Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Who are we?

Estee Martin had written, "Identity is the theft of the self"
Regular blog readers (i know of none) will all agree that they disagree. Identity, however is a complex business. I was reading a TOI edit-piece. It talked about how in the West a whole industry of race is built. Obama's armpit hair would have stood up when the Italian PM called him "suntanned". Call a man 'coloured' and you will end up losing those millions, if you have it. If you dont-you are still screwed.

People, families migrate and their identity gets fractured. But again a choice of cultures is available for you to adapt. To fracture your identity may be painful; but it can be profoundly rewarding as well. Now you no longer think of yourself as a single, unified object, but as multiple, sometimes conflicting perspectives.

So who are we? We, Young India do not see race as a defining characteristic. Its just one of the factors that make Him/Her. We do not downgrade the importance of culture and ethnicity-we simply play it down.
So are we? A colour? A gender? Whoever or Whatever we are-I can proudly say that we (minus the leaders harping on saffron politics) are dignified people. Even the Dalit that doesnt have anything to eat tonite is better-off than the blonde who spends a grand on toe-nails. Literally.

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