My Ethnicity ~ FAQ (Childhood & Honeymoon Photos)

"What is your ethnicity?" If I had a nickel for everytime I've been asked this question....

I thought it's about time I explain why I don't look conventionally "Indian". But first, let me share with you some of the assumptions people make:

-  "Are you from Nepal?" This is partly my fault coz I used to wear nose rings and some bling on my eyes & forehead haha.

-   Some random girl in my hometown stopped me on the road and said "Hi, are you a Rajput?"  I didn't even know what it really meant! 

-  Southeast Asian

-  Filipino. 

-  Kashmiri

-  Punjabi. Most people in my hometown assume I'm Punjabi coz of my long nose, I guess. Hey, I married a Punjabi so now I'm Punjabi hehe.

People from other Asian countries NEVER believe I'm Indian. I'm so tired of convincing them. One hairstylist in Singapore refused to believe it. He was like, "No you are not, and that's that", so I didn't tip him. That will make him believe, no? Haha... where's Russel Peters?

The truth:

1. I'm a Khasi, from a small town in the North-East part of India. Quote Wikipedia: "The general belief is that the khasis were the first of the Mongolians to have migrated to India." So I guess I'm part Mongolian if that's true.
2. My great grandfather (maternal) was English of Scottish origin, so you can say I'm 1/4th Scottish. Sometimes my hubby pulls my leg and calls me "Lassie" >.<

Here's a very old photo from the past (I don't know who carved it like that. It looks like something I would do lol...but it wasn't me- I hope.)

That's me with my only sibling/elder brother & late grandfather. See my brother was born blonde. He was so cute! Of course, his hair is dark now. Oh, the dog kissing me is Rocky & the other one is Browny. They were really good dogs. Rocky died when he got old, and Browny was stabbed on a New Year's day morning by some drunk (who's probably already in hell by now.)

My grandfather was the best! Everybody loved him, he had such a lively personality. I still miss him everyday. He used to talk constantly about Scotland, and how he'd love to go there someday but sadly, he didn't live long enough.

When my hubby asked me to pick any place for our honeymoon, I picked Scotland :). Of course we also stopped by in London & Newcastle for a few days. Here are some pics...

Edinburgh Castle. Please ignore my bald forehead =D. It was so windy....and cold

The countryside is so beautiful!

So, that explains my cool skin tone, light eyes and a few freckles (sigh, I just wish I could swap the freckles for the light brown hair now.) 

Apart from all that, I'm simply Indian...and proud of it! :)

P.S: I'm going to get that childhood photo redone/resized into a proper photo. Hope I'll find somebody who'll do a good job. That is the only photo I have of my childhood apart from one of me on my first birthday (I don't have it with me now). I don't know why there are no photos of me when I was younger than 8-10 years old. It's so ironic that now I have over a thousand of photos of myself, thanks to this blog :)

♥ Cynthia Z ^.^