‘But Where Are You Originally From?’
I welcome your curiosity but there are limits
I would like to first begin with this little dialogue from the show Parks and Recreation, season two, episode two:
Leslie Knope: You’re not from here, right?
Tom Haverford: No, I’m from South Carolina.
Leslie Knope: But you moved to South Carolina from where?
Tom Haverford: My mother’s uterus.
Leslie Knope: But you were conceived in Libya, right?
Tom Haverford: Wow. No. I was conceived in America. My parents are Indian.
Leslie Knope: Where did the name Haverford come from?
Tom Haverford: My birth name is Darwish Zubair Ismail Gani. Then I changed it to Tom Haverford because you know, Brown guys with funny-sounding Muslim names don’t make it far into politics.
Leslie Knope: What about Barack Obama?
Tom Haverford: Okay, yeah, fine, Barack Obama. If I knew a guy named Barack Obama was gonna be elected president, yeah, maybe I wouldn’t have changed it.
I had a similar conversation recently when a guy asked me where I am from, and then he told me, “Oh, but you can’t possibly be from Calgary!”
My name is Rutika Gandhi. My parents are from India, and they identify as Indian. I am Canadian. My passport is Canadian, and my hometown is listed as Kelowna, British Columbia. I speak English fluently, while my Gujarati is not as good. I have lived more years in Canada than I have in India, and I barely remember much about the few years I actually lived there. I have only been to India once since then.
Now, I want to say that I am not ashamed of my heritage or where I come from. I love India just as much as I love Canada. I listen to just as much Bollywood as I listen to Drake, Cardi B, or Ariana Grande. I have no problems with people talking to me about my culture or religion. In fact, I love talking about South Asian religions and philosophy! I do not want to discourage people from asking me about my heritage or language. Please go ahead and show interest in my culture. I honestly welcome it!
I am not ashamed of my heritage or where…
