Disclaimer: Trust me this is not about the previous post of mine... I admire the woman for doing what she did and I would love to do that one day if I could... but this is about the not so serious ..
There are some things that are fashionable nowadays....
For instance along with Prada, Gucci, Valentino, another thing that is gaining currency as the fashion statement is the Baby ...... and mostly I see men using the baby thing as a way to get more brownie points about their personality.... so I knew of someone who had a picture of his baby on his desk as if it was an award...and a really really silly painting on his wall made by his child...now dont get me wrong... I am sure this guy loved his kid... but somehow seeing so much exhibitionism about his child I started to wonder why he needed to do that.... I mean it is one thing to feel elated about it but another to shove it down somebody else unwilling throat....... now this is also the person who would have picture of "Godfather" on his wall to just appear to be "with it"... you know, things that are popular and hence would increase your status? or maybe I am distrustful of men who appear toooo involved...
The other thing that is gaining currency slowly in India is the "I hate Mumbai (and hence India)" crowd.... now I am one of those vocal opponents of any form of beratement of this city... but I am catastrophic when it comes to criticism from a person who has just shifted into the city... I know foreigners find it tough to live in Mumbai but it is also tough for Indians to start living in the US .... there are cultural differences and it is not easy to adjust to that.... so one common friend asked another friend of mine about how I am doing and when my friend responded that she is looking forward to coming back to India this common friend blurted out "What? Is she crazy? Ask her to find some gora, get married and settle down there". This common friend had shifted into Mumbai 2 years back after living abroad for 5 years .... and ever since he has been lamenting his "misfortune" in coming to Mumbai..... through this trauma I have been quite understanding giving him space to feel good about Mumbai... cos I hated Mumbai too when I first interned there.... but this latest salvo from him offended me at so many levels... firstly assuming that my life abroad is wayyyyy better for me than the life I had and would have .... then assuming that I needed to marry someone to get admission into the States offended me as a woman... I have an education that can get me to some places and I sure as hell dont need a man to bring me better fortune.....and thirdly this common friend was actually judging me for not wanting the same life that he wanted for himself....I am different so does that mean that I am not good???
But this is my question - what prevents me from judging this friend of mine back... I mean should I not judge him because he has shown no respect for the education that India has given him? Should I not judge him for not loving his own country? should I not judge him for the lack of decency in critising somebody else's choices??
Or is it just more "cooler" to say that India sucks...
One thing is for sure - I am not that fashion concious to adopt these latest trends...
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