Anurita Bains Riding The Hyphen

Anurita Bains, author of the essay (anecdotal narrative) “Riding the Hyphen”, believes that Canada as a whole is an empty identity without a distinguishable culture. Bains and her family travel to Canada, therefore she and her family choose to withhold their traditional Indian style to adopt a more common look to fit in. Upon arriving, Bains quickly learns English and is registered in school as Anne. Due to her parents’ active schedule Bains spent the majority of her time at home by herself, which taught her how to be more independent. A “normal” name and the disappearance of her accent, Bains begins to blend in and title herself as a Canadian of Indian descent. Bains moves to a predominantly white, wealthy, conservative town, and she continues
to lose her sense of Indian heritage while feeling more conformed to the white community. Bains would beg her parents to allow her to wear “Canadian” clothes while attending Indian community events or otherwise let her get into the car first without having the neighbors see them. Her parents told her that only Punjabi can be spoken in the house, but even with Bains’ cooperation her parents would go back to speaking English. Bains travels to India she is able to demonstrate to her relatives the knowledge of other cultures, but gets confused when she is told of India’s own apartheid. Now in university, Bains claims it to be like arising from a beautiful sleep. Others begin to judge Bains as popular based on her getting her nose pierced. Bains begins to question what to do when surveys state that Canadians want newcomers to assimilate. When Bains meets someone who shares mutual feelings toward their own Indian heritage, she feels