What does it mean to belong?

I often find myself ruminating upon what it truly feels to belong. To a place, to a person, to a world that is constantly evolving and shifting. The role of one’s environment, daily interactions, cultural context, lived experience and one’s internal compass not only shapes one’s identity but are so intricately interwoven to construct and build one’s sense of self.

As an immigrant living in Australia, born in India, and a second-generation army kid, I find myself often oscillating between my varied identities, shifting over time.

The plurality of my identity tugs at me to de-construct the many impressions, the many experiences that have synthesized to become ‘me’.

There are times when I find my sense of belonging stripped off of any specific customs which typify a typical Aussie or Indian culture per se. A culmination of many moments; of various identities lived, lost and re-built.

And then there are times when I wish to wholeheartedly embrace my Indian-ness and yearn to be in India to be a part of celebrations, customs and birthdays of loved ones. Visits back home, often over-compensating for the lost times, and missed milestones, with a fervor of food, festivities, and shared bonhomie. At this point, my sense of semblance and idea of ‘home’ has not only shifted, but is somewhat misplaced.

Perhaps, we don’t truly belong to one place or one reality, but constantly keep shifting between our many realities, floating through time and space. Finding our sense of self and belonging in this cosmos, one lived interaction at a time. Or perhaps, it was never really about finding the ‘one place’, perhaps it was always about coming back to oneself. At a time of our choice and liking.

For I have come to realize that belonging is never a place. It is the people, the experiences, the sum total of everything that has touched you and everything that is yet to.

For coming home is almost always about returning to oneself, one’s deepest, darkest, most profound selves – be it one’s birth land or beyond.

So, in this season of my life, I am celebrating wholeheartedly the joy of becoming a good ol’ Aussie mate! And embracing being bequeathed upon my Aussie citizenship. After all, you don’t become a citizen of the lucky country everyday, and this very moment is worth celebrating in all its glory.

In a swarm of 200 people, I was amongst the few new Aussies claiming my citizenship and representing my Indian-ness amidst 43 nationalities present. It was a moment of joy, a euphoric night with friends and family celebrating, fancifully flashing our certificates with a proud grin to match, standing upright in a perfect portrait with the Mayor of Glen Eira City Council and the celebrated MPs.

A musical evening to remember, the orchestra played in the background and soon after, with the grant of the certificates, I found myself rejoicing to the tune of “I am Australian”. Moments later, everyone stood up to sing aloud the Australian national anthem “Advance Australia Fair”. Reclaiming in the joy of being a newly ‘certified’ Aussie, the dinner later at Gilberts, Bentleigh tasted equally sweet. It was a cracker of a day!

To a country that gave me perspective, vegemite, work-life balance, a home I call my own, a half-Aussie mate for life, to the Yorta Yorta lands on which I live, I am a proud Indian-Australian.

As incredibly privileged I am to live on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation, its deeply humbling to know that I can now travel to about 113 countries visa free, albeit that’s covered in my passport cost, which is worth its weight in gold. As for gold, I am equally privileged to have been born in the land of the golden bird.

So, I guess I have the best of both the worlds and now I can’t complaint, can I? 😉