"Congratulations, you are now Australian citizens!" rang the voice of the Mayor, burgeoning my insides with overwhelmment. The national anthem was next, and we were encouraged to sing along. I looked at the large screen in front of me and started singing with the crowd. Hardly a line in, and that hefty familiar lump rose, occluding my vocal cords. Tears plummeted out of both eyes, and I could only lip-sync to the rest of the words.
I remember my tears regularly paying homage to the Indian national anthem whenever I sang it on momentous occasions or listened to particularly favourite renditions on special days. There is a soul-squelching quality in the anthem in which my entire upbringing and memories are enmeshed.
To spill these tears today for another national anthem, one that will be mine from today, felt weirdly different and weirdly familiar at the same time. There is undoubtedly joy in embracing this beautiful and welcoming country as home, but surely also silent sadness at ceremonially changing part of my identity.
I do believe that these mixed emotions will eventually amalgamate into a stronger, broader, global identity in this man-made world of boundaries and loyalties.
2 comments:
Absolute tricky one. I wish we had the dual citizenship and not have to give up ours. The feeling of belonging is a constant struggle and probably differs for people that move from their home countries.
Nationality can be changed, but not a person's nature. Congrats on the citizenship :)
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