Tag Archive | "desi parents"
A Day in Our Lives – With Indian Inlaws
In a short few days the only hope I'll have in the blearly mornings is that it might just be Bagel Monday in the office. When I crawl out of my sleep coma, you see, sophisticated details like which day of the week it is are completely beyond me - any day could be Bagel Monday. My primitave mind is only concerned with two things: getting our dogs, Kajol & Panda to shut up and stop wrestling on my larynx and/or bladder, and what sustenance awaits me that might be a good enough incentive to get out of bed. This past month, though, Bagel Monday has diminished in significance, and glorious 20 Ounces of Ginger Tea Everyday (With Biscuits!) has replaced it as my main morning motivator. I love it when my in-laws are staying with us. Note that I didn't say visiting us - that would imply that Aditya's parents are house guests while they're here, while, as Baba says, it's their home too. Granted, our daily life changes some when Maa and Baba are here in Washington DC, the morning tea being just one example, but the changes are more minor than many people who hear my in-laws are in-town would expect. Since we're coming to the close of Maa & Baba's second extended stay out here (they were here last year in the late summer, and will be visiting once more this year), I thought that it'd be good time to write about the "typical day" in our household while Aditya's parents are here.
Continue reading...Arranged Marriages and Intercultural Relationships
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Aditya, my husband, shares a few thoughts about - in his words - "Indian men being 'forced' into arranged marriages" in his inaugural guest post. Having grown up in a relatively conservative family in India, I can understand the friction that can occur often between "the younger generation" and "traditional family"... and I especially sympathize with nice people like some of the readers here - or their partners - who suffer from the drudgery that often characterizes communications between these two groups. However, for the most part I think the blame for the difficult relations between Indian parents and their adult children lies squarely on the "younger generation" -of which I am a part. I think that most issues root from a tendency amongst Indian men and women (but I'm speaking to the guys mainly, since I am one) to refuse to engage their parents in a responsible and adult manner. I've been reading over Gori's shoulder as she delves back into the intercultural blogosphere, and some of the posts out there - such as The ties that bind by Elizabeth or the responding comment by Jessica, author of the blog Coffee and Tea, and, frankly, I cannot fathom how Elizabeth or Jessica's partners can, with a clear conscience, claim that an arranged marriage situation is somehow out of their control.
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Tuesday, July 7, 2009
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