Thinkpiece: What it means to be South Asian? by Khanavee Suthaharan

What is the South Asian Identity?

What does being a South Asian mean? I would assume this question to be rather easy to answer considering that we come from the same region. Yet when we try to find out how to describe our South Asian identity, we meet with a problem. We are not just one nation. We do not belong to the same culture. Then what exactly makes us South Asians?

Maybe it is our culture. Except for which one? South Asia consists of hundreds of languages, multiple religions and traditions. Which might significantly vary even within one country. What might be considered normal in one person's culture might be completely new to another. Therefore we cannot base our identity on culture and it's similarities because there is none.

It may even be possible that we have been searching in the wrong places for similarities. In Sinhala, we have “eka, deka” for one, two; in Hindi, we have “ek, do.” They do not have the exact same words, but the languages are related through their roots. A Sri Lankan Tamil could be watching a Tamil movie from India, and while recognizing his language, he may spot some differences in the way the language is being used. This happens to us often enough in South Asia. Does that mean that we have one common culture, or merely that our cultures have always been interrelated?

This is also visible in popular culture. Bollywood movies have fans all over South Asia, Indian music crosses boundaries, and even cricket may get people from totally different countries to converge on common ground. However, does watching the same movie or cheering for the same sport automatically mean that we belong to the same identity? Probably not. Everybody does not necessarily watch Bollywood movies or cricket, and our preferences are not going to magically erase all our differences. Nevertheless, we find ourselves recognized. Thus it is not necessary to share everything in order to form an identity.

Maybe it has something to do with our history. But the experiences created by history are viewed differently by everyone. A common historical event might have had different meanings to different groups. Moreover, the very choice we make regarding what to keep and what to forget also defines how we perceive ourselves and perceive history. But whose history should we consider when it comes to speaking of a common South Asian identity?

Take the example of Partition. While Partition refers to the division of British India into two nations; India and Pakistan in 1947, followed by the emergence of Bangladesh in 1971, the formation of these identities was affected by millions of lives. However, is there one single story that can be written for such an event? To some it is the story of creation of a homeland. To others it is a story of displacement, division and the end of one's homeland. An event can have multiple meanings depending on the story that is told. When we try to construct a common South Asian identity based on history, whose history is that?

This is where Benedict Anderson's idea of 'imagined community' gains relevance. According to Benedict Anderson, we can think ourselves connected to millions of people whom we shall never know as members of the same nation. For instance, we can consider the manner in which people support their cricket teams in various international tournaments. They shall never actually see any of these players, but still we feel a part of a community larger than us.

While defining a collective identity, we can fall into the trap of attempting to try and define it using common characteristics.But, it is not necessary for a common identity to exist if there is no common experience. It is not about finding a common definition which we all fit into. Instead the south Asian identity can be the recognition of the differences which make us south Asians.

The issue may be that we think of a collective identity as needing to have something shared by everyone. Political philosopher Rabindranath Tagore criticized forms of nationalism which elevate the idea of collective belonging above our common identity as human beings. This raises the question of when identities unite people, and when they start to divide them. If we define what it means to be a South Asian person by saying that one has to speak a certain language, practice a certain religion, or celebrate certain traditions, then we will necessarily be excluding someone.

But there is another issue here as well. For if we consider our differences to be the basis of South Asian identity, how do we define this as an identity at all? Of course, two individuals may be different from each other but not share anything in common. But then again, maybe the truth is somewhere in the middle. Our experiences need not be the same to be related. We have been impacted by one another’s languages, history, and culture.

Perhaps, therefore, being South Asian is not a question of discovering some common feature that connects us all together. It is rather a matter of recognising that we are all from a region whose inhabitants have always had some kind of connection, whether in agreement or disagreement and regardless of our various histories or self-understandings. We do not need to be the same people to acknowledge these connections.Possibly being South Asian is not a discovery of our similarities but rather a creation of our differences.