Posted:
nikita
Very well written .
I don't think anyone was criticizing the younger generation as such , they ...we , were merely stating observations . It is the tendency of people back in India to grossly misunderstand children of NRI's as 'forward' 'spoilt' etc and pass remarks on American , British or Canadian upbringing without knowing a thing about what goes on in reality over there . Well , when we come there on our yearly visits we see a different picture , we don't really see Indian kids or as the Pakistani people in this forum were explaining yesterday , kids from their country .......very traditional , shareef either . Inspite of living in lands with a cultural base , they enjoy westernized concepts much much more than kids over here .
So u see it was not so much a criticism of how and why this has happened to the younger generation in INdia as it is a mere observation made by many like minded NRIs .
Formerly when we went to Mumbai I had this habit of constantly pointing out things to emphasize it on my son's mind ......this is the way we do things here . You wont see this in the US . Over the years these things have dwindled .In my last trip my son told me .......what culture r u talking about Mom , I see the culture only in temples when the priests are chanting mantras etc..............otherwise I see a mini US only here with mall culture , western clothes , discotheques , this and that .
Yes small town culture is different than Mumbai culture but it is changing rapidly there too .It saddens .
What saddens even more is the complacent attitude of the elders unaware of this change right under their noses and their judgement on NRI children that they are 'forward' or 'rich and spoilt ' . If only they wud really know what their own children r upto , and how practical they have become....to the point of being emotionally cut throat and regarding adults as 'stupid' . They welcome these changes in their children with ignorant pride at first and later when it bombards on them , they sit with stricken looks on their face wondering what went wrong .
My own mother said two or three times to my son 'we do not talk back like this in India' . My son was not talking back at all ......he was trying to understand some things by asking many questions , as he is used to over here .American education encourages independent thinking and questions . When I explained to her that he was not doubting her ability to do things but asking these questions for himself , she said "
"Well our children are different , not like you guys ."
I felt very very sad when my own mother said like this . These other children she was referring to were the children of my siblings back in India .Even in her grandchildren she had diffrentiated in her mind and referred to my son as 'you guys' . And the poor guy had done NOTHING to distinguish him from them . They wore western wear , more hep clothes than him , went to pubs , danced in discos ...yet she had this pride in them . They did not follow any spiritual practice or even were interested in knowing an Indian ritual . Whereas my son did , and hence the questions . To understand them . He knew the Ganpati Atharvasheersha byheart and said the full Ramraksha with perfect pronounciation . These children didnt know it . Yet a judgement was passed on my son simply as he was an NRI .
And thats what we wre trying to say .........that it is a myth that children there are 'better ' than children here . Of course I wouldn't dare to say vice versa either .BUt yes , sometimes we do find NRI children far less west enamoured compared to the Indian children living there itself . No offense to anyone , merely a subjective opinion .Neither do I wanna go into statistics like someone last time argued with me nor do I state this with a stubborn certainty .JUst an observation .
Anupamaa
