My name is Priyanka, Keyur is my husband. We have 2 children, Kiva and Yash. We live in a joint family, which includes the four of us , my in-laws, and my brother-in-law and his family, which is three of them. It is quite important for us that our children have a Gujarati identity.
Keyur
We insist that my mom and dad speak to her in Gujarati as well.
Priyanka
Because Kiva is able to speak to them in Gujarati, she's able to鈥 the language is able to live. So my mum is visiting from India, to be with her grandchildren. So 'Nani' has brought her 'chaniya choli',which is a very traditional dress. She really likes wearing 'chaniya choli' and bangles and getting dressed up. That brings her closer to our tradition.
Keyur
There are many excuses we create to make her get involved in Gujarati culture.
Priyanka
Kiva enjoys speaking Gujarati. She loves how she is then able to feel part of the conversation. It's nice to see that she's switching between languages. I'm sure that's a great brain exercise for them. They say 'happy-go-lucky Gujurati'.
Keyur
Gujarati people are more vibrant, more excited.
Priyanka
They're fun-loving people, they're quite social, they're quite approachable as well very amicable, and it feels nice to be Gujarati as well. We like to live that. We hope for this culture and the language to move on and to live on.