Most who encountered my aging friend would say, “He is a Pakistani.”
However, I know that he had an English grandfather. Just as I am a quarter Irish, so is he a quarter English.
But of course few Englishmen would let him say, “I am English, because my grandfather was English.”
They would say that because his skin is brown. Little do they know that his grandfather was not just any Englishman, but a quintessential member of the aristocracy.
Only, he left all that behind when he converted to Islam and married an Indian woman in the final years of the British Raj.
All of which makes you wonder what will become of those that come after us. If our children decide to raise families overseas, will anyone recall their English ancestry?
If great-grandchildren returned decades from now, would anyone believe they were part English? Would they even be allowed to make that claim?
All around us we encounter such diverse relationships. Their children, we note, are so confident of their multifaceted identities.
It’s a shame then that the narrowminded will deprive them of the part of their identity that turns their own understanding of self on it’s head.
Last modified: 17 June 2023
