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  • Daniel Ramamoorthy hates when people ask “Where are you from?” It’s a difficult question to answer when you’ve never spent more than a few years in any one country.
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    “I’m not a fan because implied within that question is that you don’t belong,” says Ramamoorthy, who was born in the United Arab Emirates to Indian parents. His father’s job as a diplomat meant the family moved around the world from Yemen to France, Algeria to India, Zimbabwe to Morocco.
    “If it’s where I was born, it’s the UAE. If it’s where my passport is from or where I look like I’m from, then it’s India. If it’s where my accent’s from, then it’s predominantly American. If it’s the kind of music I appreciate the most, then I’d be a black American gospel singer.”
    “Where I’m from is where I’ve spent the longest, and that would be Ireland, because the last five years is the longest I’ve ever spent in any country.”
    Ramamoorthy says he feels more at home in Ireland than in any of the other 10 cities he has lived in. “I’m a complicated mix of the different cultures, people and experiences I’ve had in all those places.”
    When he was 11, Ramamoorthy’s family relocated to India. He was excited to finally live in the country his family represented around the world, but quickly discovered he did not feel Indian. “I felt rejected. It was really tough not being welcomed in my own homeland.”
    Only after moving to Zimbabwe as a teenager did he begin to feel comfortable in his own skin. It was during his time in Africa that he “came to faith” and began to embrace his parents’ Christian religion.
    “Zimbabwe was a fresh start in my life. It’s probably my second home after Ireland. I was learning to appreciate nature and my role as a human in a very complicated and beautiful world.”
    His father, who came from one of the lowest levels of the Hindu caste system, converted to Christianity as an adult. Daniel remembers visiting his father’s home, a small village down a dirt road in rural India where people lived in tin huts with thatched walls.
    “We would sit on the floor cross-legged for hours, until I could no longer feel my legs. I never understood what they said because they didn’t speak the language I know. My entire life, every time I visit his family, I sit and smile and have no idea what they say.” from http://www.bridesmaidie.com