assimilating in western countries

[Guest thoughts]

how do we go about defining ourselves as a separate, unique people, without being labelled as people who are unwilling to adopt the cultural aspects of the western countries we live in??

question arose when i noticed this video a veerji had shared on facebook of an australian punjabi:

thought it was creative, but bapu ji thought it was bezati.

in our countries like usa especially, what is the best approach to assure other citizens that we are not unloyal to the country and have their best interests at heart too??

[VanHelsingh]

Not sure we should assimilate! I don't wish to become part of the Borg collective!

You will never be able to please those who demand we "integrate". There will always be some sticking point regarding us not being quite this or that, depending on the criteria an individual uses to measure these kind of things.

The best you can be is true to yourself and treat everyone you encounter with respect. If that's not good enough for some people then those same people are best avoided.

[N30S1NGH]

As once wise gursikh said to me: Integration- Yes, Annihilation - NO..!!

[Mehtab Singh]

[Singh559]

The term "the melting pot" is being changed by many teachers, but many still adhere to teaching it to kids at schools. The reason why it's not correct because many different cultures come to USA and assimilate and adopt culture of America, but at the same time retain their individuality.

It's more accurate to say it's a salad bowl than a melting pot.

[S4NGH]

Assimilate: to drop ones own cultural/ancestral beliefs/ways and adopt those of the society/mainstream.

Thats like having tea without the lechi. Food without merch. Ice cream tubs not filled with mums daala sabjiya...the list goes on (ok the examples are a little extreme)

If we all dropped everything 'punjabi' 'desi' about us and started living exactly 100% like our goray neighbours just to 'fit in', what would be the fun in that? A world without diversity? We would just be clones of one another to some extent. Sheep! Sikhi isnt for sheep. Maharaaj gave us our unique appearance so we stand out in a crowd. Far from assimilation.

Integrate, YES. Assimilate? No no.

Also do these goray assimilate when they go abroad? They dont even bother to learn the foreign language, expecting everyone to speak english and conform to their ways. Why should we conform to theirs?

[sabnakeerenka]

Assimilate: to drop ones own cultural/ancestral beliefs/ways and adopt those of the society/mainstream.

Thats like having tea without the lechi. Food without merch. Ice cream tubs not filled with mums daala sabjiya...the list goes on (ok the examples are a little extreme)

If we all dropped everything 'punjabi' 'desi' about us and started living exactly 100% like our goray neighbours just to 'fit in', what would be the fun in that? A world without diversity? We would just be clones of one another to some extent. Sheep! Sikhi isnt for sheep. Maharaaj gave us our unique appearance so we stand out in a crowd. Far from assimilation.

Integrate, YES. Assimilate? No no.

Also do these goray assimilate when they go abroad? They dont even bother to learn the foreign language, expecting everyone to speak english and conform to their ways. Why should we conform to theirs?

Tea without the lechi! LOL!

[Guest buddasingh]

Who is "we" when the OP refers to "how do we go about defining ourselves as a separate...."

Is this forum Sikhsangat or Geniedancesangat? Are we that blind that a "brother" can place a turban on his head as a temporary costume dance around and then remove it and we are OK with it? We complain about Bollywood caricatures, but this is OK?

The culture of Sikhs is NOT restricted to Punjabi and it is not Geniedance! The culture is a "Sikh" culture which includes all our Sikh brothers and sisters around the world.

[buddasingh]

Who is "we" when the OP refers to "how do we go about defining ourselves as a separate...."

Is this forum Sikhsangat or Geniedancesangat? Are we that blind that a "brother" can place a turban on his head as a temporary costume dance around and then remove it and we are OK with it? We complain about Bollywood caricatures, but this is OK?

The culture of Sikhs is NOT restricted to Punjabi and it is not Geniedance! The culture is a "Sikh" culture which includes all our Sikh brothers and sisters around the world.

[Guest dharmik_culture]

There will always be some confliction between our culture and the culture of the malesh, doesn't bani also call them the malesh?

The culture of Sikhs is NOT restricted to Punjabi and it is not Geniedance! The culture is a "Sikh" culture which includes all our Sikh brothers and sisters around the world.

That's right, the culture of bani is not only punjabi, it also has other indian regions as well as a bit of persian "farsi" culture.