Indian Living in America: That would be me.
Indian Living in India: That would be my mother.
We both lived very different childhoods. I have one little sister. My mom had 6 other siblings. It's normal to have this many children because you need them to do things around the house or even help out with the family business, like a plantation. If you didn't have money for this many kids, you would absolutely find a way. I am confident when I say I have not worked as hard in my life as my mom has. In India, the children are taught to do chores, which is typical in America, too. But in India, the girls need to learn how to cook, take care of each other, go to school and pray. My mom used to tell me how her mother woke all of her children up at 5 a.m. to pray together and then they would all walk to school. Here, I would wake up as late as possible and my dad would drive me to school. He would also pack lunch for me. My grandma had to pack lunches for 7 children, and times were hard. She wasn't able to pack as much as she would like, but she did make sure her kids ate, even if it didn't fill their stomachs.
I'm only 21. But by the time my mom was 23, she married my dad. They moved to America and my mom was required to know how to cook for her little family. I only started learning how to cook my sophomore year of college because I had a kitchen and no meal plan. I find cooking fun and only know how to make easy dishes. My mom could make a whole Indian restaurant menu of food when she was my age. Trust me, she reminds me of this every weekend. She tells me I'm never going to find a husband if I don't learn how to cook REAL food.
My parents don't even try to raise my sister and I like their parents did. It has to be because America is way too different from India. I always see that saying "the stricter the parents, the sneakier the kids." As an Indian, I know this is true. There are a lot of strict parents that I know, and I also know the crazy things their kids do. My parents aren't really that strict because I think they realize this. In India, the parents are strict and the kids follow what they say because they have no other choice. In America, kids can call the cops on their parents. Ha. That does not go AT ALL in India. It's either the parents way or no way. Plus it's normal to get beat by your parents. Maybe that's why the kids always do as their parents say?
I hope I can raise my children like my parents did. I would tweak some things (like how my parents don't like us talking to boys). Maybe make my kids work a little harder. But overall, I would try to follow a lot of the things they did.
Being able to see your life versus your mother's is a nice depiction of the differences between America and India. You include your own personal stories with what you've learned by comparing them to your mother's life. Great post!
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job, educating us about the two different lives you and your mother had growing up. It was nice of you to open up to the class about a personal experience like this. Myself, I came from another country and I could see the differences between them. The people, the environment where is so diverse and the most crucial one lifestyle. I was lucky enough that my parents came to this country with the solely purpose to give me a better lifestyle and opportunities. Those opportunities that they never had growing up. You clearly gave those same examples by explaining them very well. Good job, keep up the good writing.
ReplyDeleteSherin, You did a great job with this piece. It was actually something that I was able to relate to growing up in a different country also and then moving to America as a child and being brought up a different way than I was us to. I like the fact that you used personalized examples, it enables the reader to create a vidid clear picture about your life in India and America. This is a blog pice that i'd like to continue reading in order to learn more about the Indian lifestyle. Overall, great job.
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