Young Indians everywhere live in two kinds of worlds, the modern world of the present where western culture runs through our minds and the traditional world of the generations prior to us where our traditional culture is expressed in even the smallest of mannerisms.
It's blended so well that even the the movies depict this without really explaining it, that's because there really is no way to explain it. Just like life.
But there are moments where the distinction becomes clear. For example if you think of respect for someone on a scale, in the young western culture respect more often starts from 0 on that scale and then can rise and fall as life goes on into positive or negative respect levels. But in the traditional Indian way, especially with those elder to you, your respect towards them is supposed to start out on a higher level already and on that scale your respect can grow but it should not fall below that initial point.
I don't really like the traditional way in this case. If someone does something to lose my respect than my respect levels should fall accordingly. To me, it's okay to start people off on a higher level, but to continue to show complete respect after they've shown they don't deserve it doesn't sit well with me.
Of course there is the matter of having respect and then another matter of acting kind both are very different. Just because you don't respect someone doesn't mean you should not be kind anymore (however it's easier said than done).
Sometimes it's intriguing to think about how I fit in both the traditional and modern world. A lot of my thinking about life is pretty tradition (I'm so cheap I refuse to buy expensive things I need or deserve without my parents permission) but at the same time I don't like being blogged down by many of the traditional behaviors and acts (like when it comes time to do puja's and other religious tasks).
I hate to end a blog without a feeling of accomplishment, a solution to the original problem or an answer to the original question, but the truth is there really wasn't a problem or a question or anything to be accomplished. It's just the way life is.
Innovating Life
~ASKalburgi