On being Truly Indian.

I must've been 5 or 6 years old when it first happened, but I remember it vividly. I was the only one in a class of 40 or so who stood out from the rest. No, not for being brainy, clever, smart or any of those cool things. Just for giving my mother tongue and 'father tongue' separately.
You see, I hail from a mixed background. I'm part Malayali and part Sindhi. Dad's the South Indian while mom's from the North. Yeah, an absolute cocktail if you must. But try explaining that to a kid. You'll see it isn't quite simple to answer questions on which community they belong to, where they're originally from, and so on. Therefore, as a self respecting child, I did the only thing that made sense. I stated the two tongues separately. Of course, little did I know how amusing it was and that I'd been the butt of jokes!
For the longest time, I remember being quite confused about what to call myself. Malayali, Sindhi, or both. I suppose it was only natural to be a a wee bit confused about it. To be called a stingy Sindhi all my life, or a maverick Malayali. Starved for more choice, really! But that however, wasn't so much of a bother. It was fitting in that really mattered. The Sindhis were snobs and the Malayalis were mad. Which was lesser of the two evils?!
And it's not like I was welcomed with open arms either. I'm no star kid. I don't completely look or behave quintessentially like either party. I'm a mixture there too! Blessed with these hybrid genes, one would think I should have the best of both worlds, and be a beautiful intellectual. Perfect combination of the math brain and good artistic skills; with peaches and cream complexion of the Sindhis and the build of those petite Keralites. Perfect lil damsel you'd think.... Hell no!
God must've gotten a little confused there cause he switched 'em...! I've more than just the sun kissed complexion (sun burnt perhaps!) that fishermen from coastal Kerala might, and the build of a wrestler from some akhada in rural Sindh. I can't do math to save my life and the last thing I painted looked like something my dog relieved himself on!
So anyway, with looks such as mine I'd just earn myself weird stares from Sindhis at school. And as for the Mallu (short for Malayali) brethren, my mannerisms and eating habits were too much for them. The poor things didn't know what to make of their aloo paratha gorging and lassi guzzling friend (while they just pecked at their fish curry and rice)
Hanging out with relatives was even worse. On mom's side we had a few big built cousins who conversed in Hindi mostly, and on dad's side we had a whole bunch of reed thin, high strung nasal ones. 'Aunty' was pronounced 'andy' and 'uncle' equaled 'ungel'. Coconut was called 'cock-unud' and like they always believed, 'boys' will remain 'boo-ee-s'.
So as you can see, I come from a family whose origin is everything but suspect. It's well demarcated right down to my qualities. When I'm a miser, it's the Sindhi in me. When I get moppy, it's the Mallu blood kicking into action. See how well we define ourselves?
All in all, it's great being a mixed breed. I really do enjoy the best of both worlds. The food, culture, the people! We're a unique bunch and I wouldn't for the world of me want to swap with someone from a single community after knowing what fun it is to belong from two. But the best part about not being conventional...? I come from two states but belong to one. The biggest, I'm truly Indian :)