This is the final post of my recent series; if you've not been in the loop or known what's gone on here are the links for Part I, Part II and Part III.
Today's just really a conclusion of things and my thoughts on the south Asian community in general just based on things I've seen, heard and experienced. I'm a first-generation British Asian, like many others in the UK, and my family hails from East Africa with its origins based in Punjab. However, many people seem shocked that there are Indians living in Africa who aren't black which makes me laugh. I guess we're like potatoes; you find us everywhere.
Being first-generation (or second, third etc) gives you an advantage, I believe that it's a perfect opportunity to create your own unique identity, dispel with backward ideas and progress passing on strength, belief and self-assurance to the next generation. It's a golden opportunity to build yourself and not continue the previous generation's pain, attitude or mindset. We have the chance to change things and build ourselves to progress even further.
I agree that there are good and bad points in each generation, but it all depends on what we choose to take from it and bring forward. Most of the time, I don't see people my age taking advantage of the fact that they're born in one of the most affluent countries in the world which gives them opportunity, a decent education, everyone more or less gets a chance to try achieve what they want. Fair enough we want to go a bit crazy - drink, do things we're not supposed to and live it up as much as we can, but there's a time where you have to choose between popping bottles and making something of yourself.
But what gets to me is that the majority of us are so passive; we don't try to be proactive or really bother trying to stand up for ourselves nor our identity. Instead we behave like crabs; we constantly pull each other down and nitpick at each other:
"Oh she's so two-faced, pretends to be a goody two shoes when she's the world's biggest tart."
"He's such a player - goes with anyone, is reckless and is just a tool."
"He/she is Pakistani/Bengali/south Indian/Punjabi/ Gujarati: I automatically dislike them" and vice versa.
We don't support each other enough nor do we help each other to succeed: it's almost like we were born to dislike each other from day 1. At the end of the day, we're all brown and come under the term "south Asian" or to the racists: "Pakis."
There is so much disunity, great dislike and discomfort amongst us when there shouldn't be: the colonists were successful in their conquering of India and various countries because they picked on the differences between ethnic groups. The term: "Divide and rule" springs to mind and it is still a very successful method of controlling the masses.
Yes, we may have had our differences in the past and we come from a patchwork quilt of different cultures, languages and ideas, but at the very core of things: we're not so different from each other.
Yet the irony here is that whilst we enjoying dissecting each other and berating one another for our faults, we cannot stand it if someone outside of our culture/ethnicity or even caste dares to cast an opinion on us.
This is where we start to fall apart because we're not strong or supporting each other, because wherever there are chinks in the armour is where the pieces come apart the quickest.
How are we supposed to progress and build a stronger generation when we ourselves cannot resolve issues between ourselves, our families, our friends?
We sit very comfortably on our high horses looking down at each other and laughing at those who buck the trend and go off in their own direction. Instead of supporting them, we laugh at them, put them down, criticise them and try to break their self-confidence when really we should be encouraging them for doing something different. It's not easy going off down a path where no one has been before.
We don't seem to follow our hearts and go for what we really want; there needs to be more brave individuals in the south Asian community to represent us, speak for us and reassure us that we can do anything provided we have talent, determination, the will to succeed and support of our peers.
We need more south Asians in politics, the media, sports and in the general public domain. I wish that, as a collective group, we were braver and believed in ourselves more. There is an abundance of talent in our community that is either suppressed or too scared to branch out into the world to make something of themselves in fear of failure or disapproval from our families.
Do it! Be brave for God's sake: what's the worst that can happen?
I'm pretty certain that your family will still love you at the end of the day because you are their child, their relation and they will always be 100% behind you.
I wish that every single one us rethought the way we think, the actions we do and why we do certain things without us realising it. We blindly follow institutions without asking questions; how can we progress if we don't ask questions?
It's time we stood up for ourselves, our culture and our identity: we've been so caught up in Western issues that we have forgotten who we are. There is a reason why I selected this specific title: Asians never answer back. We shrink back into the shadows and swallow our tongues when sh*t is thrown at us or someone we know because we are told that to stay quiet is the best solution. It isn't anymore.
I'm not saying that we should all stick our middle finger up at people (as much as we want to) or join radical anti-establishment groups, participate in gang or dodgy behaviour but we must start to assert ourselves and defend one another regardless of difference.
Yes, sometimes silence is more powerful than words can ever be, but we must learn to stand up for one another, help each other and move forward together as a collective group. There is an arsenal of strength, talent, power and innovation within us - it's time we unlock it and prove to ourselves what we can do.
Today's just really a conclusion of things and my thoughts on the south Asian community in general just based on things I've seen, heard and experienced. I'm a first-generation British Asian, like many others in the UK, and my family hails from East Africa with its origins based in Punjab. However, many people seem shocked that there are Indians living in Africa who aren't black which makes me laugh. I guess we're like potatoes; you find us everywhere.
Being first-generation (or second, third etc) gives you an advantage, I believe that it's a perfect opportunity to create your own unique identity, dispel with backward ideas and progress passing on strength, belief and self-assurance to the next generation. It's a golden opportunity to build yourself and not continue the previous generation's pain, attitude or mindset. We have the chance to change things and build ourselves to progress even further.
I agree that there are good and bad points in each generation, but it all depends on what we choose to take from it and bring forward. Most of the time, I don't see people my age taking advantage of the fact that they're born in one of the most affluent countries in the world which gives them opportunity, a decent education, everyone more or less gets a chance to try achieve what they want. Fair enough we want to go a bit crazy - drink, do things we're not supposed to and live it up as much as we can, but there's a time where you have to choose between popping bottles and making something of yourself.
But what gets to me is that the majority of us are so passive; we don't try to be proactive or really bother trying to stand up for ourselves nor our identity. Instead we behave like crabs; we constantly pull each other down and nitpick at each other:
"Oh she's so two-faced, pretends to be a goody two shoes when she's the world's biggest tart."
"He's such a player - goes with anyone, is reckless and is just a tool."
"He/she is Pakistani/Bengali/south Indian/Punjabi/ Gujarati: I automatically dislike them" and vice versa.
We don't support each other enough nor do we help each other to succeed: it's almost like we were born to dislike each other from day 1. At the end of the day, we're all brown and come under the term "south Asian" or to the racists: "Pakis."
There is so much disunity, great dislike and discomfort amongst us when there shouldn't be: the colonists were successful in their conquering of India and various countries because they picked on the differences between ethnic groups. The term: "Divide and rule" springs to mind and it is still a very successful method of controlling the masses.
Yes, we may have had our differences in the past and we come from a patchwork quilt of different cultures, languages and ideas, but at the very core of things: we're not so different from each other.
Yet the irony here is that whilst we enjoying dissecting each other and berating one another for our faults, we cannot stand it if someone outside of our culture/ethnicity or even caste dares to cast an opinion on us.
This is where we start to fall apart because we're not strong or supporting each other, because wherever there are chinks in the armour is where the pieces come apart the quickest.
How are we supposed to progress and build a stronger generation when we ourselves cannot resolve issues between ourselves, our families, our friends?
We sit very comfortably on our high horses looking down at each other and laughing at those who buck the trend and go off in their own direction. Instead of supporting them, we laugh at them, put them down, criticise them and try to break their self-confidence when really we should be encouraging them for doing something different. It's not easy going off down a path where no one has been before.
We don't seem to follow our hearts and go for what we really want; there needs to be more brave individuals in the south Asian community to represent us, speak for us and reassure us that we can do anything provided we have talent, determination, the will to succeed and support of our peers.
We need more south Asians in politics, the media, sports and in the general public domain. I wish that, as a collective group, we were braver and believed in ourselves more. There is an abundance of talent in our community that is either suppressed or too scared to branch out into the world to make something of themselves in fear of failure or disapproval from our families.
Do it! Be brave for God's sake: what's the worst that can happen?
I'm pretty certain that your family will still love you at the end of the day because you are their child, their relation and they will always be 100% behind you.
I wish that every single one us rethought the way we think, the actions we do and why we do certain things without us realising it. We blindly follow institutions without asking questions; how can we progress if we don't ask questions?
It's time we stood up for ourselves, our culture and our identity: we've been so caught up in Western issues that we have forgotten who we are. There is a reason why I selected this specific title: Asians never answer back. We shrink back into the shadows and swallow our tongues when sh*t is thrown at us or someone we know because we are told that to stay quiet is the best solution. It isn't anymore.
I'm not saying that we should all stick our middle finger up at people (as much as we want to) or join radical anti-establishment groups, participate in gang or dodgy behaviour but we must start to assert ourselves and defend one another regardless of difference.
Yes, sometimes silence is more powerful than words can ever be, but we must learn to stand up for one another, help each other and move forward together as a collective group. There is an arsenal of strength, talent, power and innovation within us - it's time we unlock it and prove to ourselves what we can do.
1 comment:
Yes .you are right.
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