I have been listening to Japanese and Korean music for the past seven years, and counting. The music made me look into other forms of Japanese and Korean media, such as variety shoes, music shows, movies, dramas, etc. which in turn gave me greater exposure to Japanese and Korean culture, respectively. With Korean culture in particular, or should I say, overt mainstream Korean culture, I found that there were many things that I could relate to. The mentality, the hierarchy, the gender discrimination, idealized images, etc. were also rampant in my parent’s culture. Even though my parents didn’t buy into many traditional Indian values (mostly because they were Christian and somewhat progressive – they’re still quite conservative), I was still exposed to these socialzing factors via other family members and through interaction with other Indians.

In a sense, the exposure that I had to Korean culture and those who talked about their issues with it (mostly Korean Americans) helped me feel like I wasn’t alone. Not necessarily like I belonged, because I am far from finding a “community” that I really fit into or can find a nice nook to plant my butt in, but more so knowing that there are others who are struggling just like me. That’s one of the reasons that I read so many things by Korean Americans/Canadians or Koreans in American/Canada because since there isn’t an Indian community for myself, I can kind of look to them from a distance for guidance. I think it’s better to read about others’ experiences to reflect on your own life, even if it isn’t completely the same, rather than not having anything at all.

For my research, which is on second-generation Keralite Christian women in the GTA, I read a lot of literature on Korean Christians in the U.S. This was mostly because they have so much more literature than any other recent racialized Christian community, but also because the more I read about them, the more I understood my own community. The immigrant experience, the conflict of living between two worlds, being brought up by immigrant parents, feeling isolated by White Christian communities, constantly racialized, etc. These issues were actually being addressed in this literature. I didn’t feel like I was the only one who noticed. And it feels good to know you’re not alone; that you’re not imagining things, or your not looking too much into your observations. It’s good to have that verification. And so, having some sort of connection with the Korean community in Canada/U.S. (even if it is just online or thorugh literature) really helped me deal with a lot of identity issues that I had. I’m still dealing with it, but I just wanted to share how it is possible to learn more about yourself and your experiences from a different culture than your own.

This book in particular helped me a lot. Actually, most of the literature written by Rebecca Y. Kim has. “God’s New Whiz Kids? Korean American Evangelicals on Campus” by Rebecally Y. Kim (2006).

P.S. I can read Hangul and I can’t even read Kannada.

I couple of nights ago I began looking for white wedding sarees on the internet to procrastinate working on my paper. I came across this Yahoo Answers Page where the question was asked, “Where can I find a pure white wedding saree online from the USA?” I was anticipating reading the answers since I will most likely have to order my saree online. I’m skeptical of letting any relatives pick one out for me in India. As I read the comments though I was appalled by the ignorance in their answers. Two commenters insisted that wedding sarees are never white while another stated that white saris are only worn by widows. It upsets me that so many Indians or people of East Indian descent are STILL so uneducated and ignorant of the religious diversity of India.

White wedding sarees are worn by various Christian groups in India, including my own ancestry. I’m not sure when the tradition started but the longevity of this practice is irrelevant. What angers me is the assumption that anything non-Hindu is non-Indian. Hindus are not the only religious group to wear sarees and the general belief that to be Indian is to be Hindu is narrow-minded. I am really tired of having to point out that some practices can be considered distinctly Hindu while others can be seen as part of Indian culture (although that is a broad category in itself). I have had to in the past sustain questioning and ridicule by other people of East Indian descent on how I wasn’t a “real” Indian because I was not Hindu. Thankfully my Muslim friends weren’t so ignorant; possibly because they were subject to the same idiocy.

I just wonder how I should deal with this ignorance. Should I take it upon myself to use this as an opportunity for education? Or should I just brush it off since I will barely make a dent in changing such ignorance?