How do you connect with your culture, (if you do at all), living in the west?
Re: Question to abcd's
Parent's?
Food?
Clothes?
Drama film etc
Re: Question to abcd's
More importantly, dont you have a community to attach with? Or friends/families from same background to hangout with?
Re: Question to abcd's
I have parents that are heavily connected to their culture which blended into how they raised me and my brother. Of course I rejected a lot of things I didn't like, but there are still many aspects I retained. A lot of Pakistanis in the West are either immigrants or children of immigrants, so it isn't that hard staying connected to the culture.
Re: Question to abcd's
Aunties and Uncles... they keep it alive..
You don't need to connect to your culture you are a part of the culture then you must participate in every occasion or function ...
How do the people living in Pakistan learn about their culture? The do so by being exposed to the same aspects of culture that have been mentioned above such as language, food, festivities, media, etc. So the mediums of exposure are the same.
It is, of course, easier in Pakistan because the people living there are fully immersed in their culture both within their homes and outside as well. But for Desis living abroad, the exposure will require more effort because the have to assimilate to a macroculture that is different from their own. So, it necessitates greater deliberation on the part of families living outside of Pakistan. For example, I have seen Desi parents living in the west who make an active effort to teach Urdu to their children. And I have also seen Desi parents in the West who are very lax in this regard and don't believe that teaching the language is necessary. In the former environment (Pakisan), there is little choice in the matter because the exposure is unavoidable and very necessary. In the latter case, much of it boils down to priorities and choices made initially by the family and then after that it's up to the individual (when the children grow up) to decide how much of connection to their culture they want to maintain.