PSEUDOINDIAN : Pseudo or Not Pseudo?

*I found this draft floating amongst some of my unpublished draft (dated 2006) and finally decided to publish it . . .

MALAYSIAN / INDIAN ; am I, or am I not?
PSEUDO ; am I, or am I not?
PSEUDOINDIAN ; am I, or am I not?
WHAT AM I?

Pseudo : is basically a word used to tag something as untrue.

So this Post is just about that.

I am a Malaysian born Indian.
Both my Grandfathers are from India. Paternal Grandfather is from Chidambaram and Maternal Grandfather from Trivandrum.

My Grandma's and Parents were Born here in Malaysia.
So i guess I can consider myself a 3rd generation Malaysian Born Indian, or is it 2nd?


So what's the big Hoo Haa all about?

Okay, so I have the tendency of telling non-Malaysian people I'm Malaysian Indian.

I think a lot of us do. I'm a Malaysian Indian, I'm a Malaysian Chinese.

Some people actually say stuff like;
"Hey, you're from Malaysia but you look Indian!"
Like Malaysian's were supposed to have this particular look..
What do I say?
"Uh, well, I don't know what happened! I woke up one morning and i looked Indian!" ?
Or when I speak to foreigners, they hear my name and say, "Oh That Sounds Like an Indian Name.."
So I tell them I'm Malaysian Indian..


Well, a dear friend of mine; a pakka Tamizh Payen born and brought up in Chennai, for the sake of teasing me started this whole Pseudo thing.
He says; "You're either Indian, or you're Malaysian. Athu enna? Malaysian Indian? And you're not Indian for sure.. So just tell people your Malaysian.."

I insist that I AM MALAYSIAN INDIAN....And so the argument starts...

and at some point, he calls me a PSEUDOINDIAN..

That argument we had may have been a joke at that point of time.
But it made me think.

I recalled something my form 3 history Teacher, Mrs.Chan told us back in school.
She said Malaysia will never have its own identity as long as the Chinese and Indians keep saying, "I'm a Manaysian Chinese" or "I'm a Malaysian Indian" . I guess she was right.

But think about it. Why do we call ourselves that way? Why don't we just say I'm a Malaysian?
*We - not all but some (myself included).
I do have friends who are pro Malaysians as well.

Of course in the up coming blogs, you will notice how this feelings change like a bouncing ping pong ball from one side of the net to the other.