There's been an "Interview Me" meme making it 'round the blogs lately. Like any meme, it needs and infection vector... in this case, it's voluntary. See below for the rules.
Lisa, from Lemon Gloria, was recently interviewed by Lemmonex... and I dove in and asked Lisa to "Interview Me."
1. What's your favorite season and why?
Hmm...
I like all of the seasons, and I really dislike living in places that don't have four distinct sesons. But if I had to pick one, I'd go with spring. I love that week or two when trees suddenly get their leaves and how they look different every time you look at them. I love that yellow-green color of new leaves. I love the newness of everything.
2. What's the best advice you've ever received?
To ignore other peoples expectations of/for me.
3. Could you describe your dream job?
I think me dream job is something fairly close to what I'm doing now... I help people. It's what I do. It's what I enjoy. It's very much a part of who I am.
I've also always been fascinated by politics, power, the law, and human interaction on scales large and small. On the Hill, I get to watch all of these sometimes overlapping, sometimes distinct concepts up close and personal. It's fascinating.
4. You're an Indian American who seems to balance two cultures extremely well. Are there times when you feel more Indian and times when you feel more American? Has this changed over time?
Hmm. That's not an easy question to answer... not so much because it's personal or anything like that, but mainly because I've never put enough thought into it to come up with a good answer. It's a question I do get occasionally, and usually blow off. The beginnings of an honest answer is that in being a hybrid, I usually feel like I don't quite fit in with either culture.
My Indian-ness comes from my parents, and is in many ways a partial snapshot of their Indian-ness. That means that it comes from a world that no longer exists, as India has changed in so many ways since they left almost forty years ago. I am a very different person, and have had a very different cultural exposure to what it means to be Indian from my friends and family who are in my age group who grew up in India. So much of what we experience as children is so vastly different in India... the educational system, who does the household chores, the social hierarchy, Bollywood, language, transportation, the value of a life and the social balance between the individual and the group, and so many other things.
On the other hand, my American-ness is also affected by upbringing. We didn't have cable growing up, and I never owned a video game console until I bought an N64 in while in college... and so I don't really care for video games. What percentage of young-30-something guys raised in America can say they weren't and aren't hooked on some game console? Growing up, my grandparents lived with us for long stretches... and the first language I learned, and the language we still speak at home is Marathi. Unlike many of my Indian-American brotheren, I can/could speak to my grandparents in their native language. It's a little thing, but it makes an incalculable difference. Growing up, I was always bigger, browner, and shyer than my class mates. The first two made me stick out, and the third made me an easy target. So I was a loner... I still am to some extent.
Anyways, I could go on for a long time... but to answer your questions, "Yes" and "Yes... but... sort of."
When I'm in India, and I see how inhumanely so many poor people are treated, I feel more American. When I'm in the DC Metro around September 11th and someone looks at me and calls me a "fucking Arab" I feel more Indian. When I'm in front of the Capitol during the Inauguration of the first non-white-guy American President, I feel proud of both my cultures, but especially proud of the American part of it.
While my balance has changed over time, it changes more based on circumstance. I can see a lot of good in both cultures, but I can also see the bad. I can see the good aspects of the two cultures in myself, but I can also see the bad.
5. If you had to choose a flavor of ice cream that most fits your personality, what kind do you think you would be? Feel free to make one up if necessary.
It would have to be some form of chocolate... I love chocolate ice cream. There is also something very comforting about a basic chocolate ice cream. It's not flashy or trendy or special somehow, but it's always there, and tasty.
My favorite ice cream is Graeter's Double Chocolate Chip. If you've never had Graeter's ice cream, you're missing out. It is some of the best ice cream out there, and their chocolate chips are massive.
If you’d like to play along, just follow these instructions:
1. Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.”
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions. Be sure you link back to the original post.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Thank you for playing. I absolutely love reading these. I knew the cultural question was a really hard one, but I was so interested to hear what you would say. And it all makes so much sense to me.
I asked everyone the ice cream question - and I love the difference in answers. Love them.
Graeter's. I miss it so much. Their black cherry is an orgasm in a cone.
Post a Comment