A letter from an Indian Abroad
Dear friend,
While the western dream was blooming in the hearts of many Indians ;India was already on its way to take the centre stage in the global economy. Looking at India from 7000 miles away I realised something very fundamental.
“You can take an Indian away from India but never the India from an Indian.”
Read that carefully and if it hits home then let me take you on a journey of understanding what it feels like to be an NRI in Canada.
Settling into the western world is a glorious yet treacherous revelation for any Indian. You and I have grown up seeing the west through various lenses be it of fashion,lifestyle, food, technology or economical developments. But being on this side of the world living in Canada it stirred a deep rooted sense of what it truly means to be an Indian.
On February 2023 I took a life altering step to leave India and move to Canada.I came here after marriage and the first few months have been so beautiful and memorable. From boating together on the clear blue lakes in summer, seeing Cherry blossoms in spring, driving on cold rainy days ,photographing the colourful fall leaves in autumn to catching the first snow flurries and making snowman with my bare hands it has been nothing short of magical.
Here in Canada the first things I noticed were that the traffic was regulated, my nose felt the air was cleaner ,tourist spots had spots for me and I was not bumping into crowds people!These baffled me to the core. I was lucky to try authentic Canadian poutin, Mexican Tacos, Japanese sushi, Pakistani biriyani, Turkish sweet delights, Meditarranean falafels to name a few.
It is evident that when you arrive in a new country you start to embrace the new world with a lot excitement. And one fine day when I visited a car wash; the hands of a 20 something student from India caught my eye. I saw faint traces of Mehendi on her hand. That moment took me on a journey of self reflection of this past one year!
Life here in Canada is very progressive and fast. Western world is all about independence and freedom. Anyone who wishes to live here should come with a mindset to be ready to do everything on his or her own.From being a mechanic to your flattened tyre, sorting your own garbage, fixing your leaky faucet, washing your own dishes the list is endless.So dear friend on the other side of the world if you are not thanking your delivery boy who delivered your midnight cravings or the guard who stands all night at your apartment; please do.Because the one important lesson that Canadians have taught me is that they are extremely hardworking and they take pride in any job that they do no matter how small it is.
Honestly the gloomy winters started making me feel homesick. All the fancy delicacies that I had named earlier suddenly felt bland in front of the home-made foods in India. For instance I started craving Aloo Sheddho Bhaat ( Mashed Potato with butter and rice porride) ; any Bengali would agree it is truly a comfort food.In this one year I have also met wonderful people from Germany, Sweden, Philipines, Japan, Africa and China. It was comforting to hear their stories of cultural obstacles too as it just showed me how similar we all are.
You feel a little estranged until you find people with the shared experience of this confusion. The confusion lingers on of where you truly belong and where you truly feel at home. I feel anyone who has left their homeland to move to a new country for a better life will always be in the middle of no man’s land in their heart.
Being a true Indian means the ability to celebrate diversity. Take food for instance! A Punjabi boy (my husband) enjoying Madrasi Sambhar is his way of reliving the college days in Chennai. Some more instances are that of Bengali girl ( me) trying to roll out the perfect Aloo ka Paratha , introducing Panch Phoron in Dal ( a very common spice mix from Bengal) to my in-laws, trying to learn the recipe of Tawa Pulao from a Mumbaikar friend and appreciating an Onam Sadya on the Malayali new year. These are just few examples of how food connects us better than anything else. The idea is not to blend in and forget our identity but to find the unique recipes, stories, cultural experiences that we can bring to the table as a newbie in a world so different than what we grew up in.
So if you are wondering if Canada is changing me, it is. Now I do enjoy the cold, I have a few hats in my closet and my spice tolerance has reduced a tad bit . But I sure want to eat the Gola, wear a saree and relish the spicy Pani Puri when I am back to India.
When one leaves a lot behind and packs their world in a suitcase; one really starts to ponder what will they carry into the future? A lot of the world assumes India to be a land of tikka masala or crazy sadhus but it is so much more than that.
No matter where I go I will always carry this lesson of diversity in my heart and soul. I will represent the India with the way I embrace people from far corners of the world. I probably would have never felt such strong emotions about being an Indian by heritage had I not left ! Adapting to the new western world is still an ongoing journey but the easterner me wants to keep spreading the Indian-ness out into the world too!
Hope to see you soon in India.
Yours truly,
Ananya
