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Lost Identity

Article Summary by: tamkeen    

Original Author: Tamkeen
  • Summary rating: 4 stars (66 Ratings)
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Lost Identity
Is it true that Snowflakes who, like people, are all different and
beautiful, but they lose their identity in a mob?
Like every morning, sitting in the park, I was lost in my reading. Too absorbed to look up from my book. When my eyes could read no more I looked up and felt the warmth of the sun wash my face. The dew drops were still fresh and sparkling under my bare feet. As I sat there a leaflet came fluttering with the wind and rested beside my feet. I picked it up and read through it. There were the words, so bold and so distinct!
“NEW NATIONAL IDENTITIES PROJECT”
By British Council
I would have paid no attention to it but somehow my eyes kept wandering back to the word identities. For the first time in life this ten letter word, “IDENTITIES”, triggered me. I began to wonder what this word means to me. Have I ever thought about it? According to the literally meaning registered in my mind it meant, “The distinct personality of an individual regarded as a persisting entity and the individual characteristics by which a thing or person is recognized or known.” but this was not enough to put the wild thoughts to peace. I thought some more. It just can’t be some handful of characteristics that define this word. There is something more to it. Something deep and even more compelling. So, I looked around and saw how many different identities I can find in this park.
I saw an old couple sitting on the bench listening to the chirping of birds. I got no clue who they were or what nation they belonged to? I saw a black mother playing with her child. South Africans! I thought. But what if they are Jamaicans? or just Muslims with African origin. Again I was bewildered at this. Two women walked passed me discussing the recipe of “Palak paneer” (spinach and cheese) in Punjabi. Ah! They are Punjabi, since Punjabis are so obsessed with “palak paneer” and “makai ki roti”. I giggled! But what if they are Gujarati? Still no clue.
 I tried guessing few more but every time I got confused with one identity or another. So, I looked down at myself. Muslim! Pakistani! But my clothes are western. The book I am reading is by a Russian author. My accent is Australian (inherited by my mother).I listen to British bands. My favorite food is Thai. Does that mean I have no “true” identity? Is identity only related to geographical parameters? Isn’t it something deeper, more comprehensive? My clothes, food, likes and dislikes aren’t they part of my “identity.” if all these things are not a reflection of my own Pakistani culture then does that make me an “OUTKAST”?
There is something more to “Identities” other than geographical and demographical aspects. This word knows no boundaries with respect to nations or countries. It has the essences of all personal, psychological and social factors. There is something more - the spirit, or the soul. I always believed that a man finds his identity by identifying. A man''s identity is not best thought of as the way in which he is separated from his fellows but the way in which he is united with them. This is the duty of our generation as we enter the twenty-first century to give a noble and humanizing meaning to a community in which all members will define themselves not by their own identity but by that of others. Your identity becomes mixed up in a world which is now known as a “Global Village.” Where people from different communities interact freely. But at the end of the end this “Global Village” is again compartmentalized and the people are again forced to return to their group of species, where they actually belong “Originally”. And at the end of the day you are still “Pakistanis –Third World Citizens and Underdeveloped” in a state called AMERICA!
“The value of identity of course is that so often with it comes purpose.” (Richard R. Grant).
But some questions remain unanswered and far from explanation. Does one lose his own identity being in the societin which he lives? Does he become like a drop of water which loses its identity when it joins the ocean? Is it true that Snowflakes who, like people, are all different and beautiful, but they lose their identity in a mob?
I had no answers to all this. And to this day I am still confused, still thinking, still searching…for my true identity!
 
Published: July 29, 2007
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