Well it’s not a philosophical question as much as a political and geographical question. I ask that since for a while now I have been naturalized in the USA and I feel very much at home. So what I have been wondering is where is some one from? Where they were born or where they grew up or where they live the longest or where they want to be from?
I have traveled the world over and often times I am asked where I am from….and before I can answer, the curiously presumptuous questionnaire responds India, like they were an expert about India and could physically identify one anywhere. While this is annoying when some one in the middle of Peru or Turkey or Philippines would say considering what I would think is the limited interaction with people from India, not withstanding it is the 21st century and India is at the doorstep of having the worlds largest population and that if you trip over yourself pretty much anywhere in the world you are more likely to hit an Indian rather than a rock is becoming abundantly clear….still annoying. So I have taken to saying Bangladesh or Sri Lanka or Mauritius when they ask where I am from and the look I see on their face is amusing to me as it is of immense confusion…mostly because they either have not heard of these smaller countries or that they can not believe that they were wrong.
The other good one is when they ask where I am from and I say America….I get that “Your not serious” look which is followed by “where are you originally” from. So does that mean where I am from now is untrue? This happened quite recently on a trip to south east Asia and I asked why, the questionnaire was puzzled and the response was quite interesting. I was told all Americans are big and white! Yes….that is exactly what the response was. I plan to blog about the fuss about colors separately, but felt it was relevant to share this here since it was not sufficient to know where you were from but where you were from originally?
Also does “originally” have an expiry? Do subsequent generations with similar features of their ancestors continue to keep them from a particular part of the world? I know lots of folks here in the US are particularly proud of their Irish, German or other European heritage, despite either never having been to that part or that they are 3rd, 4th or further removed from the “original”. I have heard such folks respond to the primary question of this blog in numerous different ways.
I am an arm chair sociologist with absolutely no grounding in the discipline, but figured a big dose of common sense and experience gives you directional understanding of why people are curious about the other persons origins. I think it is to do with a sense of belonging with perhaps a very small flavor of curiosity. Very much like the animal kingdom I suspect that people will form natural affinities and bonds with others who share the same origins since it translates in to a similar language, mindset and faith perhaps….not mention the food. It is for this reason I think people really want to know where you “originally” are from, despite the fact that originality may get diluted over time if become from some other part by virtue of living there longer.
So I am still not sure what the right answer should be? It might not matter and the questionnaire may not really care about it either…..but would love to know what the answer!
