We all have point of views some of us are conservative, moderate or liberal. No I am not talking about affiliation with Democrats, Republicans or Tea Party, Intent here is to discuss our Indian values set of values that we were brought up with. No matter how diverse we are as a country but the common bond is the set of values we all grew up with. Parents learned from their parents, passed on with generations.
Even our scriptures teach us the same.. be it Hindu Ramayana, or Buddhist, Jain or Sikh. They all have common thread. So what are those values? We all practice them on daily basis. Tyaga (renunciation), dana (liberal giving), nishtha (dedication), satya (truth), ahimsa (non-violence) and upeksha (forbearance) are the foundations for the Indian values system. Then there is some more which we all practice here in US or anywhere in the world and of course there are exceptions.
Respect for parents and Elders: In most cases you will see that children have high respect for their parents and elders. Even when they grow up the respect always stays. Also, children take care of their parents till their last. Most of the time I address any elders with “auntyji” or “uncleji”. If I don’t know the person with “sir” or “Ms” or “ Mr”. Difficult to address them with first name basis.
Family orientation: Indians will have very close knit family. Nowadays it is difficult to have joint families, but in early days having a joint family was a matter of pride. I am sure we have this situation where a “distant” relative or friend’s relative is visiting USA and they have stayed at your house. We all do that out of respect. Accommodate and put up with them.
Sacrifice and adjustment: Most Indians are known for their adjusting nature. They are not rigid and in most cases, they put others before themselves. I see this day in day out where they will make sure the guest is comfortable, parents making sacrifices to make sure their child get the best of what they want. Making everyday sacrifices so that their child have a bright future.
Importance to Education: Education is probably the most important thing for parents about their children. Parents sacrifice their career and savings to give children better education. Lot of Indian kids making into American universities, where families have taken education loans to send them to best educational institutions and making it big in life.
Trust in Institution of Marriage: In India more than 70 % are arranged marriages and divorce rate is less than 3%. This only goes to show that husband and wife make adjustments and go to lengths to ensure that marriage is successful. We know all about arrange marriages or love became arranged marriage. It was important for us to seek family approval because that is one of our values. We cannot be alone without the family.
As a first generation here my focus is to instill my kids with all the values and give them a strong background as we had. Is it wrong to do so. The values we grew up are the sole reason for our success here. I have seen some “desi” friends who are too quick to criticize us. I always wonder why, what went wrong. Or seen some who abandon their Indian values and jump on to “firang” boats. They claim its restricting and obliterating their lifestyle, feel sorry for such people, they look lost and have forgotten their identity. Sorry I am not a hardliner but a proud Indian who is proud of her Indian heritage and values.
So which Indian are you conservative/traditional who follow your Indian values to the core? Or a moderate who is adapting as well as following new values or a liberal who know what values are their but change per their lifestyle. Please comment @http://iamhindu-mani.blogspot.com/
