The Struggle to Belong in the Shrinking Multicultural Space of India

Being an immigrant quintessentially makes you the unofficial ambassador of two nations – the one you live in and the one you are originally from. It is queer because you partly belong to both but can’t completely own either. On the other hand, it is equally convenient to dissociate from anything uncomfortable, be it cultural, social, or political as long as it does not impact your life. But sometimes your allegiance is deeper enough to stir a thought.

This summer I was visiting India, my homeland, after four years. There were many emotions guiding the trip. Some personal voids needed final closure too. The most pertinent was to visit my parents’ graves. Standing beside the graves of the only people, in front of whom you were always a child with all your deepest vulnerabilities – was shattering. I felt like crying out loud but the chilling realization of their inability to hear me choked me from within. Finally, we all turn to dust! Each step way back was surreal. The road that once led to home, looked distantly familiar now – as if time was already settling dust over their imprints. Perhaps, that is what one calls closure.

During my stay in India I felt like a traveler, more so because most of the days were spent in traveling and recovering from the fatigue of the journeys. And the most intriguing and informative interactions were the casual talks with the cab drivers. I tell you, if you have not listened to them or coaxed them into talking you have missed the pulse of the common man. It might be hard to agree with their opinion because now much like the Doordarshan of the 80s and 90s it is WhatsApp leading the information wave, while you might still be the one who goes to news sources to read the news. Though, finding a news source that has journalistic values still in place is a tougher task these days.

I am news addicted but have to acknowledge, in all that travel frenzy I could not pay attention to what was happening around, especially in the state of Manipur. One night while we were sitting with family and the news was playing on the television that I heard about the unimaginably horrid incident. It was hard to understand how even to this present day can women be publicly disgraced in my very own country. Intimidation and violence with the intention to annihilate an ethnic group that the majority does not think belongs to the land is heartbreaking and alarming. What have we become? From where does this hate come and where is it all heading? I shudder at the thought of such men and such mobs and what they can do to anyone whom they choose to pick. Injustice and cruelty has a rippling effect and it never remains isolated.

The consequences of dwelling on differences between races, castes, communities, and regions has an even greater implication in a country like India with multilayered diversity. Someone recently asked me to describe India and believe me it was difficult because each of its regions differ from the other in many many ways but they all constitute India. Describing one region and its people cannot ever justify the picture of India. And that is what makes it unique and rich.

Back in the US just before the trip, hearing my plans to go to India, a neighbor, who has great admiration for Indian cuisine and the Taj Mahal, said in jest, ‘bring me the Taj Mahal from India!’ I had a mixed feeling. I was delighted to hear what the Taj means to even foreigners like her who know India vaguely, but was saddened to think the predicament this piece of history may face. It was hard to imagine how long the iconic monument will last when the Mughal history is being deliberately erased from history books and common consciousness by the current regime.

The Mughals did not plunder India and go back. Instead, they settled and within a generation or two had Indian blood running in their veins. From Emperor Akbar onwards many of his successors married Rajput princesses and most of their sons inherited the crown – both Emperors Jahangir (Jodha Bai) and Shah Jahan (Manvati Bai) had Rajput mothers. During the time, they coexisted in harmony and peace. If the Mughals are outsiders to the history of India, then I am afraid it is hard to say anyone belongs to any place.

If in the 21^st century we are talking about races that settled a few hundred years back as outsiders and trying hard to erase the contributions they made in shaping what we are today, then our utmost desire to settle abroad, get citizenship at the earliest, and exercise our rights as citizens vying for top official positions, is an existence in duality. We take pride in the United States Vice President, Kamala Harris’s and Prime Minister of Britain, Rishi Sunak’s Indian lineage and wish more success for them in their respective countries but we are still skeptical about Sonia Gandhi’s loyalty to India.

The fact that the history of India is rich and multilayered tells a lot about the innate nature of its inhabitants. We privately may indulge in frivolous inane potshots pointing at differential stereotypes that emanate from personal biases, but in public domain our better sense largely prevails, if not otherwise instigated. We are aware of the differences in our regional languages, food habits, physical features, etc. but that is trivial when the question of nationality comes in place. It is perhaps because since ancient times be it the Aryans, the Mongols, or the Mughals, India has witnessed onslaught of foreign invaders some of whom looted and left while others made it their home. The ones who stayed were gradually embraced by the populace.

It is pointless to pursue the argument as to whom the nation belongs – be it the Meitei’s hounding the Kuki’s of Manipur to show that they do not belong or a school teacher in Uttar Pradesh prompting classmates of a student to slap him, making an excuse of his ineptitude, to teach ‘the boy and his kind’ a lesson that they do not belong to her classroom. They are incidents that shake our sensibilities as a nation. No wonder then that most of us condemn the hatred that has reached the streets and the classrooms.

And though many times bulldozers have rolled over scores of houses without a legal notice by the court on many minority habitations yet the government’s effort to paint and provide a facelift to historical monuments in the capital, belonging to the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal era, on the eve of the G20 Summit makes it a point that India still takes pride in the cultural richness its history manifests. The background of Konark and Nalanda setting the stage for the G20 summit makes it further evident that an awareness of the past enriches the present. It need not be selective. Undoubtedly, the success stories of India in different arenas be it the Chandrayaan mission or winning the Asia Cup are scripted by team work that rises above divisive agenda and is propelled by mutual cooperation and a sense that we belong to the land.