Malnadkoos is not my wife. She is a relative from my extended family, and our relationship is more like that of cousins, I consider her a cousin sister. In fact, I came to know about her only after seeing her on Twitter 3–4 years ago. 😀 And then, I am not a Tamil Brahmin. My parents are Kannada Iyengars (Hebbar Iyengars) from Karnataka. (Although I believe in God, I am not attached to any caste or religion.) My family stopped using “Iyengar” as a surname generations ago. Nearly 80 years ago, my grandfather, Narayana Iyengar, chose not to give the Iyengar surname to his children. He named them Gundanna, Srinivas Murthy, Ramanna, Nagaraj (my father), Kamalamma, and Kanakamma, all Kannada names. My father’s name is simply Nagaraj, and even today, my cousins and their children do not have the Iyengar surname. 😀 It is the same on my mother’s side as well. My mother, her brothers, and her sister do not have “Iyengar” in their names or surnames. So, on both sides of my family, the Iyengar surname has not been used for generations. The generations before me spent more time working on farmland than in temples chanting Tamil shlokas in the Vaishnava tradition. They were more devoted to farming than to religious rituals. They simply believed in “ಕಾಯಕವೇ ಕೈಲಾಸ” work is worship. In a way, they unknowingly followed Kannadiga Basavanna’s philosophy of giving importance to work and everyday life over religious rituals. Our family has been living in our village near Hassan for at least the last 500 years. Our house was a common meeting place for activities related to our village goddess or any other issues related to our village, bringing together people from all castes. For generations, our family played an active role in the social life of the village and remained deeply connected to the local community and Kannada culture. In a way, I inherited this spirit of social involvement and connection to the Kannada community from my family. Even though many of my relatives are strong supporters of Hindutva-oriented politics like many Brahmins, neither I nor my family was particularly drawn towards Hindutva or Brahmin-centred politics. From childhood, I and my previous generation were more inclined towards a regionalist outlook, For me, this connection with Kannada and Karnataka is something I inherited from the social environment in which our family lived, rather than from caste or religious identity. My family and I have no connection with Tamil or Tamil Nadu culturally, linguistically, or through our family roots. Our language, culture, and roots have always been connected to Karnataka and Kannada. Now let's talk about Kannada Iyengars, Kannada Iyengars have their own roots in Kannada Nadu. Hebbar Iyengars, in particular, have long-standing roots in regions around Bengaluru, Mysuru, Hassan, and Mandya. majority of Hebbar Iyengars consider Kannada their mother tongue. For many Kannada Iyengars, the connection to Ramanujacharya is religious, not ethnic or linguistic. Around 1,000 years ago, Ramanujacharya came to Kannada Nadu, and our ancestors became his followers and adopted the Sri Vaishnava tradition. more over, following the teachings of a spiritual leader born in present-day Tamil Nadu does not make us Tamil. Religious tradition does not determine our language, ethnicity, or regional identity.