Atlanta Dunia

It=92s an often bandied about term, = supposed to evoke=20 feelings of nationalism and heightened emotions about the motherland. We = spoke=20 to a few families to gauge what culture signifies to them.

This = is a=20 debatable topic, if not a right down contentious one. Culture, that all=20 encompassing term which embraces values, cuisine, clothing and feeling = evokes=20 different emotions in the expat.

Mr. Krishnan &=20 family

For the first generation Indian abroad, it is knowledge, belief, = customs,=20 art, and morals rolled into one, touched by the indelible scent of home = across=20 the oceans. For the second generation born and brought up in the US, it = spells=20 just a way of practices often manifested in the myriad rituals and = festivals we=20 follow.
Between the two generations, the sparks fly too, on occasion. = Particularly when =91culture=92 comes in the way of late nights, friends = and=20 dressing. The cross section of families we spoke to, however, seems to = have=20 struck the right balance between both worlds, barring of course, the = rare point=20 of difference between generations.
The lack of privacy in an Indian = home and=20 the often lop sided treatment of women in Indian milieus is what rankles = Smitha=20 Krishan, a second generation Indian majoring in Biology at the GA State=20 University and aiming to be a dentist, Atlanta. For the elders, though, = culture=20 means a host of different things. While Sesikala, a software = professional at a=20 financial firm in Alpharetta, believes that culture is the glue that = holds=20 Indian families together, she also believes that culture is =93not just = about=20 clothes and the appearance of the person, but is in his values and his = respect=20 for others.=94


Sesikala	Saikrishna

For Sesikala=92s son Saikrishna, a 6th grader, the most appealing = aspect about=20 Indian culture is how =93we celebrate sacred days, and holidays, like = Diwali=20 together as one big family. They allow you to spend spare time, and = enjoy with=20 your family.=94 Agrees Smitha, =93Parents and their children are = expected to be so=20 much closer to each other than =93western=94 = culture.=94

Bhavan Mathur, a=20 18 year old Senior(12th Grader), puts his finger on Gen Next=92s grouse = in a mixed=20 culture milieu. =93Parents don=92t trust their children, as much as any = American=20 parent does,=94he points out.=20

Mr.Sunil Mathur & = son Bhawan=20 Mathur

For the Mathurs who shifted to the US after several years in Mumbai, = it has=20 not been a major culture shift as the family values were well grounded = in the=20 next generation, though. Bhavan=92s father, Mr. Sunil Mathur, a business = man=20 running a few drycleaner stores , says he did not really dwell upon = =91culture=92=20 and its implications before moving to the US, =93Culture is a = combination of food,=20 clothes, life style and custom. It varies from place to place & time = to=20 time.=94

While several of second generation Indians do not = seem to have=20 thought deeply on culture and its facets, there are a few with = articulate views.=20 =93I feel that people who are culturally Indians are people who are = proud of India=20 and what She has to offer to the world,=94 asserts 16 year old Aravind, = Smitha=92s=20 brother, a 10th grader.

Disagreeing strongly with the = predominant view=20 that Indian culture helps relationships in the long term, Aravind says = it=92s a=20 person=92s morals that matter more, no matter what their background. = =93One of the=20 things I have learnt in this country is to accept people for what they = believe=20 and who they are. Not the color of their skin or their nationality,=94 = he=20 opines.

On the other hand, Mr .E.S. Krishnan (father of Smitha &=20 Aravind), a software engineer, who says he = too did=20 not dwell on the impact of culture when he shifted to the US with dreams = of a=20 better income and a better life, says he has learnt not to judge others = based on=20 appearance or job, not to impose his values on others and accept their = values,=20 after shifting. =93Being in USA, I did not have to make lots of = adjustments myself=20 because of the relative freedom. Even then, I do miss large festivals, = marriage=20 occasions, family gatherings, roadside = activities=85.=94

Palpably, the term=20 =91culture=92 has different connotations for the two generations. For = Krishnan=92s=20 children, who have friends from several countries and wear Indian = clothes=20 because they =93love to, not because it defines culture=94, it is Indian = books that=20 have imparted much knowledge about Hindu culture, rather than Indian = movies,=20 most of which they claim, are soppy love stories.

Smitha, who = says she=20 does discuss =91culture=92 sometimes with her friends, says, =93I = suppose some friends=20 are far more into one =93culture=94 than the other. Some favor one over = the other=20 and I mix both of them the way I see fit.=94

It may be a tight = rope walk=20 for the first generations, who strive to keep the Indianness intact in = their=20 lives, but most Indian families we spoke to have achieved that fine = balance.=20 Krishnan, who says commitment and responsibility to family, respect to = elders=20 and education, and caring about others above self have helped him score = in a=20 multicultural society, echoes the feelings of his children when he talks = about=20 respect for other cultures. While son Aravind argues, =93Can fries be = considered a=20 part of =91American culture=92? Or can rioting over religion be = considered Indian=20 culture?=94, his daughter Smitha laughs that talking about =91culture=92 = makes her=20 sound like a whiny ABCD.

Nevertheless, even if the oft obscure = term=20 =91culture=92 means a myriad things to many, the essence lingers. Not in = Bollywood=20 inspired costumes, home made chutneys and the latest Hindi blockbuster = in town.=20 But in the values that have been ingrained with painstaking love and = care, and=20 which continue to be handed down with each successive=20 generation.