Time transcripts of My Indian Heritage

[00:00:00:00]	[ Interview ]

[00:00:01:28]	[ Interviewer: I wanted to thank you for being  here today to do this interview with me.

[00:00:04:24]	Could you please state your name,  and tell us a little bit about yourself 

[00:00:07:22]	before I get into the questions?]  My name is Sumeet Sandhu.

[00:00:11:14]	I'm a pre-med student,  and my major is Biology, 

[00:00:15:17]	uhh, and I love to play basketball.

[00:00:19:07]	[ Interviewer: Uhh, I wanted to begin by  asking you what the main ethnicity,

[00:00:23:26]	or heritage, of your family is?]

[00:00:25:23]	Uhh, I come from an Indian family. Both  of my parents being 100 percent Indian.

[00:00:31:02]	[ Interviewer: Alright, and how big of a factor  would you say that the Indian ethnicity

[00:00:36:09]	has played in affecting  your literacy as a kid?]

[00:00:38:26]	It had a big effect, seeing

[00:00:44:10]	as though I was born in India,  and when I came to America,

[00:00:47:27]	around the age of 4,  I was required to learn English, and

[00:00:52:05]	the only language I knew was Punjabi,  which is our language.

[00:00:55:18]	My family members and siblings  helped to teach me English,

[00:01:03:04]	and they did a really good job,

[00:01:05:12]	and I transitioned to using English as  my primary language instead of Punjabi.

[00:01:10:11]	Now I don't speak  Punjabi very well.

[00:01:16:04]	[ Interviewer: Were there a lot  of differences in India

[00:01:21:15]	as compared to here  in the United States?]

[00:01:24:11]	Could you elaborate?

[00:01:28:28]	[ Interviewer: Just, uhh, compared  to the culture here in the U.S.,

[00:01:34:25]	and like the literacy skills you've  learned here, how would you say, uh, 

[00:01:39:22]	your experience in India was different?]  Umm, I mean, 

[00:01:43:10]	I obviously don't remember  too much from India.

[00:01:46:24]	Uhh, I barely remember anything from  my first years in America either.

[00:01:54:16]	But, from what my  parents go off,

[00:01:57:11]	they say, uhh,  they say

[00:02:00:17]	that the teachers  there are strict.

[00:02:02:18]	[ Interviewer: Uhh, would you say that your heritage in general, mainly

[00:02:09:15]	your language and customs, were kind of  forced on you, or did you kind of

[00:02:12:16]	pick that stuff up yourself?]  Umm, I don't think

[00:02:16:16]	anything was really forced on me.  My parents just

[00:02:19:04]	let me go with whatever I was  comfortable with, but when

[00:02:23:29]	I started to, really,  kind of forget

[00:02:28:16]	my native language,  they wanted me to

[00:02:32:23]	relearn it, but they didn't  really force it upon me, or

[00:02:37:13]	any other cultural traits on me.

[00:02:40:22]	[ Interviewer: Have you  personally tried to

[00:02:44:04]	study your own culture,  maybe through classes 

[00:02:48:22]	or just in your  own spare time?]

[00:02:51:26]	Umm...I haven't,  but

[00:02:56:14]	its something I want to do,  its just hard to find 

[00:03:00:19]	time with school and  work every year.

[00:03:03:23]	[ Interviewer: Alright, and were there  any particular memories

[00:03:08:12]	that you have, or you remember, possibly any stories or literature that you experienced

[00:03:12:26]	as a kid?]

[00:03:13:27]	What I do remember, when I first  came here, I went to school,

[00:03:20:21]	for my first year I think,  I just remember being really confused,

[00:03:25:05]	because I wasn't familiar  with the English language.

[00:03:28:18]	I didn't really know how to  read or write in English.

[00:03:32:15]	Umm, one story  I have is

[00:03:37:03]	that I used to  always get

[00:03:40:21]	girls and boys confused,  like I would call girls

[00:03:45:02]	he and him, and boys  her and she.

[00:03:49:27]	So, that's a little  embarrasing.

[00:03:52:08]	[ Interviewer: Umm, would you  say that overall,

[00:03:57:16]	that the literacy tools that you gained from growing up in your Indian family

[00:04:01:07]	have been used through you in  your lifetime?

[00:04:04:16]	Possibly even recently?]  Yeah, I think so.

[00:04:08:23]	I think I've been using them throughout my life without really realizing,

[00:04:11:26]	because I learned Punjabi as a kid,  and then was

[00:04:16:28]	kind of forced to learn English  coming here. I feel like it

[00:04:21:02]	helped me get accustomed to just  language in general, because

[00:04:25:04]	when I took Spanish in high school,  and my freshman year in college,

[00:04:30:03]	it was just something that came  really easy to me.

[00:04:32:17]	I just thought it was extremely easy,  and I feel like that had, umm,

[00:04:38:06]	my Indian background helped in  that, and learning

[00:04:42:26]	English after learning  Punjabi.

[00:04:44:29]	[ Interviewer: Uhh, are you still  pretty fluent in 

[00:04:49:10]	Punjabi? Could you speak it,  like, well with your parents?]

[00:04:52:10]	No. I can say a couple  basic words.

[00:04:56:25]	But, I can talk to my parents.

[00:05:00:09]	They can speak Punjabi to me, and I can talk  to them in English, but I can't

[00:05:04:27]	have a conversation in Punjabi, but I can  still understand a good part of it.

[00:05:09:19]	[ Interviewer: Okay, and overall,  how different may things have been

[00:05:13:20]	if you didn't have that Indian  influence in your life, 

[00:05:16:23]	including your past literacy?]  Uhh, I feel like

[00:05:21:16]	things would be pretty different.  Really on a large part on,

[00:05:27:22]	you know, language,  because, 

[00:05:30:16]	like I said, I thought Spanish  was a lot easier because

[00:05:33:11]	we had two languages circulating  throughout our house.

[00:05:36:22]	So, I mean, I feel like that helped in  understanding Spanish,

[00:05:40:26]	and if I didn't have  the Indian background, I guess

[00:05:45:26]	you could say that Spanish would have been  a little bit more difficult for me to understand.

[00:05:50:08]	[ Interviewer: Alright, well that's all I had  to ask you today.

[00:05:53:23]	I wanted to thank you for being here again,  and I hope you enjoyed the interview.]

[00:05:57:18]	I did,  your welcome. 

[00:06:00:16]	[ End of Interview ]