I have lived through three different states in India through my life of 29 years, Delhi (10 years), Maharashtra ( 18 years) and Gujarat (1 year). I have lived, worked and studied in two of the largest cities in the world, Delhi and Bombay. My parents belong to Uttar Pradesh, another different state. That means I have grown up in a predominantly North Indian (Hindu) environment inside the house and exposed to something else outside. For my non-Indian friends, I would like to explain that cultures in different states of India are shockingly different. Both linguistically as well as way of life. Festivals brought this out quite sharply in my childhood days as we didn't live in a metropolitan city.
I grew up in a small town in Maharashtra. Even though it resulted in a good exposure to a variety of food, religious practices and languages, I always felt like an outsider as a kid. All my relatives were back in my native state and we met only once a year or less. This meant that most of my days were spent with school friends and neighbors. School was always a great equalizer but the real tussle was with neighbors. I was always made fun of because of the way I spoke Hindi (too correct) or because of the way I couldn't laugh to other kids' jokes (she just wont get it). Frankly, I didn't mind. Never enjoying a large group of friends I was okay with it. Plus, I had a great younger sister for company.
As I grew up, I noticed that people have these separate fallback groups. Childhood friends from school, friends from places they have spent all their lives in, friends as kids from parents' friends, etc. I, on the other hand, having drifted from one house to another even within a city couldn't boast of any lasting relationships with other children. This also developed my nature of letting go of people who I didn't see everyday. Today, I don't have a single friend who I want to connect to or meet up just to have a good time. I enjoy the company of my closest family or just me.
This doesn't mean that I am not jealous of people who have this amazing network of relationships which act as support groups for both them and their parents in old age. I do miss that "strength in numbers" feeling once in a while. Sometimes I wonder is it because I was always a loner at heart or is this a natural progression in behavior because of the "circumstances", as my sister is quite the opposite.
Do share if you have similar experiences.
P.S.: I have realized that I am really bad at giving titles. Plain simple numbers from here on, I guess.
I grew up in a small town in Maharashtra. Even though it resulted in a good exposure to a variety of food, religious practices and languages, I always felt like an outsider as a kid. All my relatives were back in my native state and we met only once a year or less. This meant that most of my days were spent with school friends and neighbors. School was always a great equalizer but the real tussle was with neighbors. I was always made fun of because of the way I spoke Hindi (too correct) or because of the way I couldn't laugh to other kids' jokes (she just wont get it). Frankly, I didn't mind. Never enjoying a large group of friends I was okay with it. Plus, I had a great younger sister for company.
As I grew up, I noticed that people have these separate fallback groups. Childhood friends from school, friends from places they have spent all their lives in, friends as kids from parents' friends, etc. I, on the other hand, having drifted from one house to another even within a city couldn't boast of any lasting relationships with other children. This also developed my nature of letting go of people who I didn't see everyday. Today, I don't have a single friend who I want to connect to or meet up just to have a good time. I enjoy the company of my closest family or just me.
This doesn't mean that I am not jealous of people who have this amazing network of relationships which act as support groups for both them and their parents in old age. I do miss that "strength in numbers" feeling once in a while. Sometimes I wonder is it because I was always a loner at heart or is this a natural progression in behavior because of the "circumstances", as my sister is quite the opposite.
Do share if you have similar experiences.
P.S.: I have realized that I am really bad at giving titles. Plain simple numbers from here on, I guess.
Nothing the matter with your title.
ReplyDeleteI have been much the opposite. I lived the first 37 years of my life in the same house.To this day, I have lived all of my life in Massachusetts, in two neighborhoods, a total of three houses. I am woefully inept at languages other than English, so I am blessed to have been in my element all along.
In my capacity as a producer, I worked with many voice talents from India; perhaps 9 or 10 different languages. Since I spoke none of them, you might wonder how I accomplished my work. Not easily :-)
Seriously, if you would like some idea of how I did it, here is a link to a piece I wrote about working with those who spoke a language I did not understand at all.
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com/2009/02/patience-of-job.html