Taline!

Well, it's been more than a month for me now, here in the States, and although I've spent all this time in DC doing various things within the local Armenian community - check out the church here, take part in the event there - I felt "inspired" today to make my inaugural entry on this blog about a Taline concert that was held today.

Now, for those of you who are older than seven or do not have individuals in your immediate vicinity who are seven or younger, Taline is an Armenian children's singer. She has a bunch of friends who dance along, namely, a rabbit (Nabig), a cat (Piso) and a clown (Dzaghradzou), and Santa Claus made an appearance at today's show as well. Taline sings the cutest kiddie songs in Armenian, and also in English, some traditional nursery rhymes and the like, and some actually very nicely translated into Armenian, which must be quite a feat when it comes to, say, the ABC song, because our language has thirteen more letters...!


It was quite a crowd, and the kids were all over the place, parents and cameras in tow. The whole scene was hilarious actually, and everybody had a super time.

Now, the reason I was so inspired by the show today is that I never grew up in an Armenian community, like a "Diaspora place", with a church, school, agoump and so on, and then I've lived in Armenia, where the feeling often is that the Diaspora is temporary, that communities die out sooner or later. And this is indeed true, as we do have mere vestiges of communities today in, say, the Far East, or India.

On the other hand, one may argue that, as an Armenian community dies out somewhere, another one takes hold elsewhere. This makes for different kinds of Armenians of course, each community being influenced by the society in which it finds itself, trying in its own way to keep the identity alive.

In my weeks here, I've noticed quite a vibrant community in DC, where many people speak Armenian and everything. I've noticed, to my surprise, individuals who have never set foot in the Homeland, who don't really feel like moving there, or can't really "work for the Homeland", but who, simply, consider themselves to be Armenian. In my head, seeing things from a Hayastan perspective, this would have been, "less justified", to put it roughly.

I mean, all the Diasporans I've met in Armenia have been the kind for whom coming to Armenia is a big deal. They've all been wowed by the Hayrenik, and just about all of them had this sentiment of wanting to be a part of it, really a part of it, help build it and re-build it and make it shine and so on... And in Armenia, that's the impression you get that, in all the far-flung communities, day in and day out, all the Armenians are thinking is, "How can we help the Homeland today ?".

But that's not true, I find now. So, I've experienced this shift, where I've discovered that some people can be Armenian outside of Armenia and very wholly identify themselves as such. And that's it. There's nothing underneath it or beyond it. They're just regular Hovhanneses, leading your average life, and they happen to be Armenian and they are Armenian. I honestly hadn't expected it. I mean, I sort of knew this, consciously, but hadn't quite felt it, didn't think it would be quite like this...

Well, perhaps this is a bit over-philosophising on my part, but, anyway, the point is, today's concert was a showcase of very regular Armenian life outside of Armenia, and it was great fun. Merci, Taline!