I am Senthil Nachiappan ( Sen Naach ), a 37 years old Indian businessman currently living in Guangzhou (China), with my wife and children. Our family hails from the Nagarathar Naatukottai Chettiar Community in Tamil Nadu, India. In earlier days, our ancestors used to travel abroad for doing business, mainly to countries like Burma, Vietnam and Malaysia. Our family members of this generation have identified China, as, not only the ¡®present¡¯, but also the ¡®future¡¯. I have been brought up in the Chinese society since I was 7 years old. My parents and I moved from India to Hongkong in 1977. I have done my entire schooling in Hongkong, followed by a Business Management and International Marketing Degree in the United States.
30 years here ( 25 years in Hong Kong, 5 years in Guangzhou) is a time long enough to consider myself a full Chinese by behavior, thinking, eating habits, style of business, etc. I speak fluent Cantonese, which makes me all the more, a local.
The culture and tradition of China and India have many similarities. One such tradition is the selection of the Bride by the groom¡¯s parents. My marriage too, was done in this fashion. My parents flew back to India and identified a bride for me, after a long selection process based on the bride¡¯s family background, education, status in society, wealth, etc. Once they made the selection, I flew down and the two families had a brief meeting, and that was the first time I had a chance to see my would-be wife, Seetha. After a few weeks we got married. How traditional does a tradition get ? WELL, WE SPOKE TO EACH OTHER FOR THE FIRST TIME, AFTER WE GOT MARRIED.!!!.
A few years ago, I had attended a wedding ceremony of a close friend of mine ( a Chinese girl from Chongqing). I spent three days with her family and the entire wedding team in a tea estate in the hills a little away from Chongqing city, where the wedding was taking place. The groom was from Shenyang. This marriage also involved match making my the parents/relatives of the bride and groom, and a very big union of all friends and relatives to cheer and celebrate the happy occasion of the marriage by wining and dining, playing cards and mahjong all day and all night. As a guest from another country, I was given extreme importance and was taken care of, very well by all their relatives. This reminded me of how the people of my village took care of my Chinese friends who had come all the way from China to attend my wedding ceremony in Chettinad, South India.
Languages that we speak may be different, but the attitude towards traditional values, friendship, hospitality, family unity, and respect for the elderly, are a few of the common good gestures that the two countries exhibit, and I am proud to be associated with both.
For the past two decades, our family has been in the business of supplying Chinese Silk to all over the world including Italy, Switzerland, Japan, Korea, India, etc. Our family takes pride in being in this trade, because it is an item of prestige, a status symbol, a sign of prosperity and a formal attire in all major ceremonies all over the world. It is one of those special commodities which has a deep sentimental attachment to history : The Silk Road.
Sports is a part of everyone¡¯s daily life. Most of us are unaware, but we are all involved in sports in one form or the other, everyday. Be it walking, riding a bike, making long jumps at the street corners to avoid getting our shoes wet in the stagnant drainage water, or running to catch a bus¡etc. For those who make sports their profession, Olympics is the ultimate Stage to perform. In my view, everyone who makes it, up to here, IS A WINNER ALREADY !!!
Congratulations to all the participants of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
It would definitely be an honour if I get the opportunity to be a Olympic Torchbearer.
