Identity/ Being an outsider
The 30 year old civil war has done many terrible things in Sri Lanka to people from all the corners of the island. Many losses, loss of loved ones, loss of motherland, etc.... Being a child to a parents who displaced to the hill country from north due to the civil war, I didn't suffer the hardships of the war.
First of all, to people who don't know much about Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, mainly two Tamil dialects are spoken, one being the Sri Lankan Tamil spoken by Tamils from North and East and the other is the Indian Tamil spoken by Hill country Tamils. The two dialects are so different, the way you pronounce one word would distinguish you.
To the story of me again, so I grew up under the parenting of Sri Lankan Tamil dialect, but in the society I learned the Indian Tamil dialect. So I began to speak a little bit of that and this, mixture of both dialects. But at times I felt like an outcast, a boy speaking a mixed Tamil in a society where they speak the Indian Tamil dialect.
But I was so lucky that I did my secondary education in English medium, so some subjects I didn't have to learn in Tamil. But the problem again starts when I come to the university, where most of the Tamil students who come there are from North and East, where they speak Sri Lankan dialect. I am made an outcast again in the university, for speaking a mixed dialect amidst Sri Lankan Tamil dialect. I had to limit myself from making any speeches or involve in any activities that may make me speak in front of an audience because of this problem.
Many people have lost many things in the Civil war like lives, possessions, freedom, but I have lost one peculiar thing in this war, my identity. I will be an outcast my whole life.
But when I think of this, I can't help wondering about what will happen to the people who displaced to foreign countries, what would happen to their identity.
First of all, to people who don't know much about Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, mainly two Tamil dialects are spoken, one being the Sri Lankan Tamil spoken by Tamils from North and East and the other is the Indian Tamil spoken by Hill country Tamils. The two dialects are so different, the way you pronounce one word would distinguish you.
To the story of me again, so I grew up under the parenting of Sri Lankan Tamil dialect, but in the society I learned the Indian Tamil dialect. So I began to speak a little bit of that and this, mixture of both dialects. But at times I felt like an outcast, a boy speaking a mixed Tamil in a society where they speak the Indian Tamil dialect.
But I was so lucky that I did my secondary education in English medium, so some subjects I didn't have to learn in Tamil. But the problem again starts when I come to the university, where most of the Tamil students who come there are from North and East, where they speak Sri Lankan dialect. I am made an outcast again in the university, for speaking a mixed dialect amidst Sri Lankan Tamil dialect. I had to limit myself from making any speeches or involve in any activities that may make me speak in front of an audience because of this problem.
Many people have lost many things in the Civil war like lives, possessions, freedom, but I have lost one peculiar thing in this war, my identity. I will be an outcast my whole life.
But when I think of this, I can't help wondering about what will happen to the people who displaced to foreign countries, what would happen to their identity.
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