Westernization or dilution

As the corporate world takes over , all countries big and small are influenced by the increasing demands of advanced technology and greater standards of living. Its now the era of fast food and life in the fast track. Everybody is in a rush ,a race against time . India has grown leaps and bounds in a very short span of time. Its amazing to see the infrastructure in the cities now and compare it with what was exsisting 5 years ago.It makes me very proud that my country has grown so much in a short period of time. India is predicted to grow by 7-8% by the end of 2009 by the economy experts ,which is an amazing improvement.

We have to lose something to gain something they say and India has lost a lot of its rich culture now. In the process of westernizing its society India has suffered dilution of its rich culture.Parents think its below their dignity for the kids to converse in their mother tongue and they need to be eloquent in English. The teenagers seem to think its fashionable to have boyfriends/girlfriends and they don't take into account what the parents think about this. How far are we going to take this?India has always caught the entire world's curiosity of how the younger generation abided by what the parents said.Gone are those days.

The price we pay for moving forward is forgetting some golden principles we learnt from the previous generations. Not many countries enjoy the rich culture and diversity that our country does. We speak different languages and have different cultures in every state. We have always wondered when would be a right time for us to return to India. We have felt a yearning to be back home and feel more secure both for us and for the kids growing up in our culture.We want them to know their roots and feel proud of where they are from. Everytime I go back to India I see some of the that hope fading. My kids are very curious about their origin and like to share the information about their country and the heritage to all their American peers .They have a sense of pride of where they are from . I see a big contrast back home where kids don't seem to care. I understand that we need to let go of some of the superstitions and move forward. Learn the good from other cultures and adapt to changes but we cannot afford to forget our roots.We need to make sure we know where we are from and what we are . There should no sense of shame or hesitation in saying we are Indians. We are what we are we should be proud of that.

We are debating whether we can better teach our children to appreciate their culture and roots here or back home where its almost insignificant in the present days.I think we can pick up the good and leave out the bad and in turn show the world that we can still keep what we regarded priceless and still make huge strides growing as a stronger nation.