Growing up, and being born in the United States, my native Bengali parents always wanted for me to carry on the traditions and cultural values of a Bengali. Although I was born in the United States, I have incorporated the values of my culture into who I am today. Through the continuous exposure to these traditions and my adaptations to this community, I myself have become a part of this community that I initially did not consider myself a part of because I was naïve and thought that to be a part of a community, you had to live inside of it.
I’m always excited when it comes to exploring new things and going to new places but this upcoming December, I am even more excited because for the first time ever, I am going to my country, Bangladesh. Every time I tell a fellow Bengali that I will be going to Bangladesh for the first time this December, they are always amazed at the fact that I have never actually been to my home country. Even though I have heard many negative things about the living conditions and the political corruption back home, I will take the adventure as a learning experience where I can truly appreciate my culture and traditions. Hopefully, when I get there, I will finally be able to read and write
What I appreciate the most about my Bengali heritage is the role that family, especially parents play. My parents have taught me mostly everything I know about my heritage as they are always afraid that I will get engulfed by the American lifestyle and completely forget about my origins. I often jovially joke around with my parents, always criticizing the movies they watch because they are often ludicrously fake with the sound effects and there is too much excessive dramatization but I know that it is a part of who they are.
Once piece of art that particularly come to mind when I think of my country and my origins would be a song by George Harrison from The Beatles. Although the song is not sung in my native language, it reminds me of the freedom struggle that we had to go through in the early 1970’s to achieve our independence which we finally got on December 16, 1971. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZZ96J_PVbk
On a VERY IMPORTANT side note: GOOO YANKEES!!!!!!!!!!!!
