Hyphenated Identities: Radhika Sajja Chandrasekar

Radhika Sajja Chandrasekar is an optometrist & social media enthusiast who enjoys expressing her thoughts through poetry.  Currently, she is a stay at home mother in the Houston area to her 2 young sons. 

This is not the country of my origin

But it is my home, and the place I belong in.

Just like the outfit I’m wearin’

I’m both Indian & American.

To pretend I’m just one or the other would just be a sin.

It’s just how I’ve always felt within

How much of each I am would be just too hard to pin.

Red, white, & blue along with some Desi bling

It’s the only way my heart can truly sing

To my ears, that has a nice sounding ring

Only being one without the other

Would be like a bird without a wing

A playground without a swing

A meal without a spicy zing

Yes, being raised in 2 cultures is a beautiful thing

This Monday morn

I’m looking back at the 2 people

responsible for me being born

In the 70’s, they left their country & own families probably feeling a bit torn...

For a dream for a better life in a new land bourn

Fear of all that they knew...their culture shorn

Worries about racism, criticism, or scorn

But with coats of courage, hard work, and determination they had worn

To make life in this new country a success they would have sworn.

Even when times may have seen forlorn,

they persevered through each and every thorn.

Ultimately settling in a home next to a field of corn.

In this home, they raised me in the Desi-ness I know adorn.

They no longer their Motherland mourn

For they along with many others helped create an unicorn...

A blend of the best of 2 worlds...a notion before unborn.

Sitting here reminiscing in the land of the longhorn,

I can’t help but toot my own horn

As their daughter, their first born 

To say my parents are truly the best... with hearts filled with love so uncontained...

A feeling that’s just airborne!

---

Hyphenated Identities :: Setu, August 2020