Topsy Turvy

Its been almost 2 years since I came into the land of opportunities. Yet, I wonder, what is it that makes thousands of young people leave their home countries? What is it that draws everyone all the way from the Far East to the Western-most land? What makes a foreign country so perfect than the land that you belong to? What is it that makes people all over the world "westernize" and try to adopt "western" styles? Are we moving towards globalization or westernization? I read once that the forefathers of this country founded the new land on grounds of scientific wisdom over ancient superstitions. I believe it is these roots that have sky-rocketed this nouveau group over other ancient civilizations.

But with the huge leaps in technology, mankind has seen another interesting phenomenon. I never realized this until I witnessed it myself - The borderline between culture, race and citizenship. Consider an Indian couple who have settled down in the US for about 20 years. At this point in life, you have a family who are American citizens, the elders have had Indian education with a recently adopted western life and kids who see India as a holiday spot for documentary writers. How would you now view the Indians (by race) who are Americans (by citizenship)? I feel immensely happy when I see American-born Indian kids learning to play classical instruments, classical art, classical dances, etc. Its sad such arts are considered "old-fashioned" and "boring" by the current generations in the very lands where they were founded (count my adolescent counterpart in too). In trying to save ones identity, we try to stick to our cultures while moving to a different lifestyle. The words that we ponder about faced very little difference a few decades ago.. Regardless of where we live or where we have settled down, we are and will be always identified by our roots - not in terms of religion and caste, but, by culture and traditions. While the migrated crowd is doing its best, it is essential that we (the so-called modern youngsters who turned to the West) attempt to understand and pass on our true identities too...