assimilate mean per Meeriam Webster Dictionary : "to make similar"
the ans to ur qs is
you don't .
you only pick and choose what is nice and good from other cultures.
now, you can adapt what is good, but remember to keep alive what you know, fromyour own societal values and culture And hopefully that is good and life constructive.
becoming confused and ripping apart ur identity, when it is a good identity, is not a wise thing to do.
making friends in the adapted cultures is alright and it is a good thing, but not at the losss of what you truly know is right from ur original culture, and especially since it is your own :>
it is a very precarious line to walk on.
balance is the key.
best,
Afridi, yaar you are wise man. Your posts really impress me.
Thats why you see so many of them here on this forum vomitting out their confusion but they always end up badmouthing about Pakistan and other people from Pakistan. :D
No brother. You are not stuck in any no-man's land.
We pakistanis are very open and good hearted people. If you come to us, we will treat you like our own people. My best friend is a boy born in UK and raised in Canada. We are best friends. He is a person who came close to me and I accepted him. We are two totally different extreems in terms of cultural upbringing but we get along very well. Key is, he respects me as an individual, I give him respect as an individual. Other boys just keep a distance, I can't do much about them................
People from your class always tend to look down upon us, which is depressing......
I feel proud of the ABDs, BBDs CBDs etc who have the great ability to function well in two different cultures, and serve in many cases as a bridge for understanding between teh cultures. they have the unique capability t see things from an america/british/canadian perspectve as well as a desi perspective. Govts should hire ppl like that in foriegn services, intelligence, trade promotion.
assimilate has a certain conotation associated with it that makes me uncomfortable, it is like losing one's identity, becoming generic. what would pakistan be if all the distinct cultures of all the people, their music, their food, their clothing, their poetry was forgotten in favour of one homogeneous society?
Mohajirs in Punjab assimilated, but not in Karatishi/Sindh....
^ not quite, mohajirs in punjab integrated, they have maintaind much of their prsonal identity, but they have learnt how to coexist with the locals, they still have their language, their food, their traditions, their dresses etc etc.
In Sindh its a diff ball game, how can a majority assimilate/integrate with a minority i.e. if you are talking about karachi. Even if you look at Karachi as some huge melting pot it is not, mohajirs from diff parts have maintained their traditions and culture, whether it was original mohajirs from India, later ones from bangladesh, ppl seeking economic opportunity coming in from punjab or sarhad, or even iranians after the revolution or afghan during soviet war.
..........I don't know this ABCS, i just got this term from GS.
Pir Saab, you are right.
Anyhow, I dont drink, never been any pub, dont support any war, dont eat forbidden, but still well integrated. I am alone asian among 1000 westerns, who never ever interacted with a muslim, its their first experience. They always care for my religious requirements and accomodate these into every aspect. We are tolerating each other that is called "integration".
They were having a alot of misapprehensions and gave me "Islam PHobia" to elaborate on the "fears". They really appreciate that sort of muslims who have capability to see things from western and desi perspective.:)
p.s. dont quote on me
abcd = american born confused desi, bbcd is the same but british born and cbcd is the same but canadian born. in my response I took the C for ocnfused out, because not all ppl born in these countries are confused about who they are. some may be, others may appear to be confused because of their unique perspective, to desis back home or recent arrivals.
