I can tolerate a lot of things. It might not seem that way, but i can. I can live with young kids across the country suddenly wearing Manchester United jerseys and partying like puberty came early everytime "their" team wins a match. I can sort of appreciate women spending 35.7 minutes to get ready even if they have to goto the local market and buy a couple of vegetables. (Maybe they want to look attractive to other men while buying bananas, who knows). I can understand men wearing their jeans a little low showing their boxers to the whole world. I can even understand the medical reasoning behind air kissing people everytime you meet them.
Infact, there are some aspects of western culture that i am positively giddy about having permeated our culture. More people are starting to appreciate film, music and history from other parts of the world instead of constantly harping their "East or West, India is best" philosophy. Also, we are even starting to drink good wine finally instead of that Grover rubbish! (Everyone who goes wine tasting with pieces of Amul cheese in trays still deserves to be shot though) Last but not least, we have even started thinking of Formula 1 as a sport even though their stars would probably never find a good Indian bride. (At the end of the day, he is still a mere "driver")
However, there is one imported cultural aspect that has managed to foment in our young people's thick heads which is completely destroying the fabric of our society. I am, ofcourse, talking about the need to "stand on one's two feet". To these people i say say, where do you get off disrespecting our heritage and norms anyway?
Since the dawn of time, Indian families have been built on mooching off their parents money. Parents become parents so that they can work for their kids well being. Generations have lived and thrived on their parents and building upon their reserves while continuing the same for their own kids. Thanks to globalisation however, this is starting to change. Americans and western europeans have a fucked up concept of self worth where if you use your parents money for anything, you are looked down upon and ostracised as if you committed the original sin. Ofcourse, this notion is not repeated when half these kids use their parents money to pay their house rent or take trips to exotic countries including India. So where do you get off starting to think otherwise of Indian kids?
Unfortunately, Indian kids are falling for this bait like a 4 year old South Indian boy in a manhole. Young people are starting to collect external debt and constantly feel bad about themselves and their self worth if they have to take their parents money. They even start talking down to others if they decide to "stay Indian". What the hell is up with that? You're not allowed to be comfortable anymore? What are your parents going to do with all that money anyway? What's the point of being so bloody hypocritical if you're secretly hoping that you get the money as inheritance when they die anyway? Why be disrespectful to them through your secret ambitions instead of being up front and saying - look, i want to do this this this and this - so if you have some lying around - please give me some. Where the hell is the problem? Where are the value judgements coming from?
I think secretly, westerners are just jealous that the Indian family system is a lot more robust than theirs. There is less pressure on us and less struggle than the average one. Frankly, if you live in India, it's the least that we deserve given general quality of life here. And who made these rules about self-worth anyway? Dont we have enough rules made by white people already that we want to live by another one? Arent the WTO and IMF enough?
What is the harm in being comfortable? Would you rather live a comfortable life or will the notion of "doing this on my own" guide you through your shitty life incase things don't work out? Frankly, i have no such notions. I believe family is meant to be there for you, and this whole "doing it on your own" thing is totally overrated. I know i'll probably do the same for my kids. If I'm broke - tough luck kiddo, we are poor. but if we're not, what's the big deal? While you struggle your ass off to get your feet on the ground, i'm going to do the same job that you do but come back home to a Nintendo Wii and 56 inch flat screen thank you very much.
Also, given that the world is going to end soon thanks to ruthless human exploitation coupled with global dumb-fuckery over things like global warming, we are the last generation who even has money to spend. So get all the gadgets you can and take all the trips you ever wanted!
So kids - everytime someone tells you that you are useless just because you havent decided to live on your own limbs - tell them to shut the fuck up and mind their business. Then go on and flash your Iphone and call a friend to hook up at a party.
Don't get brainwashed. Don't insult your parents by letting all their hard earned money sit doing nothing. You will not only be bigger contributors to the global economy, but also be a lot more comfortable. Not everyone is as lucky, so if you get it. take it.
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