Though I grew up in America, and considered myself as American as can be, I was very in tune with the Indian culture. i was proud of my Indian background and was easily offended by thoughtless queries.
In my primary school days, kids used to ask me ignorant questions such as, "Do you eat cats and dogs?" "Is your marriage arranged?" "Do you speak Indian/ Hindu?" The latter was the most common of the lot. At the time, I didn't know how to respond, so I would send death glares and stalk away angrily.
Later, when I entered middle school, I started to report: "Yes; as much as you speak America / Christian!" What? I was petty. It was junior high. I thought everyone was out there to get me. It didn't occur to me that they didn't know any better.
In high school, everyone (including me) matured a bit. People were now genuinely interested. Whether it was because of the popularity of Bollywood and Bhangra beats in the west, who knows? They'd ask the normal questions at first and I would politely explain that Indian wasn't a language, but rather a nationality. they'd quickly apologise and ask what language I did speak.
This proved to be much more troublesome than I thought.
Here's one such instance.
Me: I speak Malayalam.
Other Person: Mala-Whatta?
Me: Malayalam.
OP: Malaysian?
Me: No, Ma-la-ya-lam.
Op: Hmm...
Yea... this went on for a while and family i was like, "Forget it. I speak Indian."
By: Lincy Elezebeth John
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