I am one among the millions of people who have migrated from India for one of the many reasons. Until I left the country, I don't remember being away from family even for a short period.
My memory of Chennai, precisely:
-The best veggie foods available.
-lovely school with lovely teachers & of course, memory of a great childhood
-the same with college
-friends & extended family whom I last met at my wedding
-traditional & conservative society where I like some & hate many
-my scooty that took me places I knew not
-the bus & train
-the pollution
-Ranganathan st crowd
-the name change from Madras to Chennai
-geographically safe city
We had a get-together 2 days ago where we were talking about how we live in the past. Chennai(or any other city/town in India) is not the same as we think it to be.
We all have left Madras couple years ago & still think it to be as intact as it was when we left.
Subsequent visits over the last couple years have proved to be drastically different.
- good food is still available, but I lack the interest to eat oily food
- School is intact, but most of the teachers who taught me have retired; all new faces. What's the point in going back to school again?
- distanced out from college
- friends & extended family still are intact; only in weddings. After all, they have their lives too
- society is probably still traditional, but there seem to be a lot of accepted rebels. Girls are probably not restricted entry after 9 or so at night. Do I need to mention about the new night clubs that have popped up?
- my vahanam, long gone :-( but not dead. Hopefully in better hands!!! In any case, it would take me a long time to drive in those roads again
- the trains & buses are still there. But the people who use it have increased multi-fold. In my last trip, surprisingly, I started loving the buses for the simple reason, autos seemed nothing but a mini version of Lord Yama. But what's with the million Nokia phones, people? You don't know of a vibrating mode?
- aaah! the pollution- multi-folded if not multi-multi-folded.
- now its just not Ranganathan st that is crowded. I'd just stop at that!
- I had taken an oath that I would stick to Madras even after the name change. You cannot change a name just like that, u know! Now, everyone seems comfortable. A small satisfaction: Bangalore is Bengalooru. ugh!
- after 2 earthquakes & the Dec 26th Tsunami, I doubt if the place is as safe as it used to be. After all, what do we expect with an addition of a million more people to the city? Cleanliness & order. PLEASE!!!
Chennai is crossing cultural boundaries like never before. The pros are always welcome. But what is the result of all this westernization? Fear of the next generation.
Sitting on the other side of the world, we, the so called NRI's want to instill (lost) Indian values to our kids. I have friends who hunt down an Indian day care center so their kids could learn Gayathri mantra & yoga at 2!
Anyways, the point is, most of us have ideas of settling back in our home country. What if we do not find happiness there? What if we do not find what we expected to find?
Life is filled with complex choices & decisions. Be it what, but our country is OUR COUNTRY!!!
I really doubt if I will want to be a citizen of any other country.
Just a random blah blah...
My memory of Chennai, precisely:
-The best veggie foods available.
-lovely school with lovely teachers & of course, memory of a great childhood
-the same with college
-friends & extended family whom I last met at my wedding
-traditional & conservative society where I like some & hate many
-my scooty that took me places I knew not
-the bus & train
-the pollution
-Ranganathan st crowd
-the name change from Madras to Chennai
-geographically safe city
We had a get-together 2 days ago where we were talking about how we live in the past. Chennai(or any other city/town in India) is not the same as we think it to be.
We all have left Madras couple years ago & still think it to be as intact as it was when we left.
Subsequent visits over the last couple years have proved to be drastically different.
- good food is still available, but I lack the interest to eat oily food
- School is intact, but most of the teachers who taught me have retired; all new faces. What's the point in going back to school again?
- distanced out from college
- friends & extended family still are intact; only in weddings. After all, they have their lives too
- society is probably still traditional, but there seem to be a lot of accepted rebels. Girls are probably not restricted entry after 9 or so at night. Do I need to mention about the new night clubs that have popped up?
- my vahanam, long gone :-( but not dead. Hopefully in better hands!!! In any case, it would take me a long time to drive in those roads again
- the trains & buses are still there. But the people who use it have increased multi-fold. In my last trip, surprisingly, I started loving the buses for the simple reason, autos seemed nothing but a mini version of Lord Yama. But what's with the million Nokia phones, people? You don't know of a vibrating mode?
- aaah! the pollution- multi-folded if not multi-multi-folded.
- now its just not Ranganathan st that is crowded. I'd just stop at that!
- I had taken an oath that I would stick to Madras even after the name change. You cannot change a name just like that, u know! Now, everyone seems comfortable. A small satisfaction: Bangalore is Bengalooru. ugh!
- after 2 earthquakes & the Dec 26th Tsunami, I doubt if the place is as safe as it used to be. After all, what do we expect with an addition of a million more people to the city? Cleanliness & order. PLEASE!!!
Chennai is crossing cultural boundaries like never before. The pros are always welcome. But what is the result of all this westernization? Fear of the next generation.
Sitting on the other side of the world, we, the so called NRI's want to instill (lost) Indian values to our kids. I have friends who hunt down an Indian day care center so their kids could learn Gayathri mantra & yoga at 2!
Anyways, the point is, most of us have ideas of settling back in our home country. What if we do not find happiness there? What if we do not find what we expected to find?
Life is filled with complex choices & decisions. Be it what, but our country is OUR COUNTRY!!!
I really doubt if I will want to be a citizen of any other country.
Just a random blah blah...
i agree, i woudnt want to be a citizen here, but i am here for purely selfish reasons and would be for some more time.
ReplyDeleteMy kids i dnt know if they will learn gayatri mantra? I dnt see myself getting married for another 2 years atleast but one thing i am sure off, i dont want them to be as insolent as some of the kids here are !!!
I do not think anyone can force or change any cross cultural influences. I kinda disagree slightly with you on a note in this post too :) : "to instill Indian values".
ReplyDeleteWould it be more meaningful to instill good or perceivable good values rather than Indian values? After all , anything Indian is not always good and so is the other case.
As for Gayathri mantra, I am not sure if it really makes a difference, if ultimately the kid is not happy with what he/she is doing? What if the kid believes in the concept that Buddha preached which is so similar to ours, minus the Vedas and the caste! Would that be Indian or non-Indian? The great thing about the Western world is the independence it offers to the free thinker. And I think this is a very valuable asset that might be missing in India even though everything else would be getting highly westernized.
@ Akshan: I have no issues if you disagree. Each person has his/her own way of thinking.
ReplyDeleteAs long as they are kids, they hardly know what a religion is. Once he/she becomes an adult, no one is going to impose anything. I believe in freedom myself. There is no harm in exposing the child to all religions/way of life.
Coming to your thought on instilling Indian values: well, I will stop at the fact that parents will definitely not instill bad values, whether the kid is here, in India or any other part of the world. What the kid might miss is the Indian traditions(being an AI). Simple things like namaskarams or eating from the floor. I do not say that these are necessary; but they are definitely good to know. However conservative the country is, they should be able to survive without complaining.