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india - Page 3

  • The French-Indian mixed-race in history

    india,french india,colonization,métis,créoles,franco-indian,mixed-race.pondichéry

    I was pondering about the status of my little French-Indian boys when I started thinking that this mix must actually be nothing new, since the French were in India for some 200 years.

    I have lived in India for 15 years and never looked into the nature of the French-Indian relationship. Despite hearing the Ambassador’s words of "friendship", time and again, which I never really understood. I am filling (part of) the gaps now. For this, I was largely inspired by the dissertation of Jessica Louise Namakkal, Transgressing the Boundaries of the Nation: Decolonization, Migration, and Identity in France/India, 1910-1972, 2013 (link) (all the text quoted below is from her).

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  • Multicultural gems of a French-Indian boy 14

    My French-Indian 6 year old boy on female hair:

    • Me (looking at my legs): Hey, it’s crazy how fast hair grows in rainy / wet weather. It’s time to take it off.
    • Him (looking at my legs): But there is no hair! Women don’t have hair on their legs.
    • Me: Oh yes honey, they do.
    • Him: But I’ve never seen it, especially on French women.
    • Me: And about Indian women?
    • Him (thinks hard but finds nothing to say)

    I must say that it is still quite unusual to see the legs of Indian women – except in westernized urban areas. For others, revealing an ankle is immodest… So no exposure, no hair removal! (Sometimes you catch a glimpse of a forest under a salwar – it is an observation, I am not making fun, I think everyone does what they want with their body. I am even a little angry to whoever decided that we should not have body hair, what pain…) On the other hand, they happily shave their arms. An ex had suggested me to visit the salon to get rid of my poor blond hair (which is really not a French habit).

    India,France,mixed families,mixed family,multicultural family

    India,France,mixed families,mixed family,multicultural family

    India,France,mixed families,mixed family,multicultural family

     

  • Multicultural gems of a French-Indian boy 13

    My French-Indian 6 year old boy on driving:

    • Him: Mama, I prefer France, and you?
    • Me: Oh but why?
    • Him: Because of the little people!
    • Me: The little people?
    • Him: Yes you know, when you want to cross the road, there are these little walking people on the signal pole. Here nobody stops, nobody lets us cross and everyone honks, it makes so much noise!

     

    Perles muticulturelles d'un métis franco-indien 13.jpg