my brother had this posted in his blog sometime back
and since i've been pounded by 5 kiloton thermo nukes several times by several ppl.... i thought i'd talk about it...
i've been accused of being a traitor to my race because i don't know a word of tamil or practice their culture
my brother says:
It’s not easy being a “Sinhalised Tamil”. The Sinhalese would always look at you with a sense of cynicism - “yeah … but he’s Tamil.” And if you dare espouse the Tamil “cause” you’d be asked “so what are you complaining about? You’re better off than most of us …” Tamils on the other hand would look at you as a traitor, although deep inside I am sure they feel “whatever it is, he’s Tamil.”
The positive side of being a “Sinhalised Tamil” is that you get an intimate view of the fears, hopes and feelings of both sides. So actually you could help to clear up some of the prejudices each side holds about the other as long as you can walk a tight rope. As you can see this cross mixing of culture and identity could help promote ethnic harmony.
I think the problem is that people think that identity is a congenital attribute and that you have to stick with your “clan” whatever happens. I do not subscribe to such primitive thinking. I think culture and personal identity must be, as much as possible, a voluntary choice.
1. languages
ppl accuse me of the same thing... and i tell them... i speak sinhalese, english, php, html, javascript/css, a bit of C, xslt/xpath and director lingo. btw i find it easier to learn a programming language (like php) than a human language (like... japanese or something)
2. mother tongue
noun
the language that a person has grown up speaking from early childhood.
so its not the language the mother speaks :) hehe
apparently my brother had been speaking tamil 'cos his nanny used to speak tamil and thats how she communicated with her...
but i've never spoken tamil... and its shit hard to learn a language... i've tried... its just not in me... i mean my sinhalese is bad... and my english sucks as well... (but my php is good :) hehe)... i found calculus, analysis etc easier than learning a human language... like japanese or something... some ppl find it easy to learn new languages... i know so many who know hindi just by watching hindi movies...
3. my mother's decision
well like any mother... she thought that it was more important to protect the children than anything else...
my dad is from jafna... but we never spoke tamil at home... i guess my dad was wiped or something hehe... my mom was determined that we didnt learn any tamil... i've been compared to jews who turned traitor during wwii... i'm not blaming her... what would you have done?
it is not easy resist discrimination of that sort... but she did what she thought was right to protect the children... expecting that some day in the future... things would be better... but its like 30 years... and the its still on...
its not the strongest or the bravest of species that survive.. it is the most adoptable... charles darwin
4. culture
i agree with my brother on this one... (there are issues we disagree on like eating habits)... i dont see why i should embrace the tamil culture for the mere fact that i am a tamil... its not that i dont respect the tamil culture (or any other culture for that matter...)
in that sense i dont practice any sinhalese customs other than having kiribath on the first day of the month and on birthdays :)
5. betrayal
am i a traitor? who (or what) have i betrayed? my people? tamil ppl?
ppl are ppl... dogs are dogs... cats are cats... well there are various dog breeds but they are still dogs to me... they shit and have sex when and where ever they want... wag their tail when you yell at them... dogs are dogs!!!!
people are people... we eat meat/fish (except for peta worshiping pussy vegetarians :P)... get drunk (except for cats, dogs and pussies)...
i dont see race... color... religion... etc... i really dont discriminate ppl like that... i mean i dont go asking "hey are you a tamil?"
although i've been asked by my friends (who are mostly sinhalese who communicate with computers using MS Word :) )... they've never discriminated me... they make fun of me saying i'm fat and that i'm ugly (but they agree that my brother is uglier)... i dunno if they discriminate others... but i know that they are nice people... they dont have issues with getting along people with other cultures... hmmm... but thats not the point here... nevermind...
so if i'm a traitor go ahead and throw the first stone! i dont care....
i value my freedom more than anything (other than food - 'cos thats #1 in my list)
