One of the most interesting experiences I have had in Australia is that 8 out of 10 people that meet me think I am from India or Sri-Lanka. I had the chance to meet a lady from my country the other day, and she actually asked me if I had Indian/Sri-Lankan heritage. Quite amazing.
During my second year of Uni, an Indian Uni student approached me and asked me whereabouts from India I came from. After I explained him I sadly had no cultural or racial ties to India, we chatted for a while and became good friends. That same year, during the Cultural Festival in Townsville, I went to the "Bollywood" Dance night at The Strand. This song, "I Love My India", I heard it on such "Bollywood" Dance night for the first time and just captivated me from the start. The original event was a portrayal of Indian dancing, performed by the Indian community in Townsville. This, however, was the last song they sang and danced, and towards the end they invited the public to join in their dancing. My friends and I ended up on stage, with some other people from the public, enjoying the novel cultural experience. What I enjoyed the most is that I blended in so well with the other Indians there, (because of my looks) hehehe.
Because of all these, I started to become more and more interested in this exotic country of India, with its contrasts, its rich culture, its thousand languages, its amazing cuisine and its beautiful music. One of the firstfruits of that was my blog entry on the cultural and identity differences between India and Latin America, which I wrote in Spanish here, since Latin America has a lot to learn from India.
I really would like to experience the real India some day - travel its streets, its villages, taste its home-made cuisine, listen to their beautiful music, learn their languages, blend in and get lost in its cultural richness.
Yeh mera India!
Watan mera India, sajan mera India!
During my second year of Uni, an Indian Uni student approached me and asked me whereabouts from India I came from. After I explained him I sadly had no cultural or racial ties to India, we chatted for a while and became good friends. That same year, during the Cultural Festival in Townsville, I went to the "Bollywood" Dance night at The Strand. This song, "I Love My India", I heard it on such "Bollywood" Dance night for the first time and just captivated me from the start. The original event was a portrayal of Indian dancing, performed by the Indian community in Townsville. This, however, was the last song they sang and danced, and towards the end they invited the public to join in their dancing. My friends and I ended up on stage, with some other people from the public, enjoying the novel cultural experience. What I enjoyed the most is that I blended in so well with the other Indians there, (because of my looks) hehehe.
Because of all these, I started to become more and more interested in this exotic country of India, with its contrasts, its rich culture, its thousand languages, its amazing cuisine and its beautiful music. One of the firstfruits of that was my blog entry on the cultural and identity differences between India and Latin America, which I wrote in Spanish here, since Latin America has a lot to learn from India.
I really would like to experience the real India some day - travel its streets, its villages, taste its home-made cuisine, listen to their beautiful music, learn their languages, blend in and get lost in its cultural richness.
Yeh mera India!
Watan mera India, sajan mera India!
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