Living in the US for 7 months gave me great insight into the lifestyle, outlook and social behaviour of the American people and I could not help but compare it to that of Indians. A lot is made of Indians trying to ape the West. So, I have decided to come up with my own unique take on what Indians should actually try and copy from America. I have, myself, tried to imbibe all these qualities in my own life.
1. The World is Our Oyster: A Forthcoming and Welcoming Attitude
I have often seen people in India being apprehensive about befriending those from other religions or ethnicities. However, people in the US accepted us with open arms. They did not discriminate on the basis of anything — nationality, culture or religion. They were as curious to learn about our lifestyle as we were about theirs. I was able to meet people from Jamaica, Uruguay, Korea, Taiwan, Cuba, Honduras and Mexico. Although each person was different and unique, everyone was treated with equal respect and dignity.
2. Master Jugglers: Time and Project Management
Indians enjoy the luxury of easily available help for all our tasks. A cook to make us food, driver to take us around, gardener to turn our green patches into aesthetic wonders and domestic help to clean our houses. Unfortunately, this is not the case in the US. You have to complete each of these tasks yourself, along with juggling a full-time job or school. I was amazed at how college students would not only attend full-time classes but also take up two part-time jobs and manage household chores, on top of everything else!
3. Life, bring it on! A Positive Attitude
I have often seen my friends fret about a probable consequence, crib about a bad decision or reach a state of despair after a disheartening diagnosis. The Americans, though, have the “what next?” attitude. They spend more time trying to come up with a solution rather than wallowing in self-pity. I met numerous cancer patients in 7 months and not one of them cursed their fate or played the blame game. Most had a constant smile on their faces and a deep-rooted belief in their hearts to pull through.
4. Weird, what’s weird? How to be non-judgemental like the Americans
It is no secret that if Indians see something out of the ordinary, we stare, become transfixed and jump to conclusions. Girls discuss bold hairstyles, boys discuss obese girls, women discuss peculiar sartorial choices and men discuss cheap alcohol.
On the contrary, the Americans do not even blink at anything ‘different’. They are absolutely non-judgemental. People can wear (or not wear) whatever they want, drive the car they like, eat the food they love, be in shape or not be in shape.
I would walk around in a bandana and not a single person gave me a second look as opposed to walking on the streets of Delhi where I am constantly stared at, only for being a girl in a country with a skewed gender ratio !
5. Age no bar: Living it up till the last breath
Most elders in India seem to give up on life as they age. They consider themselves to be a burden on earth, believe that their life is over and are quite ready to die. In the US, I met people, both men and women, aged between 75–85 who are so fit that it put me to shame. They would volunteer in hospitals and take up hobbies they could not find time for in their youth; the women would diligently follow the newest fashion trends and often meet up with old friends for memorable lunch and coffee dates.
In the US and most other Western nations, the individual and her desires and beliefs are valued far more than the collective opinions of society. Let us see our culture and traditions in a brutally-honest light and then decide what is archaic and what is uplifting and liberating. It is time Indians got out of their cocooned existence by stepping out of the shadows of the past into a joyful, free, fun-filled future.
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