What Makes You Indian?

Is it

The food you grew up with or the language you speak?

Is it a duty to your elders,

Or the soil of your birth?

Your ability to be recognized by your community

Or the passport you hold?

The blood-line through your father,

Or simply one drop.

Is inborn, or taught and forgotten, then relearned.

Is it the clothing you wear or

The sweat on your back and the dirt in your toenails.

Bollywood films or the brown of your skin?

What does it mean to be Indian?

The smell of frying onions in coconut oil,

Or just plain love.

(August 18, 2009)