Many Shades of Identity

My nine-year-old daughter often asks me whether she is British or Indian. Being born in the UK and growing up here, her national identity centres around this country, but often she is reminded about her Indian/ Bengali roots, as was done on 26 January - India's Republic Day. To arrive at an argumentative equilibrium my daughter is told that she is British of Indian origin.

Going by the diplomatic jargon, I too hold the same status so does my wife. But when it comes to description we define ourselves as Indians.

I was born in India and spent three decades of my life there before moving to the UK. So technicalities apart, I consider myself only as an Indian and nothing else. Lord Norman Tebbit, famed or ill famed for Tebbit Test, might not be pleased but that is the reality.

But when my daughter comes up with the same argument, we settle only after attaching an adage i.e. British Indian and not only British.

The moot question though is whether a national identity is important in a globalised set up.

For the sake of argument, we often say that the current phase of globalisation, which is more technological, has produced a global village and being world citizens do we really need a national identity.

Sociological analysts see the ideological demise of nation state with the advent of globalisation. Keynesianism which was the hallmark of nation state in the post war era, has taken a back seat and despite a flurry of  crises caused by the selfish behaviour of the proponents of Neoliberalism, the state has taken a supplementary role, through quantitative easing etc., rather than positioning itself as the leader as was the case during the post-war reconstruction.

When statism was the dominant discourse one could understand the rationale behind the significance of national identities. However, when state as an intellectual idea has taken a back seat and the market force has taken over, even then national identities are quite predominant. Imagine the rise of the Neo-Nazis in Germany or the British National Party in the UK.

Technology they say is a great leveler and it has often obscured national boundaries and geographical contours and yet it couldn't get away with national, ethnic and other identities. When it comes to 15 August or 26 January, I am a proud Indian. I keep on telling my daughter how freedom fighters made India free from the clutches of the British. Similarly, during Durga Puja my Bengaliness takes precedence. Undoubtedly, they all are part of my identity.

Do these forms of identity come into conflict with one another or do they co-exist?

Or is identity too complex a phenomenon and it is not easy to decipher all its shades!

Tirthankar Bandyopadhyay is a journalist and media consultant. 
He can be contacted at tirthankarb@hotmail.com 
All comments are personal.