QUESTIONS OF IDENTITY
Published in The Sikh Review, an international monthly from Kolkata in the issue of August, 2011 under 'The Urge to Merge' and 'Abstract of Sikh Studies', September 2011 as 'The Urge to Melt'.
Youth from minorities in most regions are faced with a choice as age bestows a host of freedoms. While identity pride is something that remains alive in their hearts, it does not quite manifest physically. As I look around, I find many Sikh friends in my friend list listing their religious preference as a Sikh but shunning off all those symbols which lie at the heart of Sikh identity. I have been grappling with questions of identity for long – what is an identity afterall, why do I need to be different, who am I, what do people mean when they say ‘I am what I am’ etc.
So, why is it that people in my community and in the minorities in general have an intrinsic desire to melt their identity into that of the crowd and get camouflaged? After reading this rare piece of fiction 'Beyong Identity' by P.S. Sandhawalia, I now feel in a better position to address questions of identity. I identify 6 reasons in my blog for such behavior.
1. One reason can be LOW SELF ESTEEM. An individual who is pining for attention among peer group and the society usually stoops to the level as seen. He/she tries to prove her worth by revealing the texture of his/her skin thus expecting adoration through some channel.
2. Second reason can be the HOLLOWNESS of the individual in the sense that when a person is say talentless and usually a fiasco academically or in a field that society tags value to, he/she in order to gain acceptance tries to do what the majority does.
3. Yet this does not quite explain why sometimes successful people may also adopt the majority identity. The possible explanation can be a LACK OF INNER COURAGE. It requires a lion’s strength to be distinct and unique and to swim against the tide. When the world talks of fashion, style and haircuts, it requires determination and grit to debate the motion. That is how the majority’s soft power works. It is an attempt to impose one’s culture, one’s viewpoint, one’s way of doing things on others in a way that the imposed gullibly accepts. As I learnt at school, it manufacturers consent – yes it manufactures it indeed by an overtly mechanical process.
4. Another thing that people often overlook in the dignity of differences. The most beautiful thing about differences is diversity which facilitates mutual enrichment and knowledge.
5. Another factor for assimilation is DISRESPECT. When an individual becomes illusioned with the core of his faith and the beliefs that hitherto carved his identity, he casually jettisons all the symbols associated with the belief as a 'bold' act of freedom and detaches himself from that community. For instance, a girl deciding to take off her burqa (remember I am not making a judgment about a faith by this example and this also does not mean that removing burqa is assimilation in the crowd and that not removing is somehow an act of courage, it may actually be the other way round, as per context).
6. Lastly, I feel that majority in this world are driven by a herd mentality. It’s a herd of sheep with a few roaring lions who have kept their identity intact, rest have shaven and joined the herd of sheep.
So what is exactly an ‘identity’? It is an amalgam of religion, language, culture, customs, symbols, traditions – something into which all of us are born – it is real, visible, palpable.
If we have respect for it and pride in it, we will retain it. Otherwise we will abandon it and assimilate.
Published in The Sikh Review, an international monthly from Kolkata in the issue of August, 2011 under 'The Urge to Merge' and 'Abstract of Sikh Studies', September 2011 as 'The Urge to Melt'.
So, why is it that people in my community and in the minorities in general have an intrinsic desire to melt their identity into that of the crowd and get camouflaged? After reading this rare piece of fiction 'Beyong Identity' by P.S. Sandhawalia, I now feel in a better position to address questions of identity. I identify 6 reasons in my blog for such behavior.
1. One reason can be LOW SELF ESTEEM. An individual who is pining for attention among peer group and the society usually stoops to the level as seen. He/she tries to prove her worth by revealing the texture of his/her skin thus expecting adoration through some channel.
2. Second reason can be the HOLLOWNESS of the individual in the sense that when a person is say talentless and usually a fiasco academically or in a field that society tags value to, he/she in order to gain acceptance tries to do what the majority does.
3. Yet this does not quite explain why sometimes successful people may also adopt the majority identity. The possible explanation can be a LACK OF INNER COURAGE. It requires a lion’s strength to be distinct and unique and to swim against the tide. When the world talks of fashion, style and haircuts, it requires determination and grit to debate the motion. That is how the majority’s soft power works. It is an attempt to impose one’s culture, one’s viewpoint, one’s way of doing things on others in a way that the imposed gullibly accepts. As I learnt at school, it manufacturers consent – yes it manufactures it indeed by an overtly mechanical process.
4. Another thing that people often overlook in the dignity of differences. The most beautiful thing about differences is diversity which facilitates mutual enrichment and knowledge.
5. Another factor for assimilation is DISRESPECT. When an individual becomes illusioned with the core of his faith and the beliefs that hitherto carved his identity, he casually jettisons all the symbols associated with the belief as a 'bold' act of freedom and detaches himself from that community. For instance, a girl deciding to take off her burqa (remember I am not making a judgment about a faith by this example and this also does not mean that removing burqa is assimilation in the crowd and that not removing is somehow an act of courage, it may actually be the other way round, as per context).
6. Lastly, I feel that majority in this world are driven by a herd mentality. It’s a herd of sheep with a few roaring lions who have kept their identity intact, rest have shaven and joined the herd of sheep.
So what is exactly an ‘identity’? It is an amalgam of religion, language, culture, customs, symbols, traditions – something into which all of us are born – it is real, visible, palpable.
If we have respect for it and pride in it, we will retain it. Otherwise we will abandon it and assimilate.
Chhoti umer,gian dian battan,V.NICE....CHINTAN DE KHETAR CH DHAMALLAN PAOGE.....V R PROUD OF U.
ReplyDeleteBahut bahut dhanwaad aap ji da!
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ReplyDeletethats exactly right.....each nd evry word is worth
ReplyDeletehttp://www.facebook.com/pavneetmak
Jis no nadar karei so paaye - One
ReplyDeleteJo dhur likhiya lekh se karam kamaaysi- Two
Ja rehna naahi eit jag taa kaait gaarab handiye
Manda kisei na akhiye, pad akhar eho bujhiye- Three
You argue about one's hollowness and lack of self esteem, a corollary of which is that you have no doubt about your own courage and high self esteem. Well
I believe when realization dawns, you will without doubt accept the order of the almighty that has catapulted you to your present identity. It's a gift, neither have you inherited it nor have you earned. Right? So why blame the ones who haven't received the gifts that lord bestows only upon a few?
So let's just say- I am not what I am, I am what I'm made to be.
Of course those who do not go by hukam, live an identity of a corpse. Without soul, but who lends life to the ones who enjoy the liveliest of souls? Lord does no? Your arguments are akin to those of the self proclaimed atheists who, in their rationality, accept everything of and about science; but What they couldn't see is that this the very thing that is the manifestation of god, science be the name of the ways of manifestation of god's power. So if one starts to enumerate the possible reasons behind forgetful people who have denied the 'parmarth'- one might even be correct in propriety, but one is def'ly failing to see that this is what the hukam is. This is his own manifestation into fortunate or unfortunate beings. Manda kisei na akhiye, thus.
I say nothing more than what I understand out of guru sahib's own words, nothing beyond. Though they are hard to practice really, I suppose everything with truth is. Did I say too much? :)
Veer jio, firstly thank you so much for the alternate view on the subject. You rightly point out the role of Hukam in one's life and never shall I deny the role of Hukam - for it is as per His Divine Design that every atom of this universe functions.
ReplyDeleteWhat I do deny is an interpretation of Hukam that you put forward. 'Bhaana', I feel is not an ex-ante passive acquiescence of the events that transpire. So, if my fellow brethren go 'petit', should I sit back and dwell on the design? In fact, to go 'petit' is to deny the Hukam, and denying Hukam - as you say is tantamount to living the life of a corpse. Tell me, when you give that simile or when Guru Ji refers to it in the text, is it meant to belittle someone? - to call someone 'manda' in fact is to belittle and blot a person unfairly. But you yourself state it in a casual intonation above. Stating the truth is not the same as calling someone 'manda' -- and i just made an attempt to uncover some truth as I discovered, with His Grace.
When the guru says, 'jo DHUR likheya lekh, se karam kamayesi' - i remember hearing in sangat that it does not always refer to one's karams in the last birth, but also in the last hour, the last minute and the last second. Let us not forget that there is scope for self correction and inner cleansing, which are themselves a consequence of His Will. Through the post above, I have just tried to enlist some of the traits I found in common with people who behaved in a similar fashion and have not done that with disdain or to disgrace somebody.
Spirituality, my dear friend is not to REJECT reason, but to go BEYOND it. Probably i am too puny a being to have reached the latter stage - an exalted stage that gursikhs like you adorn, but rejecting all reason in the first place- is it sensible? I think to equate it to the arguments of self proclaimed atheists is going way far -- isn't it?
Those who go astray are in HIS HUKAM.
ReplyDeleteBut making them realise their mistake in plain words is an act of courage and responsibility.
Love Patits, not hate them but at the same time never be shy to exhort them to come back and join the mainstream.
greatly influenced by ur views di and most of the reasons mentioned that urge us to melt are true.
ReplyDelete