Ever heard words like, "Hindi movies!!! Oh man! I rather prefer watching none".. or "Indian Classical?? Only western rock is what rocks!!" Well, I have, and it pains my heart to see that the people who speak this are none other than my own mates, my pals.. I find it rather scary to hear such stuff coming from an Indian, more so, a youngster.
Our country is a beautiful place. Every country has two sides to its coin. Perhaps we choose to overlook the positive side in our coin? Such great diversity and merger of so many cultures, languages, arts, people. We all seem to accept it now, maybe. But what about our ethics and values?? Old habits which hinder progress should of course be put to a stop. But what about those, which make us unique? Those, which give us our identity? Those, which today seem to be old and forgotten and restricted??
Our life is greatly influenced by Western life, thanks to the media. But how much are we going to let it affect us? The matter now is not just restricted to dressing sense, which needs to change with time. I mean to point out the more influential and deciding factor, our mind. Most of us blindly appreciate the West but never give a thought to our own motherland. Why, even in T.V. serials, we see women wearing saris in the ultimate way it isn’t supposed to be worn! What is that is making us this way? Is it our dislike for ourselves, or the very little confidence we have in ourselves???? Time changes behaviour, thinking, lifestyle and more... but by how much??
And why is it that we refuse to see the other side of the west? Why is it that we expect our parents to take care of us like Indian parents even when we cross twenty but refuse to let them know what happens in our life like the Americans? Why don’t we earn our living like they do when they are barely teenagers? Why is it that we refuse to acknowledge the good qualities they have adapted in themselves?
There are so many of us who readily follow the West? But how many of us follow punctuality?
How many of us respect others rights? How many of us follow laws laid down for us? How many of us are hard working people who love their work? How many of us accept their responsibilities and fulfill them?? When will we quit being lazy? When will we learn to respect what is ours and how much it has given us??
While the West is now turning their attention towards the Indian culture and is awed by it, we ourselves wish to become even more western than the West!!
So this is a pleading request to all the youngsters to respect their own country first and then look at others. Because if we want our country to be a Superpower, it’s up to us to make India shine around the globe by loving and nurturing it, and not by following the unimportant values of others.
