Sunday, July 20, 2008

Origin of Me - Part 2



As I looked at a very good friend's wedding photos from India, Ifelt many things.

This friend, whom I've known for over a decade, decided to opt for an arranged marriage and went to his hometown in India to get married. The girl is a France-based lass whose roots are in India, like my friend who is a Singapore-based dude with roots in India, like me.

Indian-Muslim marriages in India are grand affairs - they are colourful, very bright, very long and massive.

My parents had mooted the idea of me marrying one of my relations in India, when I was a bachelor. A major reason for my refusal was that a girl from India would not fit in with my worldview and the country, and also, I thought getting married in India was extremely "obiang". After all, I'm a modern, cosmopolitan, uber-cool Singaporean who is forward-thinking and progressive. Hmm.

But looking at my friend's wedding photos, I realised that one cannot get away from what one is. If I have roots in India, it means I have roots in India. Ooru will always be where I have my family background. And there is a reason and value in the customs and practices of "ooru" (roughly translated - "countryside" or "India").

So the wedding photos do not remind me of an "obiang" setting. They reflect the colours and traditions of my roots. They may not be in sync with what is practiced in seemingly modern settings such as Singapore - but they are there for many reasons and people of my ancestry are proud of it.

So "ooru" is a part of me, and I embrace it.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dude,
That realisation is due to our being grown-ups now and the maturity leading us to return to our roots - with grace.

It happens to most of us. It never went away - we merely buried those roots deeper as we attained our personal "independence". Sooner or later, it was bound to resurface :)

jalsa... said...

welcome my dear oorukaaraen

Nunbun said...

Hey "Return and Going", what you said is really poetic...