[Assam] ‘I Am An Assamese, A Bengali And A S ylheti. What Exactly Am I?’ Anurag Rudra'a write up appeared Tehelka

[Ram Sarangapani]

Great assessment,  Mohan. You are absolutely correct in saying, you are what
you choose to be - ie. defining yourself. The write-up by Anurag is
well-written & from the heart, and most netters will be able to relate to
something or the other in what he wrote.

But to more important questions: How did you grow bhaat kerela & ou tenga?
I don't think we have seen either of these in this area :-)

Best of luck to Anurag, and hope to see more of his writings in future.

--Ram

On Tue, Jun 15, 2010 at 4:28 PM, Mohan Palleti <mpalleti at aol.com> wrote:

> Anurag:
> This is beautifully written article. I liked the honest expression about
> your feelings.
> I being a half telugu and a half assamese by birth, I could relate very
> well with you. I lived in Assam as a young child and moved to Hyderabad
> therafter. I had asked the same question to myself. What am I?
>
> The answer is very simple. You are what you choose to be. And in the
> process you do not have to forget where you came from. You set the trend for
> the coming generations and you blend into a culture you choose to.
>
> We lived in Hyderabad since 1973, And yet our house was a waterhole for a
> lot of Assamese folks who visited Hyderabad. My mother passed away a few
> months ago. She was like a moher to a lot of young assamese folks who live
> and work in Hyderabad.
>
> Although I have been living in the US for over a decade and speak 4
> different languages at home. I grow dhekia xaak, bhat kerela, ou tenga in my
> garden and have loads of Khorisa  in my referigerator. It wont be hard for
> you to guess what I consider myself to be.
>
> I hope you get to read this email.
>
> Cheers!
> Mohan Palleti
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Chan Mahanta <cmahanta at gmail.com <lt%3Bcmahanta at gmail.com>>
> To: A Mailing list for people interested in Assam from around the world &
> lt;assam at assamnet.org <lt%3Bassam at assamnet.org>>
> Sent: Tue, Jun 15, 2010 9:53 am
> Subject: Re: [Assam] ‘I Am An Assamese, A Bengali And A S ylheti. What
> Exactly Am I?’ Anurag Rudra'a write up appeared Tehelka
>
> That is a believable, poignant story, Sushanta. Thanks for sharing.
>
> The indignities that young Anurag had to endure, hopefully, were not in
> vain and his account,
> hopefully would help turn things for the better.
>
> Many of us in this forum have worn different shoes. And we too wore the
> ones that
> Anurag had worn,at times of being a minority, foreign, alien etc. and at
> times of a dominant
> group wearing the halo of being an indigenous. It has helped us become
> fuller, better people.
> That said, I do realize that those of us in the US or other counties with a
> rule of law have not, would not
> ( except as rare exceptions) have to undergo some of the more blatant and
> overt acts
> of discrimination, bullying or even physical assaults that someone in
> Anurag's shoes might have.
> That is where the rule-of-law plays a critical role, one that is absent in
> Indian governance, not
> just Assam's, part of the dysfunctional state of desi-demokrasy as I call
> it.
>
> I agree with MM's advice: To be positive and ASSERTIVE. He has no reason to
> be
> confused about his many identities, much less be apologetic. Long ago, I
> learned
> to choose my first and foremost identity to be the human one. My many other
> identities
> fall into place, without conflict and without apologies!
>
> Pass this on to Anurag, if you can. I wish him all the best.
>
> c-da
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Jun 14, 2010, at 12:05 PM, Sushanta Kar wrote:
>
> > Dear
> > Friends,
> > You will find this write up something interesting. Anurag is a B.A
> > student
> > of Cotton College. By this time he has earned a well reputation as a
> > poet in
> > English. Here he has raised a few question on the identity crisis of
> > the
> > sylhetis of the state:
> >
> http://www.tehelka.com/story_main45.asp?filename=hub190610personalhistories.asp
>
> >
> > Sushanta Kar
> > _______________________________________________
> > assam mailing list
> > assam at assamnet.org
> > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
>
> _______________________________________________
> assam mailing list
> assam at assamnet.org
> http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
>
> _______________________________________________
> assam mailing list
> assam at assamnet.org
> http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
>