Direct Link to My Video (Note: I apologize in advance for the subpar quality and how pixelated it is. Windows Movie Maker sucks.)

Originally, I was interested in studying Asian Indian youth but I narrowed my focus to Hindu youth. This posed almost no difficulty, though, because Hinduism is the main religion of India. I wanted to see how easy or difficult it is for them to live in American culture and maintain their Indian roots. Some of the questions I asked in my first blog stemmed from Ibrahim’s Self Concept of Minorities. I wanted to see how they define themselves and how they think others see them. In my opinion, the last part of the Self Concept of Minorities is perhaps the most important. It asks how minorities wish to be defined. I think this is the most important aspect because how people carry themselves, what values they maintain, and what traditions they practice are what outsiders see. What they emulate becomes how they are defined. We can use this notion to predict that a person who appears 100% American wants to be fully assimilated and wishes to be defined as American.

As another example, the people I studied in my cultural reporter project are both outwardly American (dressing in western clothes, having western habits) and outwardly Hindu (going to temples, performing traditional dances, etc). This is a prime example of integration, where minorities want to practice their original culture but include the other cultural group (Martin & Nakayama, 2009). My friends Viki (who I interviewed for my 2^nd blog) and Aishwarya are great examples of integration. After going to school and having classes together for four years, I learned that they’ve maintained a balance between Indian and American culture well. They both dedicate a lot of time into traveling back to India, choreographing and performing dances for various events at school, and spending time with their family.

Speaking of which, growing up in America has made it hard for them to fully communicate with their family. In her interview, Viki mentioned how she had trouble saying certain things to her parents because she didn’t know the correct word in Hindi. There were also times where her parents had to explain certain things to her a little more simply in Hindi because she doesn’t speak it as fluently as they do. Viki and Aishwarya have had different cultural experiences growing up in America that their parents will never experience for themselves. This coincides with Kalavar & Van Willigen’s (2005) assertion that each generation becomes increasingly separated from their root culture.

When we usually encounter a group of people from a different culture, it’s easy to become intimidated and less inclined to interact with them because let’s face it, who wants to stick out like a sore thumb? Martin and Nakayama (2009) identify several stages of minority identity development. From what I understand, those that only associate with people from their own race are in stage 3, the resistance and separatism stage (Martin & Nakayama, 2009). We must remember that they only associate with people from the same culture because they don’t want to stand out, either. If they hang out with people of their own race, it’s less likely they’ll be discriminated against or made fun of. It’s not always easy being the new, foreign kid. It is much easier to meet people from a different ethnicity if they are in stage four of identity development (integration). These people have a strong sense of self yet appreciate and partake in other cultures as well (Martin & Nakayama, 2009). Those who are born in America but have ancestral roots elsewhere are most likely integrated, and those who are international students, for example, are probably stage three. When talking to people from either stage, we must remember to respect differences between cultures. It is especially important to remember that those in stage three probably feel uneasy in such a foreign place; we can’t assume they know and understand all western figures of speech or mannerisms. Something we say could offend them, albeit unintentionally. Take the time to sit down and ask them about their cultures and how they see ours. It’ll make them feel welcome and it’ll help you learn a little more about them.

Blog Bibliography

Bhakta, V. (2011, October 25). Being Asian Indian in America. (L. Le, Interviewer)

Ibrahim, F., Ohnishi, H., & Daya, S. S. (1997). Asian American Identity Development: A Culture Specific

Model for South Asian Americans. Journal of Multicultural Counseling & Development , 34-50.

Kalavar, J., & Van Willigen, J. (2005). Older Asian Indians Resettled in America: Narratives about

Households, Culture and Generation. Journal of Cross Cultural Greontology , 213-230.

Martin, J. N., & Nakayama, T. K. (2009). Intercultural Communication in Contexts. New York:

McGraw-Hill.

Video Bibliography

Anu123km (Director). (2011). Incredible India-Dance by Hema Malini and Daughters-

Natyavihar Parampara [Motion Picture].

Irresistiblyattracti (Director). (2009). INDO WESTERN DANCE FUSION - ASHISH SWETA

SUNITA- IMPULSE 2009 [Motion Picture].

Reddymalli (Director). (2011). youngest dancers in the world to perform conventional

"arangetram" in Bharatanatyam [Motion Picture].

Image Links: Please note that some images (shown in video, not linked here) were gathered from Facebook and are the property of Viki Bhakta, Aishwarya Abareddy, or Sonam Bhakta.