Identity Crisis

Chaotic, maddening, diverse, complicated and thoroughly enjoyable are words I associate with India hence the current debate and controversy about the Indian identity in America is not a surprise.

The issue at hand is a subject of vital important. The consequence of which will stay with us for generations to come. The question that resides in the heart of every Indian living in America; what shall we be called? Recently I met a Native American who inquired about my ethnicity, to which I immediately answered Indian. At his bafflement I had to clarify that I was from India. It was an awkward moment to say the least. I felt a vague sense of disquiet that my very identity had been taken over due to the stupidity of a voyager on a journey to India who had mistaken the indigenous people of a completely different continent as Indians. As in Indians from India, see my point about it being complicated?

In America the term Asian is generally associated with people from China, Japan, Korea and other such regions. As Sadanand Dhume puts it, "Asian" in America means Chang, not Chakravarti; Kong, not Kumar. South Asian would mean lumping us together with countries that do not match us in scale or proportion. Besides that only addresses the general classification not the actual denomination.

A commonly used term I hear a lot and dislike profoundly is East Indian. This does not make any sense as we would be East Indians as opposed to being West Indians? Besides we are from India not East India. Recently the US census bureau published data about the Asian community, the report was titled “We the People: Asians in the United States.” It has some very interesting facts and figures about the Asian Diaspora and by that I mean all people belonging to the Asian continent living in the United States. The term used for referring to Indians was ASIAN INDIAN. That in itself doesn’t sound bad albeit it’s a bit unfair that every other ethnic group were termed as per their country of origin such as Filipino, Vietnamese, Thai and so forth. It would however become further complicated if you would want to address the so called “Asian Indians” who are born in America and are American citizens. Would they be awkwardly referred to as “Asian Indian Americans”?

There are no easy answers. When Shakespeare had written that "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet." He clearly had no clue what he was talking about and definitely never met an Indian (India Indians!!!) in his life. We love names. Most of us have atleast two, both completely unrelated. We perform elaborate ceremonies to celebrate the naming of a baby. We not only classify ourselves as Indians but also the community to which we belong. We have a seperate name for each and every relationship that exists under the sun as against a generic Aunt or an Uncle.

I am named Sanchita Banerjee fondly called Mona by my family with some of them preferring to call me Shonamoni and occasionally also called Babai, Tinku and Tweety. I am a Bengali, a West Bengali (as opposed to being from East Bengal or Bangladesh as we call it), an Indian, a South Asian, an Asian, an Asian Indian, possibly in the future an Asian Indian American, a Human, an Earthling and ultimately an insubstantial, inconsequential speck when compared to the vast expanse of the universe. Am I still me or does each identity brings forth a different perspective of my being?

And they said what’s in a name!!!