One day I happened to see two youngsters in the bus shelter I was at , swearing at each other at the top of their voices. The girl was wearing a skimpy dress leaving very less to imagination and the guy , a fashionably disgusting low waist apparel.They were having a really loud competition on who knew more swear words and didn't care that they were probably attracting miffed glares from minority of people who were not tuned into their smart phone head sets. I was unfortunately seated quite close to them and to avoid the embarrassment of having to listen to them, I hurriedly took out a bunch of leaflets of bus time tables that was the only thing I could find to pretend to read in a bus shelter. Just then , I felt a soft voice behind me
"Do you think we are stupid?".
I was about to blurt out that I wasn't pretending to read and that I actually needed to check out route #449, but was surprised to see an old lady behind me, equally miffed at the swearing game going on.
"Look at the state of our youth. Our children are just wasting away their valuable time for school and college and look what they have grown up into. You come from such a rich culture. Do you , like , look at us and think how stupid we are ?"
I was totally taken aback and had no I idea what to answer. I flashed a smile , nodded in negative and quickly made my way to my bus which thankfully had just arrived.
On the way home , I though long and hard.
Is Indian youth really any better than them? Do I have the moral right to point fingers or look down upon the youth of the west , when ironically, the very same culture is revered by and imitated to exaggeration by the Yo generation of my very own country?
I realise that the world is shrinking and we are all embracing the same global culture. But I do so wish , India would get the best out of both worlds, rather than the other way round, May be , I'm growing old, maybe the next time I see that lady, I should talk to her and tell her that there is nothing Indian about the youth in my country anymore. They are all part of the same global brotherhood brought up by the Internet.
P.S :No offence meant to anyone and the views are completely personal.
"Do you think we are stupid?".
I was about to blurt out that I wasn't pretending to read and that I actually needed to check out route #449, but was surprised to see an old lady behind me, equally miffed at the swearing game going on.
"Look at the state of our youth. Our children are just wasting away their valuable time for school and college and look what they have grown up into. You come from such a rich culture. Do you , like , look at us and think how stupid we are ?"
I was totally taken aback and had no I idea what to answer. I flashed a smile , nodded in negative and quickly made my way to my bus which thankfully had just arrived.
On the way home , I though long and hard.
Is Indian youth really any better than them? Do I have the moral right to point fingers or look down upon the youth of the west , when ironically, the very same culture is revered by and imitated to exaggeration by the Yo generation of my very own country?
- When I have never heard a swear word uttered in front of me in Minneapolis other than by the odd youngsters in the buses or bus shelters, but facebook statuses and twitter updates of Indian youngsters I know without F*** word are rare ?
- When rupee will not be called anything other than a buck though rupee was never made of buckskin like the dollar originally was?
- When a blog without faaying , frigging , sucking friiking and other similar words is just not good enough?
- When my nephew living in a remote village in Kerala has the full music collection of Justin Beiber and knows all about Kim Kardahsian's divorce?
- When people in India know more about all the sitcoms being aired in the US and most Indian TV programs other than the daily Soaps are cheap copies of hit American TV shows and having porn stars in reality TV shows has become acceptable?
- When spelling my and moi and ma is you and yua and umma and muah is mandatory learning for every Indian teenager?
- When pizza and McDonald's and KFC , the cheapest and unhealthiest foods available in US are considered as the height of posh and elegance in India?
- When skirts are getting shorter, jeans are going lower, tops have glaring holes at conspicuous locations and dating and premarital sex are part of urban living?
- When there is a marked difference between provocative dressing and stylish dressing , while in India , the former is equated with the latter?
- While we take the slightest opportunity to make fun of foreigners in our land and stare at them like zoo animals , they show the dignity to treat us with respect in their land , even when we take their jobs away from them?
- While we take all the liberty to become westernized, buy stylish vehicles , only to disregard traffic rules completely, talk like a F**** foreigner , but ogle at every woman in sight and in turn look down on the lower classes who talk the equivalent language in the local tongue(!), drink and go to discotheques, drive insanely , even kill a few, but bribe the police to get out of sticky situations?
- When the world of Internet has opened a whole new window of westernization to this generation of role-model zapped youngsters , that has somehow zoomed in on the wild and the crude side of the American Pie ?
- When India is getting more Americanized than America itself.?
I realise that the world is shrinking and we are all embracing the same global culture. But I do so wish , India would get the best out of both worlds, rather than the other way round, May be , I'm growing old, maybe the next time I see that lady, I should talk to her and tell her that there is nothing Indian about the youth in my country anymore. They are all part of the same global brotherhood brought up by the Internet.
P.S :No offence meant to anyone and the views are completely personal.
