being indian. growing up with chota bheem and sinchan. slipping words of your mothertongue into english. Starbucks is cool but have you had ₹10 ka chai/coffee on a winter night? Branching out to listen to different kinds of music but realizing the best kind was always your own. dancing to balam pichkari during holi and coming to school with purple faces and pink hands. maybe you like pasta or pizza but comfort food is always maggi on rainy mornings. playing lagori on the streets and coming home with bleeding knees. Yeah marvel movies are nice but have you watched kuch kuch hota hai? wedding lunches on banana leaves and vanilla ice-cream after. holding hands in secret so that the neighbour wali aunties don’t see. ‘XOX’ and ‘bingo’ in the back of classmate notebooks. Festivals, festivals and more festivals. no matter how much you like wearing modern clothes dressing up in dhotis and lehengas is a different feeling. Watching every India-Pakistan match with a fervent intensity and uncles shouting that the umpire isn’t fair. eating golgappe under the shelter while it’s raining. being indian. and realizing that you love it.
Incorporating iconic dialogues from the Indian Film Industry in our daily conversations. Being natural multilinguals. Watching Doraemon on TV on rain holidays, munching on pakoras. Having atleast two festive holidays every month because of India's diversity. Getting to wear your Diwali dress to school after Diwali break. Playing Antakshari in the bus rides on field trips. Having biryani parties on Eid. Dipping Parle G in milk. Jim Jam being an emotion. The entire crowd knowing the hook steps of Kaala Chashma during DJ nights. Dancing in circles around the pole during Garba. Maahi Ve and Bole Chudiyan playing at every single Sangeet and Tenu Leke playing as the Groom arrives. Bournvita powder and Hajmola having an unmatched intoxicating power. Casually hanging out at our neighbour's place all day. Donuts are cool but Idli is an emotion. Pepsi is cool but have you ever tried Paperboat?
I don't think we realise how being Indian is a genuine emotion ❤️
sharing lunchboxes in school and eating almost none of your own lunch. giving out éclairs to classmates on your birthday and saving a few extra for your best friend. indian aunties in the kitchen bonding over cooking and gossip. while uncles sat in the living room watching cricket with such concentration no one was allowed to make a sound. arguments so loud the whole neighborhood could hear. and the only way your parents apologized was by calling you to dinner. at what point did you realize that this culture was etched into you. because a friend who lived in New York told me she didn’t wake up to her neighbour’s puja sounds and i think I knew then. that no matter where i go the memory of dancing with strangers on Ganesh Chaturthi will stay on my mind. sure English songs are cool but churaliya hai and O baazigar bring out waves of nostalgia. im saying I want to move away but I can’t go three days without eating ghar ka khana. I don’t think I will ever learn my mom’s skill of bargaining. when the national anthem plays my legs automatically stand on their own. All I remember of my childhood is playing gully cricket and filling water bottles outside my classroom. watching bharathanatyam performances and listening to hindustani concerts. sure it was boring but. also beautiful. I have a tattoo of our flag on my left ankle and my father tells me that being indian is in my blood. I think he’s right.
