The falling culture
"India is a hopeless country and I absolutely hate it. I'm gonna shift to the US after school because I cannot tolerate the mentality here anymore."
"Oh, did you listen to the new pop song by Ariana Grande? Damn man, I'm in love."
"You listen to Bengali songs? Actually? That's so old, listen to English songs bro, grow up, be cool."
"Why do you even wanna watch a Hindi film? Bollywood is extremely horrible, let's check out the new English film instead! At least it'll be worth it."
"Oh! you do not know the meaning of this simple English word? Dude, coolness increases as the vocabulary of Hindi decreases, you embarrass me."
Such is the culture of India. Lost amidst the trends of the magnificent western world, with our own personal identity absolutely forgotten, we're sailing on the oceans of approval far from our land of origin with no plans to return. What is the use of existence when we cannot be grateful to the very land which has nurtured us, made us who we are today, prepared us for what is to come tomorrow and shaped us in a way we could've never imagined? What was the point of obtaining freedom from the Britishers when even now, after 72 years of independence we still continue to follow the culture they left for us, on a greater scale, and so great is the effect we cannot accept our own? The world is growing, they say, moving forward, they add- that is the mentality we possess. Is the Earth gonna start revolving around Sirius anytime soon just because it's a lot brighter than the sun? NO. Because that is not how it works. Then what is wrong with us?
The western world takes pride in the culture it owns and practices and that's okay. But us? Not so much. Why is it so hard to admit that YES, I do enjoy Bhojpuri songs much more than the English party songs, YES, I love aloo paranthas more than pizza, YES, I absolutely love wearing the beautiful saree, YES, I'm glad to be so extremely good at Hindi. Why can we not admit that loudly? Why do we hesitate? Why are our Instagram feeds filled with the things we cannot lose our hearts to no matter how hard we try because we lost ourselves in the rich platters of India at the very first kiss?
Our identity isn't written by tacos, red velvet, pizzas, cinnabons, Ed Sheeran, piano, violin, the foreign accent or the harsh slangs of the English language.
We are, instead, the verses of the Geeta, the holy Quran and the Guru Granth Sahib, the careful parabolas of the Tamil language, the fragrance of a fresh gajra on a woman's head, the sweetness in rasogulla, the extra spice in chicken biryani, the satisfyingly melodic tunes of the lovely Veena, the strong beats of the majestic tabla, the raag of the Sufi songs, the beautiful whisperings of the Indian soil. We are the oxygen of our mother, our India.
And, right now, we're letting her suffocate.
"Oh, did you listen to the new pop song by Ariana Grande? Damn man, I'm in love."
"You listen to Bengali songs? Actually? That's so old, listen to English songs bro, grow up, be cool."
"Why do you even wanna watch a Hindi film? Bollywood is extremely horrible, let's check out the new English film instead! At least it'll be worth it."
"Oh! you do not know the meaning of this simple English word? Dude, coolness increases as the vocabulary of Hindi decreases, you embarrass me."
Such is the culture of India. Lost amidst the trends of the magnificent western world, with our own personal identity absolutely forgotten, we're sailing on the oceans of approval far from our land of origin with no plans to return. What is the use of existence when we cannot be grateful to the very land which has nurtured us, made us who we are today, prepared us for what is to come tomorrow and shaped us in a way we could've never imagined? What was the point of obtaining freedom from the Britishers when even now, after 72 years of independence we still continue to follow the culture they left for us, on a greater scale, and so great is the effect we cannot accept our own? The world is growing, they say, moving forward, they add- that is the mentality we possess. Is the Earth gonna start revolving around Sirius anytime soon just because it's a lot brighter than the sun? NO. Because that is not how it works. Then what is wrong with us?
The western world takes pride in the culture it owns and practices and that's okay. But us? Not so much. Why is it so hard to admit that YES, I do enjoy Bhojpuri songs much more than the English party songs, YES, I love aloo paranthas more than pizza, YES, I absolutely love wearing the beautiful saree, YES, I'm glad to be so extremely good at Hindi. Why can we not admit that loudly? Why do we hesitate? Why are our Instagram feeds filled with the things we cannot lose our hearts to no matter how hard we try because we lost ourselves in the rich platters of India at the very first kiss?
Our identity isn't written by tacos, red velvet, pizzas, cinnabons, Ed Sheeran, piano, violin, the foreign accent or the harsh slangs of the English language.
We are, instead, the verses of the Geeta, the holy Quran and the Guru Granth Sahib, the careful parabolas of the Tamil language, the fragrance of a fresh gajra on a woman's head, the sweetness in rasogulla, the extra spice in chicken biryani, the satisfyingly melodic tunes of the lovely Veena, the strong beats of the majestic tabla, the raag of the Sufi songs, the beautiful whisperings of the Indian soil. We are the oxygen of our mother, our India.
And, right now, we're letting her suffocate.
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ReplyDeleteThat's so true! Everyday is a good day if you get aloo parantha in the breakfast. Actually somewhat I do feel the same the stuff going on here not only culturally but also socially makes me kinda ashamed
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely agreed! Aloo Parantha is definitely love:))
DeleteAlso, yes, but as embarrassing as it is, it's also desperate for a change. Can we and do we want to be that change though, is all that matters, right?