A Question Of Identity!!

A friend of mine called me a pseudo COCONUT recently!!What he meant was that I was trying to be a British Born Asian though I was brought up in India.So what's the big deal,you ask?Let me explain to you lot!!!

So what's a coconut?Something I like a lot,both the fruit and the water. Nothing more,nothing less. Well,apparently the COCONUT leaves a bad taste in a lot of asian people here in U.K even without them tasting it.

Coconut,in the lexicon of Asians ,is a term for someone who is "brown on the outside,white on the inside."Cue Native Americans-Apple,East Asians-Banana and Afro-Americans-Oreo.

The use of this is about assimilation, where the Asian coconut, for instance, becomes "white" in all respects but appearance. The Asian coconut identifies as white, has "white tastes" and has a disregard for things Indian.

My grievance with it is the fact that it is so blatantly racist.Racist towards all British Born Asians.Racist towards all British people.Racist towards all but ones own culture. There is a problem with this usage because it assumes that there is a certain way to be an authentic Asian. It also ignores the history of colonialism that intertwined European and Indian tastes, particularly among the middle class in India. Ignores the fact that people have to balance their cultural heritage with the influences from British society.

A hardy plant, the coconut would have been able to survive in relatively hospitable weather without much upkeep.It grows on sandy soil, requires little water, and requires virtually no maintenance. In other words, send an Asian anywhere, just let them be, with minimum nourishment and watch the tree grow taller and taller until it dominates the landscape. That is what I think the Asian Diaspora should be like.

I hope people can start a trend: to rehabilitate the coconut.