Saturday, January 24, 2009
My Re-Emergence
This past week, I felt as if I had re-emerged as part of Vigyan Ashram. I have been pretty social with all the students and staff, which has not usually been the case due to language and cultural barriers. But recently, things, for the most part, have been pretty enjoyable.
As part of my re-emergence, I was asked to give a talk about America (again). I gave a 40-slide presentation on America back in November, one that seemed to fill up all the seats (not that I’m bragging or anything). Even though I gave the presentation in English, and most do not understand English, I included many, many pictures to make it more understandable. And not to mention, I had a translator.
Nonetheless, I’ve come to realize most everyone did not give a hoot about it. So once again, I talked about America in a question-and-answer format to which my responses were received with shock and horror. Some examples of outrageous (and seemingly offensive) statements include:
The funny thing is that most of those facts, sans the educational related ones, are occurring in India's cities as well. It’s amazing to me that such a disconnect over cultures/traditions can occur within one country. But forget thinking on a country-wide scale - Pune (the nearest big city) is less than 50 miles away from here!
As part of my re-emergence, I was asked to give a talk about America (again). I gave a 40-slide presentation on America back in November, one that seemed to fill up all the seats (not that I’m bragging or anything). Even though I gave the presentation in English, and most do not understand English, I included many, many pictures to make it more understandable. And not to mention, I had a translator.
Nonetheless, I’ve come to realize most everyone did not give a hoot about it. So once again, I talked about America in a question-and-answer format to which my responses were received with shock and horror. Some examples of outrageous (and seemingly offensive) statements include:
- The fact that most children move away from home to go to college and some do not move back home after graduation; if they do, it’s for less than 5 - 6 years
- Picking a spouse is not done by parents but by the children themselves (i.e. we pick our own spouse)
- Farming is not done by individuals and is mostly owned by corporations
- Exams are not held after every grade (standard) and progress is based on grades earned (GPA)
- Entrance into colleges is based on more than GPA and SAT scores, such as extracurricular activities and admissions essays
- When parents get older, they are either placed in retirement homes, or move to areas that are inhabited by like-minded individuals, or are fully self-sufficient. Some do move in with their children but it's not common practice.
The funny thing is that most of those facts, sans the educational related ones, are occurring in India's cities as well. It’s amazing to me that such a disconnect over cultures/traditions can occur within one country. But forget thinking on a country-wide scale - Pune (the nearest big city) is less than 50 miles away from here!
