Identity Crisis

I am writing my thesis on national identity of Christians in India vis-a-vis resurgence of Hindu Nationalism. Yesterday, I submitted my first chapter. No, its nothing to brag about, because I am lagging behind everyone else in the class.

Well, the topic here is identity. The word 'identity' is taken from Latin word idem, which refers to sameness. It has two aspects: psychological and sociological. The former answers the question, "who am I?", the latter "Who do people say I am?" Building on these aspects, famous psycho-analyst Erik Erikson, popularized the term - 'identity-crisis.' This term describes the situation where the psychological and sociological aspects are interlocked in one's sense of self (see Oxford Dictionary of Sociology). But why am i scribbling all these here?

I was in Chandigarh till 2001, and everyone who knew me thought I was Punjabi. Then I moved to Kerala, where they thought I was a 'Mallu.' In between I went back to Chandigarh. The church I visited once had several South Indian families. Right after the service was over, some members of a Malayali family came and started talking to me in Malayalam. I enjoyed it for sometime, and finally bursted out with laughter saying in my broken Malayalam, "Malayalam korchu korchu mansilai" (I understand only little of Malayalam). Here in Bangalore, I recently met Sam. He soon became my friend. He confessed that he thought me to be a Naga. When I visited North-east, some others thought I was Asomi. I wonder if I am having identity-crisis.

Well, it may be identity-crisis for Erikson, for me it is 'identity-bliss.' I think it is blessed to know that people consider you just one of them (at least because of looks, as in my case).