Are there any realistic depictions of second-gen NRIs in Bollywood? - Page 2

Originally posted by: CrimeMasterToto

That is about as inaccurate a generalisation as there ever was - your data set for taking a call on Indians living in India must be either very small or very skewed.

I have lived abroad for 10 years, and yes, many Indian families make sure they follow their Indian traditions and try their best to instil that in their kids (with varying degrees of success).

People are equally aware of their culture and traditions here in India. Whether you are in north or south - families pray regularly, visit temples every week, etc. Kids learn Hindi / Tamil / Sanskrit / etc in school, so there is no need to put in extra effort for such classes.

I read your posts and you seem to have a lot of life experience. I can trust you to have a wealth of knowledge about the people living in Canada or India or wherever else you have lived. I think some of your experiences may have been different from CJK's and you are each basing your conclusions on your individual lived experiences. Interesting stuff still.

Originally posted by: cutejodikangal

Believe it or not, we outside of India follow more traditions and culture than the people who are actually in India. Whenever I go to India, I get a culture shock. My cousins look at me like I was a FOB. Our kids are a part of some or the other cultural associations where they are taught basic Sanskrit slokas and Prayer etc which I don’t see with the kids in India. Feeling too sleepy to write more but I hope you got what I am trying to say! :)

I am from Delhi.. atleast from what I've observed..in the metro cities of India, such as Delhi Bombay Kolkata Bangalore Chennai, kids are a lot more inspired by western culture, fashion and norms. I don't see girls wearing traditional Indian attire such as salwar suits on a day-to-day basis as they show in TV shows😆Even those actors that plays such roles offscreen don't. Culture here is becoming a lot more Westernized and kids love partying, hanging out with friends, doing roadtrips etc. Atleast the Urban youth are that way.

But ofcourse, there's also people and families in India that are rooted to Indian culture, especially as you lean towards the more rural parts of India..or those that are somewhere between rural and urban.

Originally posted by: blue-ice.1

My apologies....I should have said....aware and practice.....but kids here....atleast the ones I know....do all kids of poojas..go to the temples, celebrate Rakshabandhan, Bhai dooj....know how to sing Bhajans, shlokas and Aarati...do Dandia/Garba...play Holi...my Pakistani friend's kids celebrate Eid.....and my kids wait for Eid to get the Eidi that Aunty gives them..😆......they celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas...dress up for Halloween....celebrate 4th of July and other American things......I don't know how they are different from the Indian kids....the difference will always be there in their accent and the way they speak Hindi or their mother tongue...other than that...sab same hai..

It's good to know that your kids and their friends are so well-acquainted with their roots. But from what I've personally seen (and heard from the huge number of NRI friends/family/distant relatives😆), the kids are like coconuts, brown in skin, but American in terms of mannerism, social customs and gestures. 😆

Jokes apart, my mom now advises some of our family to stop trying to impose the native culture because it'll confuse the kids about your identity, and do more harm than good. 😳

As I see it, this is a very sensitive issue for second-generation kids. In their childhood, they are heavily confused between two nationalities (because at that age, they don't understand the difference between nationality and cultural identity). Their school tells them they are Americans and must adapt to and uphold the American way of life, and at home they are told something entirely different. So it confuses them and makes them rebellious. And most of the kids I see are fully American in every way.

Originally posted by: CrimeMasterToto

That is about as inaccurate a generalisation as there ever was - your data set for taking a call on Indians living in India must be either very small or very skewed.

I have lived abroad for 10 years, and yes, many Indian families make sure they follow their Indian traditions and try their best to instil that in their kids (with varying degrees of success).

People are equally aware of their culture and traditions here in India. Whether you are in north or south - families pray regularly, visit temples every week, etc. Kids learn Hindi / Tamil / Sanskrit / etc in school, so there is no need to put in extra effort for such classes.

I think what they meant was that people in India are sort of straying away from their culture. Inclination is more towards following the West and learning foreign languages for the heck of it while belittling Indian languages. You can't deny it happens a lot in our country. We don't need to put an extra effort but media brainwashing has definitely caused some damage there.

Second generation NRI's not one homogenous group. They come in all kinds from the ones who have really embraced the best of both worlds to the ones who run away from all things curry.

So many desi friends of mine who were born or raised here put in FAR more effort in learning and practicing their traditions and culture to the point where some end up overcompensating. Contrary to popular belief, a lot of us embrace our roots and spend more time learning and really knowing why we do what we do. Desis in India and the Indian subcontinent for that matter, from what I noticed, take their culture for granted and are more focused on how to "westernize" themselves ... and they have a very unrealistic view of the west.

I lived with a bunch of international Indian students for over a year once, one of them was friends with Alia Bhatt, so they were obviously from elite families. Three of them were my roommates and I was shocked, flabbergasted, and add a bunch of other adjectives by their lifestyle. From sleeping around to partying every other day to doing drugs, they did it all. At the same time, I've also come across desis fresh off the boat in high school who didn't assimilate much and were super conservative. So obviously Indians in India also come in various kinds. Not all of them are "sanskaari" characters we see in movies.

I think Shashi's nieces in English Vinglish is a good insight into NRI kids of an average household. There were no pretenses and the portrayal kept it real. Although, yeah, I'll say that there are a good amount of conflicted and self-loathing Namaste London Katrina's and Upens around too... 😆 They do exist. They make for interesting characters in movies and it's easy for directors to build stories around them, so we see completely OTT versions of them in movies for laughs, amusement and the eyeballs they generate. It might look like majority of us are like that but in no way in hell do they represent all the second generation NRI kids out there.

Originally posted by: loveandhope9204

You are quite on point :) I am from Delhi and atleast in the metro cities of India, such as Delhi Bombay Kolkata Bangalore Chennai, kids are a lot more inspired by western culture, fashion and norms. I don't see girls wearing traditional Indian attire such as salwar suits on a day-to-day basis as they show in TV shows😆Even those actors that plays such roles offscreen don't. Culture here is becoming a lot more Westernized and kids love partying, hanging out with friends, doing roadtrips etc. Atleast the Urban youth are that way.

But ofcourse, there's also people and families in India that are rooted to Indian culture, especially as you lean towards the more rural parts of India..or those that are somewhere between rural and urban.

Even people who wear western attire 90% of the time do poojas and stuff at home. Take me for example. I cannot remember the last time I wore salwar-kurta but I'm reasonably religious. As are all my friends. We all drink, smoke occasionally and go out and party, but at the same time we do poojas, keep vraths and know how to cook sabzis.

Originally posted by: SmittenKitten

Second generation NRI's not one homogenous group. They come in all kinds from the ones who have really embraced the best of both worlds to the ones who run away from all things curry.

So many desi friends of mine who were born or raised here put in FAR more effort in learning and practicing their traditions and culture to the point where some end up overcompensating. Contrary to popular belief, a lot of us embrace our roots and spend more time learning and really knowing why we do what we do. Desis in India and the Indian subcontinent for that matter, from what I noticed, take their culture for granted and are more focused on how to "westernize" themselves ... and they have a very unrealistic view of the west.

I lived with a bunch of international Indian students for over a year once, one of them was friends with Alia Bhatt, so they were obviously from elite families. Three of them were my roommates and I was shocked, flabbergasted, and add a bunch of other adjectives by their lifestyle. From sleeping around to partying every other day to doing drugs, they did it all. At the same time, I've also come across desis fresh off the boat in high school who didn't assimilate much and were super conservative. So obviously Indians in India also come in various kinds. Not all of them are "sanskaari" characters we see in movies.

I think Shashi's nieces in English Vinglish is a good insight into NRI kids of an average household. There were no pretenses and the portrayal kept it real. Although, yeah, I'll say that there are a good amount of conflicted and self-loathing Namaste London Katrina's and Upens around too... 😆 They do exist. They make for interesting characters in movies and it's easy for directors to build stories around them, so we see completely OTT versions of them in movies for laughs, amusement and the eyeballs they generate. It might look like majority of us are like that but in no way in hell do they represent all the second generation NRI kids out there.

Was Katrina really self-loathing in Namaste London? I don't think so. She just didn't give a f*** and considered herself British, which she was.

Originally posted by: SmittenKitten

Second generation NRI's not one homogenous group. They come in all kinds from the ones who have really embraced the best of both worlds to the ones who run away from all things curry.

So many desi friends of mine who were born or raised here put in FAR more effort in learning and practicing their traditions and culture to the point where some end up overcompensating. Contrary to popular belief, a lot of us embrace our roots and spend more time learning and really knowing why we do what we do. Desis in India and the Indian subcontinent for that matter, from what I noticed, take their culture for granted and are more focused on how to "westernize" themselves ... and they have a very unrealistic view of the west.

I lived with a bunch of international Indian students for over a year once, one of them was friends with Alia Bhatt, so they were obviously from elite families. Three of them were my roommates and I was shocked, flabbergasted, and add a bunch of other adjectives by their lifestyle. From sleeping around to partying every other day to doing drugs, they did it all. At the same time, I've also come across desis fresh off the boat in high school who didn't assimilate much and were super conservative. So obviously Indians in India also come in various kinds. Not all of them are "sanskaari" characters we see in movies.

I think Shashi's nieces in English Vinglish is a good insight into NRI kids of an average household. There were no pretenses and the portrayal kept it real. Although, yeah, I'll say that there are a good amount of conflicted and self-loathing Namaste London Katrina's and Upens around too... 😆 They do exist. They make for interesting characters in movies and it's easy for directors to build stories around them, so we see completely OTT versions of them in movies for laughs, amusement and the eyeballs they generate. It might look like majority of us are like that but in no way in hell do they represent all the second generation NRI kids out there.

You just reminded me how my grandpa (RIP) became friends with Upen's father. Both of them were in the same hospital ward or something years ago so they started chilling together. 😆

Originally posted by: Mahisa_22

Was Katrina really self-loathing in Namaste London? I don't think so. She just didn't give a f*** and considered herself British, which she was.

If you make a conscious effort to run away from your culture, customs and roots the way Katrina does in Namaste London, it's self-loathing behavior. Her nationality was British but her ethnic origins were not.

Originally posted by: SmittenKitten

If you make a conscious effort to run away from your culture, customs and roots the way Katrina does in Namaste London, it's self-loathing behavior. Her nationality was British but her ethnic origins were not.

I don't think she made a conscious effort to run away from her roots. It's just her overbearing parents who constantly interfered in her life and made her rebellious.

Also, is there any rule that you need to love your indigenous culture? People should have to the freedom to choose what they identify as, both in terms of gender and other identity.