Am I Brown enough ?

What do I say? Where do we belong? Are we given credit for what we are, our qualification our values or are we judged in this world for being white or brown? Nothing upset me more since today morning when my cousin posted a status on face book. In fact, face book brings me close to cousins that were missing or are in far-flung areas of the world. She was sitting in the orthodontist office reading the 2016 man booker prize book where she was asked do you speak English? Then, the orthodontist asked her daughter where are you from, so the little precious girl all of seven years said here.

The doctor still kept on insisting again, where are you from? She said, White Plains.

Then, the orthodontist said to my cousin, but your dentist doesn’t take insurance.

It was assumed by the orthodontist that my cousin doesn’t know English. She further assumed that because the little one was brown, she couldn’t be from ‘ here ‘. That because, she was brown she could not afford dental care.

We live in a world, where it is assumed that just because one is brown, one cannot afford dental care, because one is brown one cannot speak English and it is further assumed that English is not mother tongue, then what?

Why do we look at the outer package? Do we want glitter? Are we comfortable when the person looks like us, speaks like us? My cousin was born in England; she is a practicing cardiologist in New York and is as smart as they come. Just because she likes her long hair, and her Indian- ness and doesn’t color her self with a bb cream to make her skin like a geisha white girl and doesn’t become a brunette with smart subtle dull blonde streaks and doesn’t flash her credentials in the face , makes her less than anyone?

I wonder why this ignorance or should I say arrogance? In a world that is fraught with so many tensions, strife, and is making giant steps to conquer the unknown ,we are still worried about color of the skin . Assuring ones’ s child that the brown makes us less susceptible to cancer is not the answer. Medical reasoning is not the way out of a situation or the way to side step a situation . And, mind you the kid is a US citizen , but I guess ignorance is a global commodity . Wearing bling, and her rocks she could definitely intimidate the orthodontist and make her sit up, but what a waste !

We all have one life ,no one ever came back from the dark side , nor did one come back from learning from Yoda what happens there , that we can come back and live our life according to the tenets laid down by the masters. Why are we still made to prove our worth by outer manifestations or the outer cover? I think one should be like the panda bear , half white and black , but adored and loved by all and brought back from extinct status to living !

Don’t judge the book by the cover , just read and then form judgment , do not impose or impress upon a young child’s mind she is black , brown or less than white ! It confuses them and leads them to a merry path where she will try to ignore her brown to be white, and would end up being confused !

Do not let social conditioning ruin you , your soul cannot be sexist , racist or classist , so why are you ?

Oh, by the way I deal with a double whammy every time I meet the society matrons, I live in the village , don’t have the hair all over the place teased and dyed into a  Sonam brown , no tattoo , and don’t even wear a dress or a western outfit; just a good old fashioned  Punjabi suit with no claim to modernity and have just about had no laser to zap the freckles !

So sad na , removed from civilization .

I wonder what goes in the mind .

Well , that’s for another day .