Recently I was chatting to a friend about blogging. We started talking about the many different genres of blogging as well as the different types of bloggers out there. Being of a different ethnicity ourselves, we started talking about about how that affects the way we blog and what we blog about.
Something she said really stuck with me. Even though I come from a different cultural background (parents & grandparents born in East Africa and great-grandparents born in India) and I’m a practising Ismail Muslim, there isn’t much about my blog that reflects this diversity. I have the header graphic which shows me with my family and we have a brown skin tone. There is a brief mention in one post that I like Bollywood movies and can understand the language, plus one Indian meal recipe. Other than that, there is not a lot on this blog that allows you to see into that part of my life.
Today I want to change that. In this post, I am going to tell you a few things that you didn’t know about me and that reflect that traditions, culture and ethnicity that are part of my life.
1. I am a Canadian, Shia, Ismaili Muslim. This means that I follow the Quran and we also follow the Aga Khan who is our living spiritual guide and helps us interpret and understand the Quran and our religion in our modern day life
2. Our family prays three times a day. Once in the morning and twice in the evening. It’s basically like a shorter version of the Namaaz which other Muslims say in prayer 5 times a day.
3. I’m a big fan of Indian and East African food, especially my moms! I love curry, biryani, akni, puri, roti and the list goes on! After having kids, I even learned to make some of it myself because I wanted my kids to enjoy the same food as well.
4. Even though I don’t drink it all the time, I love a really good cup of chai. My mom and my aunt make it best. I don’t really even try to make it because it never measures up. Then give me a good cookie or bread with butter and jam to dunk and I’m set.
5. I have a closet full of traditional indian outfits and jewelry that I wear on special occasions and to mosque.
6. My family also goes to mosque, or what we call Khane. It is open every morning and evening for prayers but we usually go once a week.
7. I love Bollywood movies and songs!! I love listening to the songs in the car or at home with the kids. My favourite thing is to turn up the music to an awesome Bollywood beat and then dance around with the kids. This is one of our favourite Bollywood remixes right now.
8. I was born in Niagra Falls, ON but I didn’t speak any English when I entered Kindergarten. At home we just spoke a a language called Kachi and so I never really learned English until I was actually in school!
9. I got married at a mosque in a traditional sari. In the evening had a reception at a hotel with all those weird traditions like my MIL throwing beetle nuts, me and my hubby racing to step and break these little pots and my husband got his tie pulled on for a big gift, all because that’s what we do at our weddings. The dance at our reception had a few western songs but it was mostly Bollywood music (that my husband didn’t really know or understand) but we all danced the night away and had an amazing time!
10. I have never visited my parents place of birth as an adult and it’s on my bucket list. I have been to India for three weeks about seven years ago and it was a pretty amazing trip. To see how we all live in the same universe yet life is so different really had an impact on me.
So there you have it, that’s the brown side of me that you don’t get to read about too often but I wanted to share because my culture and heritage is an important part of me and I hope to be able to do it more often.
This post originated on The Write Balance.
Love the introduction and background. Nice to be able to put a face to the Twitter handle! Congrats on the website! Puneeta
Appreciate the positive feedback and thank you for the good wishes. It’s definitely nice to put a face to the twitter convos!