she and i, we with our chandanam-kumkum-veebudhi stained fingers, we with our tamilannai and thirukkurals, we with our dhoop agarbathi burning, we with our ankle-length pavadais, we with our pongalo pongal and puththaandu vazhtukkaL, we are the ones with hopes of the promised land

she and i, we with our brown skin in white suburbs, we with our red pottus and silver sequins, we with our eppadi solvadhu and isaka kya matlab, we with our joyful dupattas hidden from children’s foreign friends, we are the ones who made it to the promised land

she and i, we with our manors containing all manner of pillar but those from our motherland, we with our mother tongue now unfamiliar on our Western tongues, we with our i totally agree my parents are so weird but don’t worry i’m not like them, we have been passed down a home in the promised land

this promised land is no panacea, no place to raise a brown baby, but now it is all that we know