Being South Asian in the U.K. is like being Latino in the U.S., I would guess. It's a bit more hood. You see things; things happen. I was bouncing between worlds. You're acting from a very early age, when you have to code-switch like that. I'm a hybrid, a mongrel. I think many people live that life.
It's funny because I feel like growing up in Europe and having these different experiences, I feel like I can talk to anybody. I'm always comfortable in every situation that I go in, and that helps me on the court.
I think that Mexican-American kids live in a global world. It's not even bi-, it's multi-. You know, for those of us who grew up with different countries on our block, different nationalities, you know, we moved into multiple worlds.
I had white family members, black family members, white friends, black friends by the time I was 16.
In Australia, it's people from Asian countries who most often recognise me. There are often people just looking at me at the supermarket, like they're shocked to think I would go to the supermarket.
I was lucky to move around different cultures at an early age and have experience of different lifestyles.
I'm a military baby, so I kind of always see the world as one; we just have different colours, and we're from different places in the world.
I'm glad I was faced with different cultures when I was growing up because I wasn't fazed by it. It has been a huge benefit to me; I feel comfortable wherever I go.
I existed in a space where my mother was a black woman and my father was a white man. And that's how I saw the world. I was just like, some dads are whites and some moms are black. And that's how it is.
I have a pretty good knowledge of the Indian world by virtue of living on several different reservations and being exposed to several different cultures and languages.
If you can find your footing between two cultures, sometimes you can have the best of both worlds.
I was born in Bangalore but grew up in Kolkata and I read, write and speak Bengali.
I had siblings from South Asia, from East Asia, from depressed communities around America, and you know, we'd have long conversations.
I was born in Japan, and then we went to Korea, and I was raised in Nebraska.
I went to schools that had a significantly large Caucasian population and I feel very fortunate because I was able to compare that perspective with my family's. It allowed me to create a wider world view on things.
Ang Lee was educated in the West and his English is good.
I ended up very American and very Indonesian and a little bit of a lot of things.
I'm not going to be an interpreter at the U.N. I'm not going to live in Africa on a farm or whatever, but I am going to see the world through those eyes when I make those films.
I want people to experience what it's like being from Haiti, coming to America, being Wyclef - multicultural, multilingual.
I have since wandered among men of many races and many religions.
I grew up in Morocco. I was born a Muslim, and, every year, I celebrated Christmas in a big white house in the country, halfway between Meknes and Fez.
London is the most multicultural, mixed race place on Earth. And I love that. I grew up in a neighborhood in London where English wasn't necessarily the first language - maybe because of that, I love to travel. Every penny I've ever saved has been spent on airline tickets to different corners of the world. I think that's partly from growing up in London. I've taken that bit with me - this ability to fit in with any culture and be fascinated and respectful with any culture all started from growing up in London.
I had the French culture at school and I love this culture but I also had another culture at home - that of Senegal. I think this way of growing up has made me the person I am today - because I had the two cultures.
I remember one night at Muzdalifa with nothing but the sky overhead I lay awake amid sleeping Muslim brothers and I learned that pilgrims from every land--every color, and class, and rank; high officials and the beggar alike--all snored in the same language.
America has had an influence on me, as has going out with a Cuban-American guy and having lots of American friends. But I am still fundamentally British and speak with a British accent and feel very English.
