Old Habit

Its been almost a month since I am here in the Mysore campus. Happen to see lots of trainees roaming around the huge campus with their cell phones playing loud music. We have changed the way we dress, the way we eat and the way we converse . Everything has been westernized. But the culture of playing music while walking has been taken from our villages.
During my childhood I used to see lots of workers returning back to home with radio kept in the cycle playing music. This is a typical small town/village culture.
Good to see employees of one of the biggest company in India turning back to the old small town culture of playing music while walking .
Indeed a Strange phenomenon.

Is this Independence ??

Happened to read the latest article in NewYorkTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/23/world/asia/23india.html?_r=1&oref=slogin .
The article talks about new found Independence in Indian Women because of Career opportunity.
Its a wonderful article to tell it to the west that Indian women are no longer conservative. In fact west already know it based on their experiences like Indra Nooyi being CEO of Pepsi. Women empowerment is way ahead in US compared to India, We are slowly catching up. At least in Urban India women are more Independent, bold and powerful compared to villages.
I find lots of managers here in client side who are women and doing a wonderful job. Its very large in number compared to number of managers in India. The new found independence as discussed in that article will at least help in bridging the gap.
Having said that, at the end of the article one girl has told the author that she is living freely in Bangalore. Here, her boyfriend can come and go without anyone asking questions. That's what is Independence projected by the west. Does it apply to our culture our tradition? Good question.
The Girl at the end confesses that she broke away from family and married her boyfriend. This is what is called Independence by the west. Proof that we are getting westernized in every sector and soon there is going to be no difference between us and US .
Where are we going ?

Identity Crisis

"Who am I ? ". Nope I am not talking about Jackie Chan movie or a Unix command. Its the question that many kids ask when they grow up. When we were born we are born with only one identity . An identity that defines you as a boy or as a girl. But when we grow up , the society , the family gives you an identity. You are a Tamil Iyengar,You are a Malayali christian, You are a Gujarati Muslim etc.,
People then grow up with their own identity until they reach the school/college. Their friends , their passion slowly changes their identity. But their base identity is there which is hidden inside.They mingle with people and get to know about other culture, other religion. Its very good to know all about others. But when it comes to marriage one has to be choosy.
But when it comes to marriage one has to be choosy. Marriage is not the end of bachelorhood. Its the beginning of new life for you and your partner. You are becoming more responsible. You are licensed to produce your next generation. You marry someone from your own religion you inculcate your identity to the new-born. He will grow up with a defined identity. But when you marry someone out of your own religion then your child will fall into a huge crisis when he/she grows up.
That's what we call "Identity Crisis". The child grow up and marry someone who belongs to a different religion/region/culture your child is going to inculcate "identity crisis" to your grand children. What will happen to five generations down the line. There will be no religion,region, culture .
You may tell its good , there won't be any religion,region,caste,culture based fight. Its fantastic. The world will be peaceful. Everyone is neutral.
But its pretty bad in other sense. You have destroyed one religion. you have destroyed one culture. The Generation next will have no idea about your culture, your religion. "Who am I ?" will be a FAQ.
PS: Its purely my opinion and I am not against inter-caste, inter-regional marriages.No personal experience is reflected over here.