My grandparents are originally from Kerala but my parents were born and brought up in Malaysia. Though I have not been to Kerala, I know where my roots are. But I wanted to have first-hand knowledge of the place my people hail from. I also wanted to find out what India is like. The life of a Malaysian Indian is different from an Indian - Indian.
This is the first time I am coming to India. My parents were not too happy with my decision to come here after the Mumbai terror attacks. But I wanted to experience India on my own because one terror attack does not mean that India is not safe.
Before coming here, I had lots of expectations about India, but the reality was totally different. I have heard that India is a very poor, developing country but what I have seen is totally different. It has developed well in certain areas and some of the developments are world class. I am proud to be known as a Malaysian-Indian. I look forward to coming back again and doing some work for the underprivileged.
Image: Reuben Varughese Philip from Malaysia.
Also see: This man paints the Mahatma
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