Change Things In India Before Becoming American

On Sunday, I read a column on high-heels. Yes, one page in an Indian weekly was wasted over an article about high-heels, which by the way very few people can afford in our country.

Over the years, I have observed that English periodicals have a thing for publishing articles about stuff that most Indians cannot afford. For example, how many people can actually afford to live in a five-star hotel? So why do we have columns dedicated solely to five-star hotels?

And then, there are movies which have absolutely nothing to do with Indian society. Let's take 'Wake Up Sid' as an example. Photography is not a viable career option in India (unfortunately). Why would a girl come to Mumbai from Kolkata to become a writer when there are more magazines and journals published in West Bengal than in Maharashtra? Nobody can buy a cheap flat near Marine Drive. And by the way, nowhere in India do platonic friends live with each other the way Sid and Ayesha did. Evidently, 'Wake Up Sid' is a Hindi movie, but is purely American in its ways.

Truth is, we are slowly detaching ourselves from our society. We are trying to be American, when we are actually Indian. We dream of the freedom that youth in the west already has. We dream of the luxury that most Indians do not have. I actually think this is a good things, but not completely.

Let us try to be Indians for a change. Isn't that better than hanging out at forbidden clubs and then taunting divorced women for not being able to handle relationships? Let us first try to respect people of all professions and not think of domestic servants and sweepers as people who are meant to disappear into the background once they are done serving us. We do respect a waitress' profession when the waitress is played by someone like Julia Roberts. Maybe then we can think about unviable professions like photography and writing. Maybe we should try taking the responsibility that comes with freedom before actually experiencing the perks of freedom. Maybe we should change things in India before becoming pseudo-American.