living the best . The indian-american life.
For many Asian/Indian Americans, emigration was thought prestigious. Although it is said that they left for financial reasons, they also left their home country for social, professional and educational opportunities.
Financially, a professional working in the United States could make more than double their annual income in India. The conversion of capital from dollar to rupees combined with the desire to support family members in India financially made emigration attractive. Professionally, bureaucratic rules, bribes, and unfavorable working conditions hindered largely sought after career advancement. Moreover, Asian-Indians have placed a great emphasis on foreign education. The colonial authority of the British Raj engrained in the Indian mentality that foreign education is better than indigenous training. Personally, I think the identity of an Indian- American allows an individual to get a good amalgam of culture and opportunities. I’ve noticed friends from both first and second generations who are knowledgeable of myriad rituals and ethnic practices in India, sometimes even more. My friend from college told me that he still recites shlokas on a weekly basis. |
I was definitely astonished as soon as he mentioned that because the tradition of shloka recitals has faded from many families in India. I appreciated how habits are largely influenced from your upbringing regardless of where you live. Analogously, the same applies for dance. Most of my Indian friends who are brought in America learnt Bharatanatyam!
An important contribution to this brilliant mix for my friends is parents. Having fled from India, they instill a sense of belief and history among their children with respect to India and family. Parents exposed their children to those subcultures through functions hosted by these organizations and within the home. The second-generation Indian-American assumed the culture of both their parents and the larger American culture that surrounds them. The compartments that arise from the cultural clash force the second-generation to pick one culture over the other giving rise to a distinct set of bicultural Indian-American values that will be passed to the third generation. The value system and culture of the second generation is still unclear. Determining the value system that of the third generation is mere speculation. |