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Sharing
Experience with our Children
By
Ram Jagessar
Just
this week my friend Reynold Ramdial, president of the Indo-Trinidad
Canadian Association was telling me about his experiences as a young
man growing up in south Trinidad. He spoke of the games he played, the
life he lived as an Indo-Trinidadian before coming to live in Canada two
decades ago.
These were the events that shaped his life and made him what he is today.
In computer language you could say that this was his operating system, his
Windows program that allows him to function. It is the essence of
what he is, a mass of experiences and views and cultural approaches.
Reynold's
concern was that his children, who had spent most of their lives in
Canada, didn't understand very much of those experiences. His life
as an Indo-Trinidadian, which is at the centre of his being as an
Indo-Trinidadian Canadian, is mostly unknown to his children. He is
not sure how to pass on his Indo-Trinidadian heritage in Canada,
other than by showing by example.
My
friend has a lot of company. I know that my children do not appreciate
much of the cultural, political and economic situation that I faced,
when they were no more than little boys. Indo-Guyanese friends who were
forced to leave their homeland because of race riots and
discrimination say their children do not comprehend those events so many
years ago. They cannot figure out why their parents are so "hung
up" about actions that took place before they were born in a
country far, far away.
Just
about every parent of Indo-Trinidadian or Indo-Guyanese origin is battling
with this very problem, and all other immigrant groups here share
the challenge. The young people themselves want to know what their parents
are reminiscing about and lamenting that their offspring never
experienced.
Transfer of heritage and experience is a probably the major concern
of immigrant groups after they have settled the matter of
financial security. Transfer of knowledge is also an old, old
issue with parents who want their children to grow up as they did.
Enough of the problem. It's time to look at the answers. Just how do we
make our Caribbean experiences meaningful to Indo-Caribbean Canadians? How
do we pass on our Indian cultural heritage in this new land?
Since this is hardly a new problem, I would suggest that we study it as
such. Look at the mechanics of it and how we (and others) dealt with it in
the past. Look at how others in this country are coping with the problem
and how successful they are. Decide exactly what information we want
to pass along, and then figure out the best way to do it in these
circumstances.
Our parents and grandparents did a fair job of passing along the
Indian cultural heritage and their experiences to us, mostly through
practice and talking. They showed us how to perform and live the culture,
and by adapting their heritage to the new environment in the Caribbean.
They did quite well in letting us know the experiences of indenture and
afterward, but not so well in transferring the knowledge of
experiences in India. There's something to be learned from that.
We can't expect our children to get big meaning from our lives in the
Caribbean in the several decades ago. But we can talk to them about
it and show them what we have learned.
For personal experiences, with the technology available now, we can
certainly write it down too, in personal accounts, histories,
reminiscences. We can videotape it, put it on CD- ROM and on web pages,
make documentaries and films about it.
The cultural part is simpler. There is no quantum physics involved in
understanding and teaching others about music, dance, behaviour patterns,
philosophy, attitudes. This is just teaching, and we certainly can
learn how to do it for our needs.
Is anybody else doing these things in Canada? Examples are everywhere. The
Jews are an excellent example. Look at how they have organized a huge
system for making sure that the experience and lessons of the Holocaust
are passed on, together with their older system for passing on their
Jewish values and religion.
Canadian blacks are making a valiant attempt to preserve and pass on
their heritage, with their Black History Month, books, newspapers, plays,
lectures, magazines. Italians have a massive system for continuing their
language, preserving their traditions, their links with Italy, their
games, their culture.
Check
out the efforts of the Scots and the Irish towards continuing their
lineage and their culture. In my estimation, several of these groups in
Canada would get good marks for way they are tackling the same
problem that Reynold and our Indo-Caribbean community are facing. They are
not unwilling to share their knowledge either.
Learn
from success, I always say. Defining the problem takes you half way to
solving it. After that, all that is required is action. I
would suggest.
©
2008 Indo-Caribbean Heritage
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