Identity Crisis?

Its amazing how one tries so hard to be someone he/she is not.

I am in the USA now, and there is something I have observed very strongly here. Students, fresh undergrads coming from my country, have this absolutely annoying tendency to try to roll their tongues in and out while speaking. Ok guys, seriously, you can't get the accent! And why do you have to try to do so? For heaven's sake has anyone seen any other nationality try to do that? Take Italians, or Brits...they stick to their accent. And the Americans try to adopt it, and even find it 'exotic n nice'...but well...in our case no! We are 'ashamed' of our accents...and so we try to speak the 'All Cool American Language'. Guys come on, we've studied in English medium schools, there is no such thing as the correct pronunciation. All over the world people are communicating with their respective English accents...even non-English speaking countries. If we have a touch of 'Hindi or Tamil or Punjabi or Bengali' to our English accents, so what!!! Don't Greek and Spanish and Middle-eastern people have an influence of their language in their English? If they can't understand what we are saying, they never will if we don't stick to our way. Let them try. We are not stupid, and their way is not 'correct'. Its absolutely ok to be different and to be respected for the difference. If you are confident about it, people will automatically try to understand you. You don't have to say 'Raaut' for route or 'Caayn't' for can't. And its perfectly understandable if you say 'How are you' instead of 'Howz it goin' and 'Bye' instead of 'Laderrrr'....Big deal! Initially they'll find it weird, but they'll understand and thats what matters, communication! Just because you have come to this country doesn't mean you try so hard to change your ways. You can completely make do with what you have learnt throughout your education so far.

If you observe, the professors who teach you all have amazing presentation skills, and speak coherently without silly and distracting body movements. If you have to adopt something, adopt that. I have noticed that the TA's (graduate students who teach in classes) mostly speak to themselves in a tone which is meant for casual conversation. And that is what you guys try to adopt! I agree that it makes it easier for them to understand if we modify our ways a bit, but just a bit. Not whole words and sentences and intonations and body language! Trust me guys, by trying to copy their exclamations and jargons, you end up looking nothing but stupid. To them its gonna sound fine n easy and you would think you are being cool, but come out of your shoes for once, and look at yourself. Is this really you? Would you think or speak to yourself in this fashion? Or is it just a show? If it is, then...seriously, are you not happy about the way you are? What's the need for this idiotic masking of your true self?

Think about it guys, really...its not very different from going through identity crisis, the only difference being, you don't realise you are fighting with yourself. Remember one thing, you are not anything lesser than these people, and hence, you don't have to be someone you are not in order to mingle with them. You can be here, and be yourself. Trust me, you might initially be mocked at, but you are better off being mocked at by people who don't know you than by those who do know you...