Pardesan wich desi

You would think visiting an Indian family abroad would be like enjoying a slice of home life in a strange land. Strangely enough, its never true.

I have observed Indians living here are even more traditonal than people back home. I always feel as if I have traveled back in time.

Its as if these people are stuck in a time warp from when they first came here or even before that.

I wonder if I stayed here long enough, any friends and family visiting from India would say the same thing about us.

I guess they cling even more to their own customs and traditions to preserve them from alien cultural influence, to create a safe haven, or a little India in their homes and they end up overcompensating for their otherwise Ameircanized ways.

People back home are no longer following every rule in the book as far as tradition goes, the rules are getting relaxed by the minute.

Its funny how I always thought second or third generation Indian-Americans would know much less about their regional customs but to my surprise, they are more Indian than I am :)

How in India its so fashionable to be modern, not to cling to orthodox practices and how we take pride if our family rules out an important custom in favour of something more practical, but obseving tradition is so important to Indian families here.

We are letting go of our cultural heritage little by little in India while these people here are working so hard to preserve it in their homes and hearts. Its heartening, really.

Well, I hope some of their ways rub onto us and we become a little more Indianized by the end of our stay here :) Bharat mata ki Jai!