Khichdi Indians/Asians - dhobi’s dogs?

I am an NRI and have been living in the UK for the past 15 years. Today I am at the cross roads with no sense of belonging either here or back at home in India. Indians of metropolis India have moved on so much that I find the shifting of basic value system very stifling- there is no spirtiuality whatsoever, on the contrary there is constant flaunting of materialism. The land of simple living and high thinking has succumbed to consumerism. A few yrs ago when I happened to visit India on Valentine's day which was unheard of, or atleast not on such an open display ,a decade and half ago, shocked me beyond my wits. Teenagers who fleece parents to buy gifts for their friends, the heart shaped pizzas etc horrified me. Dont get me wrong I am not against St. Valenine or Lord Kama but when teenagers who are trying to ape the west in a half baked manner pains me.

We dont need a Mothers day, Fathers day do we? Our culture has always driven home the point that every day of the year is a Mothers and fathers day-Matru Devo Bhava, Pitru Devo Bhava- Mother and father are equivalent to God.

In the UK, I am unable to accept Western values like living together before marriage, pre-marital sex, unwed single mothers who are pawning off society etc etc, and the latest news- a 15 yr old girl delivers in a classroom ,has left me dumbstruck.

Today I consider myself a 'Dhobhi ka kutta - na ghar ka na ghat ka' translating - a washermans's dog ,which neither is fit to guard the house nor carry loads of washing like the donkey.

Despite everything, I still love my Matrubhoomi as well as my Karmabhoomi for all the positive contributions to society by and large.

Cheers

A confused global citizen.

very true!!! only thing constant these days is 'CHANGE'. Even dhobi's and Dhobighat's have changed as you said so bechaara only the kutta kahin ka nahi raha gaya, aint't it?? 😕

Originally posted by: muscleprotein

I am an NRI and have been living in the UK for the past 15 years.

Despite everything, I still love my Matrubhoomi as well as my Karmabhoomi for all the positive contributions to society by and large.

Cheers

A confused global citizen

Originally posted by: abhijit shukla

Only place you can feel rooted in is your self and may be your family.
Good luck.

Couldn't have said it better!!! So true!!

As Dr. Abhi diagnosed, the pain is caused not because the karmabhoomi is different from the janmabhoomi, but because the times have changed.

The cultural issues are global now. No matter where you go, you will not escape them.

Mom's day and Dad's day are Hallmark Creations. As far as elebrating real festivals is conerned, I see no big deal in that. Festivals in India seem too frequent and hyped to me!

Everywhere we see negative signs..!! evrything has changed and is still bound to change more and more! as some one rightly said:
The only static thing about 'change' is that..it 'changes'!! 👏
and hence its the truth!! Sometimes we see things are not going the way we want them to..but still...we have to accept it as being part of it in 1 way or the other.Some say..that things do not change,WE change!! maybe its right to some extent...our view/perspective of luking at things do change...! but its also the thing then ke we justc annot accept some changes...like u mentioned!

😆 @ Maya's Sig.

Going back to the topic at hand, muscleprotein, I think most of us feel like "dhobi ke kutte" at one point or another. There are some things you will never find acceptable no matter where you go, no matter how long you live there. Its a gap which can't be breached because of a sense of morality/ethics which has been ingrained in a person.

Originally posted by: abhijit shukla

Life is still fun though -at least till you have neices!

😆

Coming back to the discussion:

I'm eagerly waiting for the replies of all Non Resident Matrubhoomi friends.I think most of these members loginto India forums just to get the feel of their motherland and wonderfully in DM we have a special package of "Dadaji,Dadima,Uncle,Aunty,Bhayya ,Didi and neice".

I will post Robert Frost poem "Road not taken " for my new friend

The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Cheers,

Mythili

Originally posted by: muscleprotein

Cheers

A confused global citizen.

When I was in India, there used to be a school next to my home, this two 3-4 grade kids used to fight like crazy everyday and either the sister or the brother would leave their bag right in front of my home, my job used to be to seperate those fighting kids or to return their bags to their home

Fast forward some years, when I last visited, I was in a shop and a young lady with micro-mini's passed by and said "Namaste Auntyji" to my mom. My mom smiled and told me, she is the same girl whose bags I used to return home.

We NRI's left the country a while ago, when we return or think of India, we think of it as to the time we left the country, We have moved on, India has moved on, but our thoughts are still in the past, for me it is roughly your period, so I can understand😃.

Cheers from another (confused) Desi😉

I totally agree with sareg.

We have moved on and time has passed by decades, but we still have same image of India. We should remember that people over there have also moved ahead with us. For us India is still stagnant, but it's not. When I was little my uncle and his family used to visit us in India and used to say how things have changed and I was like what changed..it's still the same. Same old roads, same culture, everything is same. But now when I go back to India I feel same that things have changed. Change is inevitable. But I agree with your post muscelprotein. We immigrants are in position where we can not totally relate ourselves to citizens of country we have migrated to and now when we look back to our own country we cannot relate to their life either. So best like Abijit said you family is your culture and roots.

Nice posts! 👏

Thanks one and all for ur messages, I do agree with each and every one of you and I am not for a moment against CHANGE, progress is made only with Change. What pains me is Change doesnt have to be aping half baked ideas, there are so many +ve features in either society
India today is the happenign place and I am all for it but when issues like Honesty, credibility etc are at stake in our Janmabhoomi, is what I am unable to come to terms with.