A Tale of Two Countries

It is almost like a race.

- Dr Veena Adige

East is East And the West is West Never the twain shall meet

But the present generation has proved this saying wrong. Our NRIs living in the US have shown the world that the two cultures can coexist, not side by side, but by a door separating them.

The atmosphere at home and the one outside are different. The ABCDs America Born Confused Desis) live a twin life. At school, college and office, their dress, their accent, their behaviour is western. But once the door is opened and they come home, it is entirely a different one!

The former is polite, clean, and formal while the latter is informal, warm and easy going. And they are comfortable with both.

The first generation immigrants pine for the extended family, the festivals and the spicy food. The younger ones are happy with an annual fortnightly visits to their grandparents where they go with the flow and toe the line, the occasional Indian food cooked at home and the samuhik pujas and festivals.

Some are repeated at the Times Square in New York or on the west coast where you throw a stone and you will hit an Indian.

The California state, which has a substantial population of Asians, often looks like an Asian one.

Oriental faces, Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi shops juxtaposed with the Occidental ones, define the fact that the US is a cauldron of immigrants and that all have equal rights and equal opportunities.

It is only sporadically that an Asian is attacked or comments passed.

Otherwise, the coexistence of all the different basic cultures happens quite peacefully, each one accepting the others.