Why Old India doesn't stand a chance.
I went for lunch yesterday at a friends place, and on the way back, which was a bit of distance I was thinking about my life and what we had done through the eyes of the traditional Indian. So often we worry about God and his judgement, that we forget the judgement people make on people like us.
The days when boys and girls don't talk to eachother are gone. A person's gender has become irrelevant these days, and more importantly, amongst the younger generation, we question why gender was ever an issue.
I know the answer to that, because when I came of age my aunt said this, " Now that you're a big girl, you can't talk to boys anymore. Talking to them can get you pregnant."
I laugh now, I laughed then, because I knew better. At ten, I could disbelieve the thoughts that someone much older to me had held their whole lives. And after having had lunch with a mixed group, with boys and girls, two couples holding hands, sitting on eachother's laps, at a friends home, with her folks around, I laugh even louder at the thought.
And then came the alcohol, don't get me wrong, we don't all drink in the afternoon. But we can have fruity wine with some vodka & apples for lunch, can't we? The old India used to say, that drinking was bad. It resulted in wife beaters, men passed out on street corners, harlem women drank with their consorts & clients. Ofcourse, the more scientifically oriented claimed that it was bad for your health, resulting it vomit infused with blood (popularised by movies of the time) and the more politically motivated claimed it was pro-colonialism for aping the ways of the white man. They claimed alcohol was foreign to the Indian pallette & the religious men said and still say, the Gods forbade it.
But we thought nothing of it, while we scooped the fruity wine and made plans to get more alcohol for later. So we did, and we all sat around the table and over a game of taboo, laughed and made fun of the choices of sentences:
"This is the person that you would take to court with you to help you win the case"
Someone yells, "CRIMINAL!"
And drank somemore wine, and some switched to whisky & brandy. And then the evening ended, I got a lift half way to my place. Old India would've frowned, at the thought of a boy and a girl on a bike together. We spoke on the way, of the previous jobs we'd held, and the Visa this boy was going to apply for, because he wanted to leave the country. And then he dropped me.
And walking to get to the nearest auto stand, at eight thirty pm, I had Old India in my face. A car slowed down, honking. I guess that's a message for solicitation, and I suppose me sticking out my middle finger at him disappointed him. And then came the truck drivers, following me, honking away to glory even though I was on the footpath. Some other passing vehicle yelled something out, and just when I was going to stick it to the truck driver, I got an auto.
Ever the hero in these situations, the auto driver doubled the normal meter charge, and I accepted. Old India would have considered this whole day unfortunate, girls should be home before sun down, or accompanied by a male member of the household when it gets late. These are the consequences of a delinquent girl.
Young India just thinks we need to stick it to them, and more importantly, that they need to get cars so that they can keep creeps away. Or have more cops around to wipe these drools off the face of India.
And that is why, folks, we don't stand a chance. The end to Old India is coming, and I know to many this will strike fear, for many this is just the life of one person. But my demographic cannot be ignored, the rising middle-upper class India, and a person representative of the age that 70% of this country is.
So I guess, it's time to Embrace the change, all.
The days when boys and girls don't talk to eachother are gone. A person's gender has become irrelevant these days, and more importantly, amongst the younger generation, we question why gender was ever an issue.
I know the answer to that, because when I came of age my aunt said this, " Now that you're a big girl, you can't talk to boys anymore. Talking to them can get you pregnant."
I laugh now, I laughed then, because I knew better. At ten, I could disbelieve the thoughts that someone much older to me had held their whole lives. And after having had lunch with a mixed group, with boys and girls, two couples holding hands, sitting on eachother's laps, at a friends home, with her folks around, I laugh even louder at the thought.
And then came the alcohol, don't get me wrong, we don't all drink in the afternoon. But we can have fruity wine with some vodka & apples for lunch, can't we? The old India used to say, that drinking was bad. It resulted in wife beaters, men passed out on street corners, harlem women drank with their consorts & clients. Ofcourse, the more scientifically oriented claimed that it was bad for your health, resulting it vomit infused with blood (popularised by movies of the time) and the more politically motivated claimed it was pro-colonialism for aping the ways of the white man. They claimed alcohol was foreign to the Indian pallette & the religious men said and still say, the Gods forbade it.
But we thought nothing of it, while we scooped the fruity wine and made plans to get more alcohol for later. So we did, and we all sat around the table and over a game of taboo, laughed and made fun of the choices of sentences:
"This is the person that you would take to court with you to help you win the case"
Someone yells, "CRIMINAL!"
And drank somemore wine, and some switched to whisky & brandy. And then the evening ended, I got a lift half way to my place. Old India would've frowned, at the thought of a boy and a girl on a bike together. We spoke on the way, of the previous jobs we'd held, and the Visa this boy was going to apply for, because he wanted to leave the country. And then he dropped me.
And walking to get to the nearest auto stand, at eight thirty pm, I had Old India in my face. A car slowed down, honking. I guess that's a message for solicitation, and I suppose me sticking out my middle finger at him disappointed him. And then came the truck drivers, following me, honking away to glory even though I was on the footpath. Some other passing vehicle yelled something out, and just when I was going to stick it to the truck driver, I got an auto.
Ever the hero in these situations, the auto driver doubled the normal meter charge, and I accepted. Old India would have considered this whole day unfortunate, girls should be home before sun down, or accompanied by a male member of the household when it gets late. These are the consequences of a delinquent girl.
Young India just thinks we need to stick it to them, and more importantly, that they need to get cars so that they can keep creeps away. Or have more cops around to wipe these drools off the face of India.
And that is why, folks, we don't stand a chance. The end to Old India is coming, and I know to many this will strike fear, for many this is just the life of one person. But my demographic cannot be ignored, the rising middle-upper class India, and a person representative of the age that 70% of this country is.
So I guess, it's time to Embrace the change, all.
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'times they're a changin'