A Reddit post by someone who says they are an Indian expatriate living in Ireland has started a big conversation on social media about the complicated subject of cultural blending in light of a reported uptick in racist incidents. An anonymous user on the reddit posted a “cryptic” letter to other immigrants, telling them to “adjust to the culture of the country we are living in” instead of trying to “turn the Western country into another India.” To back up the user’s claim about where they came from, the message included a photograph of an Indian passport.
The person said that many Indians who “left India for a reason” are now seeking to bring their culture to other countries. The user made it clear that they weren’t telling anyone to give up their own culture, but they did stress the necessity of following Irish customs. The article comes at a time when racist attacks on Indian nationals in Ireland are on the rise. Recently, there have been a number of attacks in Dublin, including one on an AI scientist of Indian descent and a 6-year-old girl. The Indian Embassy in Ireland has even sent out a warning to its citizens to be careful.
Indian and Irish people have had a range of reactions to the Reddit article. certain Indian expats agreed with the idea, saying that certain migrants do things that annoy locals, such littering or playing loud music in public. This makes the whole community look bad. One person who commented said that there are two kinds of Indian migrants: those who know they need to change and those who “don’t care and keeps doing things his/her way.”
People from Ireland also had something to say about the subject. One person agreed with the idea of keeping one’s culture but stressed the need for integration. They said that Indian immigrant children should learn Irish and play sports in their new home. On the other hand, some Irish and non-Irish users said they haven’t seen Indian immigrants seeking to “make Ireland like India.” Some people said that the people who commit racist attacks don’t care about cultural integration at all; instead, they are “irrational and bigoted” and will “keep moving the finish line for what counts as a good immigrant.”
The post and the argument that followed show how hard it is to keep one’s cultural identity while still fitting in with a new society. This is a conversation that is becoming more and more important for the rising Indian diaspora in Ireland.