A . What is Identity? Refer to Activity on this page. What did you conclude — ‘Yes’, you are the same person or ‘No’, you are not the same person, or was your answer both ‘Yes’ and ‘No’!
Which is quite likely. Over the years your body has undergone many changes, you know many more people now as compared to earlier times, and you have developed a certain relationship with them. Your way of responding to and understanding events may have changed, you may have changed some of your beliefs and values, and your likes and dislikes may have also changed. So you are not really the same person as you were even a year ago!
Yet, you have an unmistakable sense of having been the same person from as far back as you can remember. Most of us are able to maintain a sense of continuity and sameness throughout our lives despite the many changes and discontinuities that mark our life over the decades. In other words, we all have a sense of identity , a sense of who we are which we carry throughout our lives. Just as in the case of self, we can talk of personal identity and social identity.
Personal identity refers to those attributes of a person that make her different from others. Social identity refers to those aspects of the person that link her to a group – professional, social or cultural. Thus, when you think of yourself as an Indian you have linked yourself with a group of people living in a country. When you describe yourself as a Gujarati or a Mizo, you are saying that you share some characteristics with the people living in that state, and that these characteristics seem to you to be different from people living in other states of India.
Thus, being a Gujarati is one dimension of your social identity in the same way as being a Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or a Christian or being a teacher, farmer or lawyer. Are you the same person that you were five years ago? Reflect on this for some time, and write your views and the reasons for these views in the space below.