhargava, who grew up in Allahabad, studied management in Ahmedabad, moved to Bangalore for work and is now based in Delhi, working with the job portal Naukri. Her grandfather was from Lahore. She declares, "I love the weather in Bangalore and miss Ahmedabad during the Navratras! I have friends from all across the country that I keep in touch with." Her fiance, too, has lived in various cities, a fact that she finds appealing.
Deva's wife, too, is from "God-knowswhere", but spent her early years in several cities, including Darjeeling, Shimla and Mumbai.
And, moving around, due to forced postings or simply a case of wanderlust, makes one more open to people and experiences. Moving to a new city becomes an adventure to look forward to.
Says Ayesha Banerjee, "I strongly feel that once you belong, you can never disassociate from whatever it is that claims you. Mumbai gave everything to me -friends who took me to doctors, threw parties on birthdays and adopted me on weekends, a landlady who waited up every time I was late from office."
Religious lines also get blurred somewhere along the way. Says Deva, "For me, a religious occasion is simply a day off work! I don't visit any place of worship, unless my family wants me to accompany them." For Banerjee, religion is just a sense of peace and calm. She says, "A memory from childhood that endures is the visit to Harmandir Sahib. I was overawed by the glittering gold of that beautiful shrine, the bustle of people, the gurbani... I felt I was as much a part of it as the old sardarni standing next to me."
That's why, when cosmopolitan Indians are hit by the inevitable question "Where are you from?" the answer is complex as the mind gets flooded with a rush of memories from places lived in. However, there is a simple answer - We're Indian!
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Were-hybrid-we-re-Indian/articleshow/3561539.cms
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