By Harvinderjeet Kaur Kooner
Growing up, I realised the importance of Apna.
What it means to have one of yours around you. The importance of asking where they're from and who they're related to. I always wondered why my mom would stop to greet any woman in a salwar kameez or gold bangles. Why would my dad do an acknowledging nod to every man with a turban?
As I grew older, I understood that it was meant as a sign to show we were the same. It is meant to show our togetherness and cure our loneliness.
I realised I now do these gestures.
Always smiling at women who may look like my grandmother and aunts. Noding and greeting my grandfathers and uncles. I hope to show them that as the next generation, we as well will carry on showing the signs of our bond. The signs of our similarities. I'm glad I do these; it gives me a sense of joy and pride to greet my own.
But as I do, I wonder did they feel the same acknowledgement at home. They wouldn't have to. They would be surrounded by people like them. The same language, the same cultural norms, the same outfits. They wouldn't have to fish out a same-looking person as them in the crowd.
They would be already around theirs.
A sense of melancholy dwells on me. These people leave their homes and families. Faces they grew around with for what? A better life. Hoping to give their children and future generations the life they wished for. I realise that I'm no different from them. I hope to seize the opportunities I'm given from my parents' sacrifices, but I still wish to not feel different in a country that was never originally mine.
I wish to be around Apna
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In the author's words: "Hi I'm Harvinderjeet Kaur Kooner. I'm a Punjabi Sikh growing up in a diverse part of England and been exposed to a range of cultures. I've always been proud of identity and culture but felt that there are part we cover to stop ourselves from dwelling on them. I hope to bring light on those we can discuss them as a community and become stronger and prouder of our identities"