Indians living in UK face the problem of getting integrated into the society. We try to dress and behave like the British to make them feel comfortable (so we think) and endeavor to build the bridge outwardly by hiding our ethnicity. In our work place we mix with the white people and yet are not comfortable to visit them or invite them as frequently as we do to our own countrymen. Indian women experience the problem more. Indian men are highly anglicised even in India for a long time. They wear western attire even in the hot weather back home and nowadays it is quite common to see our men taking their dogs for a walk in their shorts in India. However many Indian women still wear traditional dresses atleast for formal and Indian functions even in UK. Men rarely do that.

I would like to share my personal experience with the readers as I am planning to retire from teaching in schools where I was the only Indian teacher and 96 percent of the students were white. In my leaver’s party our headmaster started the speech saying,’ many teachers come and go and all of them make a mark but some strike you straight here (he touched his forehead) and stay there and Chitra is one of them. He went on appreciating my firm conviction and how I added colour to their English way of doing things...... ‘

What did I do for him to say that? In fact I did not make extra efforts. I was my normal self. I wore saree to school everyday. My lunch was invariably left-over dinner from previous night. It varied from Yoghurt rice to lasagne. I was not embarrassed to open my lunch box in the pool table. In fact many of my colleagues now make Bonda and uppuma kozukkattai at home. I went to the pubs with the them whenever one was organised. I had orange juice or an occasional glass of wine and ploughman or a veg meal. During quiz nights I amazed them by coming out with the name of King William 4th’ queen or the one who killed Macbeth or the period when Catherine the great ruled Russia etc etc.. I drove the school’s mini bus for long distances, sometimes in my saree. I did trekking in mount Meru in Tanzania ( not in saree of course ) with my pupils.

My ethnicity or my dress or my food habits did not in any way prevent me from doing these. I also spoke with ease the relationship between eastern mysticism and particle Physics during lessons. While teaching circular motion I demonstrated to my pupils how the clever milkmen in Chennai used to rotate their milk cans, before milking the cow, to show that it is empty. In fact it had water in it. This was one of their favourite demos.It never failed to amaze them when I rotated beakers full of water without spilling one drop.I regularly made curry, rice, vadais, bajji etc for fund-raising events and get togethers.I made pancakes on pancake day events, helped in the village fair and worked and still work at the Oxfam charity shop on Saturdays.

Being a Christian school, I was expected to choose a prayer for my leaver’s party. I chose ‘Vaishanv jan to’. I made a translation of each line and gave a copy to my colleagues to look at, as the song was played and ended my talk pointing out the amazing fact that a Vaishnav ( as I am) believes in things similar to what my school preaches as a Christian school. The applause took a while to die down.

It is not my intention to popularise saree or Indian food by writing this article. I am convinced that we make an impact by being what we are and doing what we feel like, rather than adjusting our ways and even our names to make it suit others. Let us be proud of our habits, beliefs and way of eating and living. In a nutshell DO WHATEVER YOU DO WITH A FIRM CONVICTION.

WE NEED NOT IMPRESS OTHERS IN ANYWAY.

Courtesy: London Sath Sangham Newsletter