pulvis et umbra sumus / Dear Indian Girl
Navya C.
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My parents were first generation immigrants, and I spent my childhood in Canada, surrounded by White or Chinese communities. When I was young, I was a synchronized swimmer. I spent years in the pool before learning that brown people did not belong in that sport. ”Dear Indian Girl” is a piece I wrote about my experiences with being alienated, and more than that, brown. As I aged, I realized that Indians were some of the least represented groups in Western culture, and I want to change that for every other young girl who thinks she is ugly because of the color of her skin. ”pulvis et umbra sumus” is a poem that explores human experience and all its layers, portraying both, the darkness underlying all the mirth and vice versa, while also demonstrating how both of those things can exist separate to each other.
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To me, creativity is the most honest expression of self. I have never sat down to write about or for anything other than myself, and when I am bled out, words on a page, it’s me saying: this is me --- take it or leave it.