Talking about India always makes me nostalgic. I can go on and on. Why? I have been living outside India for 15 years. Looking at the current situation, I don’t know when I would be able to meet my parents. I guess the nostalgia that I feel while thinking or talking about India made me pick the theme for #A2Z2020 as well. In the challenge, even if I talked about the USA in all 36 posts, they were written from an immigrant’s eye. Don’t forget to check them out. I am sure you will love them.
While I am writing this post, there are so many thoughts that are coming and going. Thoughts from my childhood; my school days, my college days, and my workdays. I feel one blog post may not be sufficient to talk about India. Today, I have so much to write, but I cannot decide how to start. Please, pardon me. I know I am a writer and saying this does not suit me. But maybe because I feel it and I want to keep it that way. Sometimes, we just want to be with our thoughts and don’t want to express it. But then my writer’s brain says, ‘say it when it is so beautiful, and you feel so deeply about it.’ So, here I am…
To me, India is not just my motherland. It is the country which gave me my identity. It taught me the meaning of “bhaichara”. Let me add the word “behenchara” as well (brotherhood/sisterhood). It made me understand the importance of festivals and culture; it taught me the beauty of voluntarily helping someone. It made me love India more. I am not sure if I could see these things from a different angle if I were in India. But today, when I mention them to my kids during our talks, it makes me happy and proud to think about them.
I recently spoke with Deepika of Kula Village about raising Indian kids abroad. Check out our video.
Long time back, I wrote a post on what are the things that I crave about India? Whats your guess? Is it food? Is it shopping? No & No. Do check out the post and then you will understand what India means to me.
Whenever I visit India, I try to let my kids absorb the vibes of being Bhartiya (that’s a different thing that they are USA citizens). I feel proud to hear their answer when we say “you are an American Indian” and they reply “no, we are Indian”. In every visit, they bring back a bag full of memories and many surprising incidences or special moments. Starting from complex bhaiya’s stationery shop or roadside tea and samosa shop, vegetable vendors coming and ringing the bell and asking my mom, “Auntiji, basket de do. Batao, kya kya chaiye” (give me your basket, tell me, what all you want). They learn the hospitality of not letting anyone go without offering them water with some sweet. These small teachable moments become an integral part of my India trips.
That’s why India, to me, is not just my motherland. Whenever I hear Jana Gana Mana, it makes me nostalgic. I am yet to find the reason, but I feel proud of it. When I watched our Prime Minister doing Bhumi Poojan at Ayodhya, I felt proud to be born in a country that gave birth to such beautiful and mesmerizing shlokas and Vedas. Don’t you feel serene when you hear the mantrochhar (chanting)?
I feel content to see my kids having a special place for India in their heart. I feel that as a parent it is a certificate for me when I see the love and respect, they have for India even if they were born here. They may not feel the nostalgia I feel when I hear the National Anthem but if they are able to sing it properly then that’s enough for me. If they do not compare the two countries then that is enough for me, if they proudly talk about India, then that is satisfaction for me. And what India means to me.
This post is written for the SpeakEasy Blogging Challenge2.0 hosted by Ruchi and Dipika. Thanks to both of you for bringing together 25 bloggers and coming up with such a beautiful theme.
