America, India, and everything in between.

I was inspired to update my blog after reading a recent NY Times article, "Farewell to an India I Hardly Knew", by Anand Giridharadas.

Calcutta, India

About two years ago, as part of an application for a part-time college job, I had to write a short essay describing my experiences with issues of diversity and my perspective with respect to cultural differences. Giridharadas' article reminded me a lot of that essay, because I talked about how I had grown up "feeling as if I was in a sort of cultural limbo - a foreigner living in America but an American when I visited India" and how, "in a way, this constant sense of cultural indecision is simply a negative consequence of the territory; my parents once explained it best when they said that they knew they would have to sacrifice some of the richness of their own traditions and conservative culture in order to fully take advantage of the opportunities and independence that American life had to offer."

But the interesting thing about the NY Times article is that it left me questioning whether what I'd written was actually true. It gave me the notion that you can have both, that you can retain your cultural heritage and your nationalistic pride and still be progressive in redefining your sense of self.

Contrary to popular belief, then, you don't have to completely turn your back on all the people you came from to become the one person you've always wanted to be. It seems obvious in retrospect, but if you can find a way to help yourself, without leaving everyone else behind, then maybe your present individual successes will turn into a future collective benefit for others.

Here's to turning that notion into some kind of positive action, regardless of what I end up doing after graduate school.