Culture Spotlight: Third Cultured

By Dinesh Ganesan, Fall’ 15

Culture means a lot to me. Yet at the same time it means very little. This dichotomy between cultures is why I strive to learn about as many perspectives as possible everyday while still taking everything with a grain of salt. Let me explain.

I was born in 1993 to a mother of Chinese descent and a father of Indian descent, both of whom are 1st generation Singaporeans. For me, growing up biracial meant holidays all year round. We value Chinese New Year just as much as The Festival of Lights, Diwali. We are Hindu by religion but culturally, we still religiously celebrate Christmas because my mom’s family are Christians. With this, there is always something to celebrate every month of the year. Our family is very festive in nature.

My journey through life began in Cairo, Egypt where my family and I spent three years. I don’t remember too much of the city or the people. However, my parents loved the culture so much that whatever was forgotten has been made up for by the architecture, furniture, ornaments, and overall feng shui of our home. It is aesthetically very Arabic and Middle Eastern — more so than it is Indian or Chinese. From Cairo we moved to New Delhi, India for four to five years. While still very young, this was my first introduction to the class system. Through a privileged and isolated lens, I was able to see India in its entirety, especially at a time when it was not one of the major economic superpowers of the world. The exposure to the Indian society provided some backbone to my Hindu and Indian heritage but taught me more about aspects like the unequal distribution of wealth, overpopulation, and societal hygiene. It meant that I never took these things for granted at a very early stage in my life.

In 2002, we moved to the greatest city on the planet, Washington D.C. where I was introduced to the ‘first world.’ To put things into context, our family moved no more than three months after 9/11. The city was going through a very unique period in its history and I was fortunate enough to be exposed to such a transition. My parents first put me in an all boys school where I had to wear a coat and tie every day, even as a third grader! The school was made up of kids whose families were predominantly rich conservative republicans. So at the time, that environment was what I felt D.C. and the rest of America was all about. While political viewpoint does not define a particular person, being surrounded by a relatively homogenous group of people created a certain cultural personality for me about the city. Nonetheless, my parents moved me to the Washington International School at the end of 8th grade, by no means due to any disdain for my previous school. At my new environment, a lot of the kids had parents who worked at the UN, IMF, and the World Bank. This opened my eyes to a different side of the city, and a much more liberal viewpoint. By the time I was 14, I had grown to understand politics in America and the strong nuances that go with the two party system we know of today.

Just as it was time to start flourishing in my new high school, I was told we had to move again. It was an extremely disappointing situation for me as I had finally settled in to what I considered my home. As the young and ignorant person that I was, I felt that moving to Jakarta, Indonesia, was a step backward in my life. Having said that, the next three years in Jakarta was the most enlightening I had ever had. I was exposed to true poverty, corruption, poor infrastructure, and pollution. But at the same time, I was introduced to some of the nicest people in the world, and a culture filled with love and peace. Never in my travels have I seen such satisfaction and happiness over the simplest of things in life, as compared to the people of Indonesia. It was a perfect time for me to experience such things because much of the values and observations in the emerging economy are what have formulated my opinions on life today. I graduated from high school in Jakarta. As I began to get excited for college back ‘home’ in the States, my dad reminded me of the oh so dreaded activity I had to partake in: my mandatory national service in Singapore. Upon graduation I was to be enlisted in the army for two years.

So there I was, two weeks after throwing my cap in the air, boarding a ferry in uniform, heading to an island off of Singapore where I was to learn how to shoot a gun. It took me 18 years to get back to my passport country, a place I had no relation or affinity towards. Once again, brief depression turned into enlightenment as I can genuinely say I became a man in those two years. The army taught me about earning your respect and working for what you think you deserve. It taught me how to lead by example and excel in everything I did. It taught me how to overcome obstacles. My time in Singapore also gave me perspective into how the Singaporean government was run, and to this day, while I still call DC home, I respect Singapore as having the best form of a meritocratic system.

My journey thus far has come with a multitude of perks and I am forever grateful for being able to travel and see the world. However there are some pitfalls. As of now, I am still culturally confused. There is not one particular culture, country, or affiliation that I gravitate most towards. It means that passion for one particular ‘thing’ is quite difficult. Secondly, with change being a constant throughout my upbringing, I am now almost too used to change, and always want to experience or learn something new without diving too deep into anything in particular.

Having said all of this, there are a few things that I have been lucky to have picked up through my exposure. While these values and perspectives do not need to necessarily come by traveling your whole life or living in so many different countries, the following ‘guidelines’ are what shape my worldview and they form the basis for how I conduct my day to day interactions:

1. Never compartmentalize. Everyone hears this in different forms: never generalize, don’t stereotype. However it is extremely important to note that no matter how collective or homogenous a community is, every individual is not defined purely by the traits that make them part of that community. They will have characteristics and a personality that is specific to them only. It seems that this goes without saying, but I cannot tell you how many times I have seen intelligent people make the mistake of stigmatizing.
2. Enter every conversation assuming you have something to learn from the other individual. A large majority of the people in this world operate on a self-centered approach when they communicate with others. This is human nature. However from time to time, try to approach conversations from a you-centric viewpoint. In this way, when you are learning about someone, you will less likely put whatever another person is saying into a box or a compartment in your brain that you already know. You are less likely to try and relate what they are saying to something you have experienced or learnt in the past. Thus, you naturally practice the idea of open-mindedness.
3. Consistently ask yourself what makes you unique in your own culture. Every month, I ask myself what makes me unique among the thousands of biracial, third cultured Hindus in the world. You should do the same about the culture you affiliate yourself with. Through this self reflection, you become more aware of yourself and the smaller things that make you unique within your own community. And as a result, the next time you meet somebody new, you are more likely to notice the less obvious personality traits about them. This in turn will make them appreciate your presence but also help in avoiding point 1.
4. Experiential exposure always trumps the internet. No matter how great technology gets, learning about a community through a screen will never be as meaningful or genuine as immersing yourself in the actual community. And immersing yourself does not mean studying abroad and visiting a city for a weekend. You really have to interact with locals for a period of time. Understand their gestures, tone, reactions, and justifications. From there you can go from acknowledging a culture to appreciating a culture, before finally developing strong relationships.

I use ‘never’, ‘every’, ‘consistently’, ‘always’ primarily because to simply learn about something is different from making it a habit or a ritual. To fully utilize these values, it is crucial to practice them regularly, just like anything else in life. Finally, ‘always’ remember that things change. This is why culture means so much and so little to me. The environment around you is never static, which means the stigmas, cultural attributes, practices, and overall psyche of a group or entity will never be the exact same over a period of time. With this assumption, we need to keep challenging our previous learnings. Only then can you become culturally adept and only then can you avoid complacency with diversity.

Originally published at gtakpsite.com on March 2, 2018.