1. When you feel compelled to feed anyone who visits your home.
2. When your understanding of Hinduism is somewhat vague and self-fulfilling.
3. But that doesn't stop you from participating in local celebrations.
4. When you think like a Westerner, but eat like an Indian.
5. When you're afraid of not being fed properly at a party.
6. When you ask for chilli flakes at a restaurant and they give you pepper instead.
7. When you always go over your data limit because you're constantly WhatsApping your cousins overseas.
8. When you visit your cousins in India, and you all have to squish into the back seat of an auto rickshaw.
~totally legal~
9. When your white friend takes you to church sometimes.
10. When the prospect of maybe having caramel-swirl babies one day excites you.
11. When you try to explain what rangoli is to your friends.
12. When the little voice in your head is not-so-little and is your mother's.
13. When your over-protective parents made sure you grew up a tad skeptical of the land you immigrated to.
14. When your Indian language skills are less than stellar.
15. When hair removal is a life or death situation.
16. When your parents ask you to explain the plot points of a film, as the film is running.
17. When immigrant values like "respect for expensive equipment" are drilled into you from a young age.
18. When your parents won't let you date 'til you finish high school.
19. And when you finally start dating and realise how much your parents’ values influence you.
20. When you sometimes forget that you're brown.
21. When your grandmother asks you when you're getting married.
22. When you redefine what it means to be a "proper Indian girl".
23. When you consider signing up for shaadi.com.
This happens once a week. Usually when you're drunk.
24. When your parents won't let you drink in public, because they think it might reflect badly upon them.
25. When you bump into that Aunty in the frozen foods aisle.
26. And when you proudly embrace your Indian culture...
27. ...just as much as your Western one.
