East or West, nothing is the best!

Many elders tell us we must be proud of and help nurture our culture and customs. That ours is superior to that of other nations.

I wonder why a lot of us do not resonate as much. Do we feel that Western culture is superior? Does aligning with it make us feel like greater humans? I wonder. The sentiment does nudge this way though. To battle that, if we were to embrace our roots, (questionable which ones) and from the following day, be true Indians, and wear dhoti instead of pants to work.

Will I garner support, praise, and appreciation for my spirits, or will it be called silly, and attract scepticism?

Messy.

Let's dissect it a bit.

Yes, our cultures were questioned and systematically broken. True that we do not see society the way we did a few generations back. But...

Let's change the narrative. Are we alone in this?

I doubt. Most of the world, or let me take the liberty to say that the whole of it is indeed 'Westernized'. Look at the remotest among us, North Korea, their dressing too is not only Hanbok. It isn't the way their daily worshipped legacies wore. It has changed.

We have accepted the changes externally but at some point in time feel the urge to go back to our roots. This bubbles from the impulse to battle any inferiority we are made to feel about the things we believe in, or in what our forefathers did.

It was a generational affair for every ethnicity, nationality, and religion to prove they were better than the rest. Their constant efforts to state the same took up most space on their plate of purpose. But at this point, I refuse to take or put any blame. We have grown up as relatively global citizens. Every facet of our lives has a hue of some country's effort, another's tradition, and someone else's ideas. It is only now that we look at each other and accept the beauty in the diversity. (To a large extent at least)

So, if we were to feel all too 'Westernized', I'd doubt the zeal of 'ethnic days'. (can we call it 'ethnic'?) The spirit we have for our festivals, the energy in our weddings, and the tunes we groove to.

That said, we don't definitely wear a veshti or of sorts for an interview. Things have changed and will continue to do so.

Not everything is west, nor is nothing east. To think so only takes all this banter south!

Our choices differ, and so do our thoughts. In this global backyard, when once our parents guessed what the other side of the city looked like, now scroll through mounts on the other side of the globe, surely not the one in uncle's study.

To think of all the adaption as evil, I'd say is a bit imprudent. I wear my sneakers with a kurta. I love my culture as much as my ancestors did. Too bad for them, it isn't the same.

All said and done, Uncle's favourite picture is of him wearing goggles in a dhoti, something his grandfather might have called satan.