Are South Asians really embarrassed of their origins?

[Morose]

Somali: where are you from
Desi: Am English
Somali: ((raises eye brows))
Desi: What, I meant like British init.
Somali: But you look Indian, so where are you originally from
Desi: My parents are from india/Pakistan..

-End of conversation-
....................................

Desi: Where are you from?
Somali: Somalia

-End of conversation-

Haha this is an accurate illustration of the 'Brit-Pak', 'Brit-Beng' idea of origin and nationality.

Why?

[Stoic Believer]

Re: Are South Asians really embarrassed of their origins?

In my experience, Pakistanis are very proud of where they're from.

With Bengalis it's a mix. The younger generation especially don't seem too keen on embracing their homeland.

[Morose]

Re: Are South Asians really embarrassed of their origins?

In my experience, Pakistanis are very proud of where they're from.

With Bengalis it's a mix. The younger generation especially don't seem too keen on embracing their homeland.

Oh trust me, Pakistanis have this issue too. Either they want to be western, or they want to be Arab.

Why though? What is wrong with your own culture? Just be honest of where you are from. Nothing wrong with being a Ben-Beng.

[Stoic Believer]

Re: Are South Asians really embarrassed of their origins?

Oh trust me, Pakistanis have this issue too. Either they want to be western, or they want to be Arab.

Why though? What is wrong with your own culture? Just be honest of where you are from. Nothing wrong with being a Ben-Beng.

Never met a Pakistani like that. They're pretty well-attuned to their own culture. Although they also want to integrate into Western society.

[snowtrees]

Re: Are South Asians really embarrassed of their origins?

Oh trust me, Pakistanis have this issue too. Either they want to be western, or they want to be Arab.

Why, though? What is wrong with your own culture? Just be honest about where you are from. Nothing wrong with being a Ben-Beng.

maybe the only "culture" they know is in the country they live in. Can't expect ppl to claim a country which the only thing they have relevance to is that is where their parents come from.

[DaughterOfAdam]

Re: Are South Asians really embarrassed of their origins?

I usually say my parents are from Sri Lanka. Otherwise the person asking might think I'm straight from Sri Lanka and know all about the culture and stuff but it's not true.

[Khalid b. Walid]

Re: Are South Asians really embarrassed of their origins?

It will probably go more like:

Somali: where are you from?
Desi: I'm from London/Birmingham/...
Somali: I mean whats your origin?
Desi: Oh my families originially from Pakistan/Bangladesh/India.

It doesn't make sense why someone who is 2nd or 3rd or 4th generation to say Pakistan/India/Bangladesh straight away when they have very little in common with that country culturally i.e. food, clothes, customs etc.

Add to that many of them have never been to that country so it would be pushing it. For example, I've got cousins who can speak little to no Bengali and have never been to Bangladesh. Their own relationship to that country does not exist except that their grandparents came from there a very long time ago.

Also with regards to Somalis, they came to countries like the UK much later than the Subcontinent people so the degrees of closeness to their country of origin is shorter.

[thebench]

Re: Are South Asians really embarrassed of their origins?

Hmm I find it is a touchy subject sometimes. I'm Somali and I always say that I am from London but of Somali origin. I really feel uncomfortable calling myself British.

[islamuslim]

Re: Are South Asians really embarrassed of their origins?

No but tbh I used to be. Yes I was one of those Pakistanis obsessing over Arabs even as a child, I don't even know why.

When people here ask where I'm from I obviously know they're asking about my ethnicity but because I was born here I say my parents are from Pakistan. But when I was living in Egypt I'd say I'm Canadian like all the Bengalis would say they're British.

No one here is 100% Canadian though, except the natives. Like all the white people at school are either 3rd/4th generation Serbian or Italian.

[neelu]

Re: Are South Asians really embarrassed of their origins?

I agree. The question "where are you from" is slightly ambiguous anyway cos' you're not sure if you're being asked which town you came from or which country you originate from so the conversation is more likely to go the way Khalid suggested and I would probably answer the question in the same way. It does not mean I'm embarrassed about my origins at all. I wouldn't normally drop into a conversation that "I'm British"- I only write that on forms that ask my nationality. I think if I settled in another country, then I might end up having to point out sometimes that I'm British cos' maybe people are baffled as to why I speak English as a first language or that sort of thing but other than that, I don't feel the need to point it out or make a song and dance about it being part of my identity. I don't like the whole nationalism thing anyway so I don't come out with "proud to be British" or "Proud to be Pakistani" type stuff even though I'm proud to be Punjabi lol but not in a nationalistic way, just in the way that I like the language, humour and mannerisms of that region and enjoyed growing up with that as part of my cultural heritage.

It will probably go more like:

Somali: where are you from?
Desi: I'm from London/Birmingham/...
Somali: I mean whats your origin?
Desi: Oh my families originially from Pakistan/Bangladesh/India.

It doesn't make sense why someone who is 2nd or 3rd or 4th generation to say Pakistan/India/Bangladesh straight away when they have very little in common with that country culturally i.e. food, clothes, customs etc.

Also with regards to Somalis, they came to countries like the UK much later than the Subcontinent people so the degrees of closeness to their country of origin is shorter.

[Morose]

Re: Are South Asians really embarrassed of their origins?

But it's the response "my parents are from Bangladesh" that kills me ahahaha.

You are of your parents. I cannot stand those Asians who try to be western/Arab/something else.

[ninety1daisies]

Re: Are South Asians really embarrassed of their origins?

I always say I'm Bengali.

And I don't understand this desi wanting to be Arab, this is the first time I've heard of this :rotfl:
Maybe because in my community all of us from different origins get along so well.

[ms.muslimah]

Re: Are South Asians really embarrassed of their origins?

They might just understand the question in a different way. Like a lot of Haitians ancestry goes back to Africa, but they call their-selves Haitians not Africans.That doesn't mean they're embarrassed about being of African descent.

That's a really small thing to be making such negative assumptions about. There are a lot of reasons why they might answer that way.

[.Hajar.]

Re: Are South Asians really embarrassed of their origins?

But it's the response "my parents are from Bangladesh" that kills me ahahaha.

You are of your parents. I cannot stand those Asians who try to be western/Arab/something else.

that's just your opinion, others might disagree with you like i do

my parents were born in different countries and i in another, i frankly feel little to no connection with the countries of their birth

not everyone is a wannabe, some of us just don't care or feel as passionately about this as you do

[iRepIslam]

Are South Asians really embarrassed of their origins?

I'm Bangladeshi. Why would I be embarrassed?