Tag: together

A Request

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Who We Are Today has been in existence for about 8 years now. Over this time, I’ve discussed different social issues that affect South Asian Indian Americans. But most of it has been from my sole perspective.

Everyone has stories. Everyone has different stories. Some are unique to us as Indians who migrated and became the first generation in their families who settled in the US. Some are unique to us as the first generation growing up in America. We all have something that happened to us that caused us to stray from our traditional path and create something new. We all have something that we needed to break away from. So now I want to share these stories.

Because if we don’t share these stories, who will?

Growing up in America means that the only history I grew up with was the one with Christopher Columbus sailing the ocean blue and discovering this country. Obviously, we now know that that’s not exactly the way it went. I definitely didn’t know as much about Indian history as I would have liked to. Anything that I’ve learned has been through Hindi movies and maybe a few books in recent years.

Most of us know someone who lived through Partition and some of the major wars that India participated in. Freedom fighters, Emergency, immigration, bullying, arranged marriages, love marriages, divorce, death, these are all discussions that shape us whether we grew up in India or in America.

So I have a request. I would like to share your story. It could be about your experience growing up in India. It could about breaking away from the traditional path while growing up in America. I believe every story is worth telling. We have lived through something important that others would benefit from hearing about. We are a huge part of this world and I think it’s time we put ourselves out there.

If you’d like to participate, please email me at whowearetoday@gmail.com or message me on social media. I’m open to any story you’d like to share as well as protecting your identity if you aren’t ready to put your name out there in the world.

I hope we can do this together. Thank you.

It’s Not Their Fault Either

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I saw a friend’s post on Facebook last night about reverse racism. She said that it’s not right because “as we all know- every race has racists”.

It’s easy as an Indian person to blame white people for the hateful shooting of an Indian man that happened in Kansas recently. It’s easy to blame white people for supporting Trump. It’s easy to blame white people for all of the fear that has arisen amongst people of different nationalities in the US.

We can’t blame all white people. I know when something terrible happens (and lately, it seems like something terrible is happening every day), it’s natural to feel that way. Even I feel that way sometimes. But it’s not right.

I think of all the awesome white people I know every time I do feel that way. I have one friend who literally posts her disgust every time there is something to be outraged about. I have friends who have never even seen the differences between us in a negative way. How many of us have white friends and coworkers who have done more to resist the negative things that have happened in this presidency than any of us Indians have?

How can we, as Indians, judge any race this way? I had a boyfriend a long time ago that had to break up with me because I wasn’t the same caste as him. We talk about Indians from other states in stereotypes all the time. All Gujaratis are cheap and all Punjabis drink a lot. How many of us have heard or said something like this? We all know people who don’t fit these ideas.

And how many times has the entire religion of Islam been blamed for the actions of a few? The Muslim friends I have are the most liberal and calm people I have ever known in my life. Yes, there are extremists but there are more regular, normal people who just want to live their lives like everyone else. They wake up, go to work, spend time with family and friends, and hang out.

As for voting for Trump, I also know a few Indian people who have done so. I no longer can socialize normally with them knowing that they voted for a man who condones hateful actions but that’s as far as it goes. There was a Hindus for Trump group. It makes me embarrassed to be Hindu and I’m hoping no one ever judges me based on this group.

I know it’s been a difficult time for the country and I’m hoping we come out of it soon. But we have to do it together.

 

Tired of Politics

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Everything is about politics. You have to play one game to offset another game. You have to give something to get something.

Politics sucks. It sucks in our daily lives, it sucks in our careers, it sucks in our fun projects.

I’m tired of politics. I’m tired of mind games. I’m tired of having to be careful of what I say or do.

I think I’d honestly rather get taken advantage of than try to protect something from someone with political ambitions. I want to be able to do things cleanly and with a pure heart. I know. It sounds idealistic.

I have no desire to take over the world. I have no desire to put others out of business. I really just want to be able to share everything with everyone and be happy doing it.

So…politics. Why? Why are there games? Why do we have to fight and compete to be noticed?

My husband was telling me about this photographer who works on all of these famous tv shows. The man just does what he does. And because his passion and love for his work is there, he is good at what he does and well-respected.

Fighting and competing wears you out. How long can we keep doing this? How long can we fight?

I have been reading these series of books that take place in this little town where everyone is like family. Everyone takes care of one another and going the extra mile for someone that lives in that town is no big deal. I want to live in a place like this. I realize LA is a little big to know everyone. But it’s still small enough that we have the ability to really build a community. Every person that’s happy and take care of is a benefit to our community.

Helping others succeed is a unique concept. It’s hard. We are built to want to be the first person. We want to be the ones who win. We forget that we can succeed together. And the best way to move forward is together.