Tag Archive | "expectations"

Intercultural Interviews: Indian Parents’ Perspective (Part One)

Friday, July 10, 2009

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I sat down with Aditya's parents, Maa and Baba, a few nights ago with a list of eight questions to find out their views on American culture and intercultural relationships... and we ended up talking for over an hour, thus necessitating a Part One and a Part Two. Today's portion focuses on the early days: their worries on sending their youngest son, Aditya, to a foreign country, thoughts on American culture, dating, and their first interactions with me.

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Arranged Marriages and Intercultural Relationships

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

121 Comments

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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