I believe I can fly

Yes, I truly do. Even if the only way to do so is trust machinery weighing a few tons :-) I also like to think. Which is not the same as saying I do think. Thinking is an area of human activity where I have a lot of catching up to do.

Posts Tagged perspective

Indian culture – another perspective

Nov 27

Posted by The Practical Idealist in General | No Comments

Culture is essentially one’s way of life. Which is why my parents’ culture is not necessarily mine, though it contains a good deal of what they practise / believe in. Thus, Indian culture is the Indian way of life. To state the obvious, it has changed – and how! – over the centuries, a good case in point being the way we celebrate Deepavali (worshipful / meditative versus boisterous), or the way we greet people nowadays (“hello” versus “namaste” – the latter having spiritual overtones and hence zealously avoided).

On a related note, I find it endlessly tiring to tolerate people who think sticking to one’s “culture” in a foreign land is the same as visiting temples and observing festivals like Deepavali in the traditional way. Even the Manu Shastra says that it’s wise to adapt to the changing ways of society, at least to the extent that we find reasonable.

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Indian culture – a cynic’s perspective

Nov 27

Posted by The Practical Idealist in General | No Comments

What is Indian culture? A definitive description:

  1. Be religious. For meat-eaters, this means eating meat whenever possible, and not eating meat on “holy” days. And yes, you have to, absolutely, visit temples once in a while, even if you’re in a foreign country (perhaps, “especially if you’re in a foreign country”?). Otherwise, you’d forget your “roots”…
  2. Be respectful to elders. Even those that you absolutely detest, and about whom you make funny jokes. That’s a very essential part of Indian culture.
  3. Never, ever, mix with locals and strictly avoid adopting local customs / practices when you’re in a foreign land (repeat this if you’re a Brahmin). Never forget that you’re Indian and consequently, eat only Indian food, have only Indian (or desi) friends; never travel alone – because the foreigners are out to get you!
  4. Follow cricket matches on TV / the Net. Cricket is as essentially Indian as idli / dosa / roti / paneer tikka is.
  5. Never spend more money than you can get away with. If that means sharing a single bedroom flat with five others even when your earnings are enough to let you rent a flat all for yourself, then so be it! Thrift is an essential Indian quality, and living comfortably, let alone lavishly, is a sin.
  6. Auxiliary tenets:
    i) always travel in a group when you’re in countries like the UK, because a group ticket is cheaper
    ii) Always purchase second-hand goods, be it a car, a tv or a bike iii) Scour ebay for the best deals, even when you’re hard-pressed for time in making a purchase.
  7. Publicly scorn obscenity in movies, especially English movies; lament about the degradation that they bring into our culture, all the while watching such wonderfully culture-enhancing regional flicks in which heroines show skin and indulge in hip-gyration and other gestures which are none-too-subtle. After all, all regional flicks show Indian women in such a lofty light, especially when they’re dressed in their wedding garbs.

I challenge anyone to poke holes in the above.

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