There is a short activity called “Fishbowl” which we have used to demonstrate how internal and external perception is often misaligned.
The first group of 8 people sit in the middle and are given a list of 10 or so points or points about “what it means to be Indian.” Examples include: ‘I have family in India’; ‘I support the Indian cricket team’ or ‘My religio-cultural roots originate in India’. Their task is to put them in order of importance to them. To some extent, it doesn’t matter so much what order they are put in – it generally stimulates good questions which are continued beyond the session. The group is given about 15 minutes to complete the task.
There is a second group, of 4 people who sit on the outside of the circle and they are tasked to make notes on what they observe of the inside group: who actively participated, who was quiet, any stand out remarks or behaviours.
What this activity does is distinguishes the process from content of the task. With the inside group busy with the content of ordering the list, the outside group are able to observe the process. Several points come out in the debrief of this activity and it provides a vivid and immediate personal feedback.
Beyond the activity, one of the key points to note is as a community we live in a wider context. While we are busy internally figuring out whatever it is that we are figuring out, there are people/organisations observing us. They are not really concerned by the content of what it is that we are doing. But they do form perceptions based on what they see us doing and carry with them certain ideas and judgements. So even though I am born and brought up in the UK and internally I may hold certain perceptions of my identity, my skin is brown and walking around town when people see me, they recognise me first as ‘Indian’ or ‘Asian.’ It’s fair to assume that they won’t walk up to me and ask me questions about how I define my identity in order understand who I am.
So now, if the external perception is that I am Indian, then very quickly I am associated with the country India. So if India is seen in a positive light, that reflects on me. If India is seen as a land of poor rural villages and snake charmers that too is projected onto me.
So I want to leave you with a few question: Does a more positive image of India benefit the British-Indian community in the UK? Are we far enough away and absorbed into mainstream Britain to not be associated with India? And do we have a role in forming opinion a more positive image of India?
The first group of 8 people sit in the middle and are given a list of 10 or so points or points about “what it means to be Indian.” Examples include: ‘I have family in India’; ‘I support the Indian cricket team’ or ‘My religio-cultural roots originate in India’. Their task is to put them in order of importance to them. To some extent, it doesn’t matter so much what order they are put in – it generally stimulates good questions which are continued beyond the session. The group is given about 15 minutes to complete the task.
There is a second group, of 4 people who sit on the outside of the circle and they are tasked to make notes on what they observe of the inside group: who actively participated, who was quiet, any stand out remarks or behaviours.
What this activity does is distinguishes the process from content of the task. With the inside group busy with the content of ordering the list, the outside group are able to observe the process. Several points come out in the debrief of this activity and it provides a vivid and immediate personal feedback.
Beyond the activity, one of the key points to note is as a community we live in a wider context. While we are busy internally figuring out whatever it is that we are figuring out, there are people/organisations observing us. They are not really concerned by the content of what it is that we are doing. But they do form perceptions based on what they see us doing and carry with them certain ideas and judgements. So even though I am born and brought up in the UK and internally I may hold certain perceptions of my identity, my skin is brown and walking around town when people see me, they recognise me first as ‘Indian’ or ‘Asian.’ It’s fair to assume that they won’t walk up to me and ask me questions about how I define my identity in order understand who I am.
So now, if the external perception is that I am Indian, then very quickly I am associated with the country India. So if India is seen in a positive light, that reflects on me. If India is seen as a land of poor rural villages and snake charmers that too is projected onto me.
So I want to leave you with a few question: Does a more positive image of India benefit the British-Indian community in the UK? Are we far enough away and absorbed into mainstream Britain to not be associated with India? And do we have a role in forming opinion a more positive image of India?
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