EYD is starting a new series called Multiple Perspectives, where we celebrate the diversity present inside the Desi community. Desi is a word that encompasses so many people including and beyond the Indian community. All of these people have so many different beliefs, religions, social norms, and perspectives.
Through this series, EYD hopes to showcase just how unique we all are, and how broad and beautiful the Desi community is.
Charlotte Shaji:
Our first post is by Charlotte Shaji, a South-Indian Christian teenager living in Australia! She describes some of the struggles she faced living in a community where she didn’t see many others like her.
"Growing up a South-Indian-Christian, I lived in a more largely populated city of Australia, consisting of a larger Desi community, and I had my own community of South Indian Christians. All my friends at school were South Asian. We would often bring similar lunches to school, talk about growing up in a brown household, had similar taste in music, and would dress traditional at school events. Overall, I was very cultured, and fit in to a community. Soon after, my family moved to a less populated place, - a more rural part of Australia - in which there wasn’t a greater community of South Indian’s like me. As I settled in, I started to miss being a part of a South-Indian community, attending Desi events, being able to wear my lehengas, and embrace my culture.
It was a completely different atmosphere since I was used to being surrounded by people of so many different cultures, and so I felt too cultured. I talked less about my culture, feeling the need to stay away from ‘cultural’ topics, because no one would really understand.
As of now, I have a few South-Asian friends who all have similar issues with being ‘too cultured’ or being ‘too white-washed’, but we ended up finding that right balance between the two, and just being who we are, even if it took a long time and a lot of work and effort.
Don’t ever try to hide your roots. Focus on embracing them. You can always find that right balance between Desi and ‘white-washed’ if you try, even if it takes a while."
Jaziba Iftikhar
This post is by Jaziba Iftikhar, a Pakistani Muslim teen from Australia! She shares her thoughts on how being different has helped her develop self-confidence and come to terms with her identity.
"Living as a Pakistani Muslim in a more rural part of Australia meant that growing up, I never really fit in anywhere. I was too cultured, or ‘different’ for the kids at school and never cultured enough for people back home.
In my city and school, specifically, there was never a huge Desi population, let alone a Muslim one. So, I often found myself caught between 2 worlds. Living as a Pakistani Muslim in a more rural part of Australia meant that growing up, I never really fit in anywhere. I was too cultured, or ‘different’ for the kids at school and never cultured enough for people back home.
In my city and school, specifically, there was never a huge Desi population, let alone a Muslim one. So, I often found myself caught between 2 worlds. It’s still a struggle every day, and some days, even when i am surrounded by large groups of people, I feel more alone and isolated than ever.
As cliche as it sounds, it’s just a matter of knowing who your friends are and embracing where you come from; because being different is what makes you beautiful."
Coco Dare
Coco Dare shares her experiences being half-Desi in a predominantly white area. We hope you enjoy her post!
In the places where I grew up, I was always the only brown person. Once in school, we were coloring, and a girl asked me to hand her the ‘skin colored’ pencil.
My first response was to reach for the brown colored pencil when a realization hit me. What did she mean, ‘skin color’? I asked her and she looked at me like I was dumb. She replied with, "The brown isn’t a skin colored pencil. I mean skin color," indicating the cream colored pencil next to me.
After that incident, I was really embarrassed about the color of my skin. I would always give people their ‘skin color’ and pretended I wasn’t brown. After a while I did, I forgot about the color of my skin and kept on believing that I was white.
Shortly after, I moved to another town shortly after. There, I met another half-Indian girl who was also from Tamil- Nadu. We didn’t know lots about our culture, but it was enough for us to talk about it together.
I moved, once again, to a larger town and met a group of Desi girls at the new school I had moved to. When I was with them, it was like I had found the other half of me. I didn’t have to pretend I was someone I wasn’t. Looking back, I realize how harmful it was for me to
delude myself into changing my whole identity. Now that I have a supportive group of Desi girls around me, it's a lot easier for me to love my culture, and I urge you to do the same.