Let me start off by telling you a little bit about where I'm from. I was born and raised in the United States, so I am a first generation Indian American, but both of my parents were born in this comparatively small city almost half the size of Atlanta in the east of India called Kolkata. As Bengalis, we pride ourselves over being culturally "superior" to everybody else. I tell people this joke frequently but we like to name other ethnicities after vegetables- Punjabis are cabbages because of their turbans, South Indians are tamarinds because they eat tamarind rice, and so on. We're notorious for being able to hold incessant conversations about anything and everything over a single cup of tea, or if time permits, multiple. One of the most famous poets in Indian history who fostered in an era of spirituality, revival, and Indian nationalism- you may have heard of him as he wrote the national anthem and won a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913; his name was Rabindranath Tagore- was born on our soil and is and will forever remain a symbol of Bengali pride and heritage.

I come from a land rich with language and beauty whose traditions run in my blood and form the basis of my thoughts and purpose. I come from a land that celebrates light and color and that never has a shortage of love and knowledge to give. I come from a land that is home to one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Taj Mahal, which was built by my ancestors and now represents an entire nation. I come from a land that underwent centuries upon centuries of torture and suppression yet somehow came out victorious because I guess that's just what it means to be an Indian. I come from a land where societal structure has been present since the early ages of the agricultural revolution, where it is acceptable to use and abuse without a second thought. I come from a land where a widow was once forced to throw herself upon her husband's funeral pyre; I say once because it's since been outlawed but what's the difference between life and death when she must pass her entire existence shunned, viewed as an object of prey in her husband's household, and often sold into prostitution? I come from a land where judgment lies on everybody’s lips, corruption is in the air (and especially in politics), and the gaze of every street corner lingers on every single part of my body until I feel too humiliated to keep going. I struggle in coming to terms with the fact that I can't wear a sleeveless shirt because I will get raped, and rape is a societal norm that anyone will use anything, including religion, to justify. In fact, my home is also the location of the most notorious red-light district in all of India, Shonagachi. We are also stuck in a perpetual state of social and religious disunity. So tell me, what does it mean to be “culturally superior” when you encourage injustice and discrimination in your homes and workplaces on a daily basis?

I’m sure you have heard of the Delhi gang rape case of 2012. Her name was Jyoti Singh. She was coming home from a showing of the Life of Pi in South Delhi with her friend. They got on a bus that was mostly empty at a significantly late hour of the night and the rest is history. She was so brutally tortured that even her internal organs were severely damaged and then she was left to die. One of her perpetrators is still free due to the loopholes in the Indian legal and justice systems.

Even with the largest growing economy in the world, India still ranks as 108^th internationally in the opportunities it provides for women- to put things into context, the US ranks 28^th- and despite the fact that the caste system was abolished in 1950, affirmative action on the basis of caste and religion still exists and there are over 250 million people on the subcontinent who are labeled as “oppressed”. So with this, I encourage you, my fellow Indians and Americans, to challenge the weaknesses in the social constructs you see around you. There is no reason why any of us should ever feel afraid, regardless of how hard we try to purge it from our systems, to preserve a part of who we are. I am so proud to be an Indian but one day, I hope to be fearless. Jai Hind.