World is Flat

Recently have been reading this bestseller called World is Flat which is about flattening of economies world wide. It got me thinking about flattening of cultures all over the world .

Coming to US has been a eye opening to this phase which is taking over all of us with a storm . I sometimes wonder that with the pace at which this flattening of cultures is taking place , by the time we realise some thing has happened it may be too late.

For me this has been a very confusing setup. There are certain changes you have to make in the way you live when you start following a different culture. It always becomes a question as to how to decide where to draw a line.

Eating non veg is wrong acc to Brahmin Indian culture but what do you do when you get nthin else to eat . still try and find something veggie to eat ?

Wearing saree is Indian , what if I wear jeans and skirts or clothes which people in other cultures wear . Have I stopped being Indian?

Going to temple is Indian but what if I don't find going to temples pious enough . I believe in meditating in my house .

Talking in my native language is Indian. Flattening means more and more Indian families prefer talking in English bcoz parents usually are not of the same native language these days.Have they stopped being Indian

Kids here in the US get confused deciding if they should behave in the way there peers behave or should they follow what there parents say . Should they go to proms , date girls and drink on weekends which a lot of there peers and there parents consider to be normal or should they stop socializing and stick to there other Indian friends whose parents think the same way their parents do . The parents are also stuck not knowing how they should raise there kids.

This is not the situation only here in the US . Students in colleges back in India , parents in metros every one faces the same question day in and day out . What acc to a person is Indian?
Now when I look back I realise how much more our lives are different from our parents. With more and more girls going out of homes. Increased interaction between boys and girls , the social structures are changing rapidly. Love marriages are becoming norm of the day. So what is it that you consider right ?

People here in the US have multiple affairs before marriage . They do not consider it wrong but are we ok with considering it right yet.

With every evolving generation the younger generation faces tougher question about how do they want to move ahead . What part of there culture do they want to keep and what is that they want to leave.

Only time will tell what this flattening of cultures will do to us . Meanwhile there will be this whole generation of youngster who have to decide on a daily basis what to pick and where to pick from ?

So what exactly does it mean to be an Indian ?