Cultural displacement

I have always found it difficult to explain to people where my hometown is. Coming from Sri Lanka, where everyone seems to have an affiliation to a certain city or village, it's difficult for me to explain and for the listener to understand what I am saying. 

When someone asks me 'where are you from?' I always reply with Colombo, as I have been living in the heart of the city for most of my formative years and I don't associate myself with the place of my current residence. At which point, people would give me a quizzical look and ask me 'where do you live now? To which I reply with my current location but add that I have lived in Colombo for most of my life. I still in the suburbs of Colombo, but there's something about not being in the city itself. 

I have two theories for this thinking of mine. The first is that as I have lived in a foreign country for a while again during my childhood, I associate a bit of that country, it's lifestyle and practices. Therefore, experiencing this during the time my mind was developing and grasping everything around me, I would see certain traits I find comforting, thereby seeing myself not liking the Sri Lankan set up. Therefore living away from the place i was initially brought up in would have messed with my childhood mindset. 

I know this is complex, but having said that I closely associate with the foreign characteristics I also closely associate myself with the Sri Lankan way of life. I think I have now properly put you to sleep! :)

The second theory I have is that the generation who are born in cities don't have a hometown. This is because the their parents' generation would have internally migrated to live in or closer to the main cities for employment purposes. Therefore, these children understand their hometown to be the city whilst adding XYZ is where my parents are from. At least this is what I do and have observed most of my generation do the same. 

This is a little difficult to wrap one's head around, especially for those who have not experienced long years in a different country or the latter, where you lived in a city completely different to your parents, or from where you currently stay. 

Homi Bhabha describes cultural displacement and connects it to broader issues of cultural identity and national identity. So I guess what I am experiencing is legit! But a lot more work has to be done on my part to understand all this. After all they say the human mind is an interesting subject to study! :)