Assignment 2:3 Read at least 3 students blog short stories about ‘home’ and make a list of the common shared assumptions, values and stories that you find. Post this list on your blog.
It was a pleasure to read many of the blogs in relation to the diverse perceptions in identifying with a sense of home. Moreover, there were three blogs that I could identify with the most after reading the diverse stories that helped justify a developed sense of home through the experiences and stories told. The following stories by Mariam Manghat, Navi Gosal and John Wang helped me comprise a list of common shared assumption, values and stories which I can relate to in developing my sense of home.
Mariam Manghat
Mariam’s inspirational story regarding the issue of racism in the post 9/11 era and experiencing a sense of difficulty in identifying with a feeling of a sense of home due to racism is something that I can relate to from an early age as well through my experiences in elementary school. I hated going to school after feeling outcast as a result of my skin colour and cultural identification, two things that I couldn’t change. My bond with my cousins got stronger as we had shared experiences in racism throughout elementary school in the post 9/11 era, kids would yell out racial slurs and chase us out of school grounds and when we would notify the school administration, there would be a minimal effort invested to resolve these racial issues. I found that in the post 9/11 era, I became more educated on the issues of historical racism in Canada throughout my experience in high school and university which lead to a sense of belonging, identification and appreciation with my homeland through the development of empirical knowledge.
As it pertains to my sense of home in New Westminster, an elder relative of mine was murdered in broad day light one year ago, as she was walking down a busy street in New Westminster and was physically attacked by a young male for no reason, other than being an elderly woman of colour and having an ethnic background. The street that she was murdered on will never be remembered the same for me, my sense of home in New Westminster has been changed forever as a result of a constant everyday reminder of the horrific event that had taken place every time I drive on that road. The issue of racism in the post 9/11 era is something that I can relate too, and Mariam’s story of racism was something that I could relate to in my development in my sense of home.
Navi Gosal
I can relate about the point made by Navi Gosal about the lack of opportunities presented at an early age for travelling, as my parents are also immigrants from India and their experiences of moving away from their own home and leaving their family/friends behind in India has created a different perspective on travelling that my own romanticized notion of travelling as a result of western ideologies. Moreover, the value in developing her sense of home through the story of missing her mother while away on vacation, reciting the story of her mother’s business clients who eventually turned into family friends who would hang around her house for long-periods of time having tea, is also reminiscent of my mother in the sense of creating an open and friendly vibe throughout the household.
John Wang
In John’s blog, he narrates a story of his first fighting experience in connection to the development in the sense of home. I was intrigued to hear that John and the boy who had started a fight with him, ended up becoming good friends after both of them were sent to the counsellor as their punishment for the fight. I can relate to his story because often when I was younger, I would engage in many fights as a result of bullying from people in my elementary school for ‘no reason’. Today, walking around my hometown of New Westminster, I often run into some of the people who used to start trouble with me and my cousins and we often share a good laugh about how we were trouble makers as kids and how things have changed. I still see some of the people who used to start trouble back in the day when I go to play hockey at the local community center we exchange stories about what we are in our current lives and some of the guys are surprised to hear that I am a 4th year university student at at one of the top schools in the country, as they admit that they did not have high expectations for me and my cousins due to their memories of us being violent as kids.
Works Cited
Bhasin, Ritu. “Sikhs Have Been Living in Fear of Hate Crimes since 9/11.” The Globe And Mail. N.p., 08 Aug. 2012. Web. 8 June 2016.
Elliot, Josh, and Josh Dehaas. “CTV Exclusive: Sikh Man Viciously Attacked in Quebec City.” CTV News. N.p., 1 Apr. 2016. Web. 8 June 2016.
“Julien Levasseur Charged with 2nd-degree Murder in New Westminster Attack.” CBC News. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 05 June 2015. Web. 8 June 2016.
Kamagata1. 23 May 2014. Ottawa. Sikh 24. By R. Paul Dhillon. 23 July 2014. Web. 8 June 2016.
Narang, Devanshu. “Experiences of an Immigrant to Canada.” The Times Of India. Bennett, Coleman & Co, 29 Feb. 2012. Web. 8 June 2016.