randomWalks

"nobody i know in india" does yoga?

really?

how many people is that i wonder?

i found that to be a very curious and puzzling comment.

i can dig the questioning of western "orientalist" fetishizing of indian culture & couture, but this one part brought me up short. maybe it's my own warped mindset at work. maybe she's representing a generation gap. i do know that my most beloved and respected yoga teachers studied in india, under indian instructors. and i don't think they had to go hunt them down in a cave somewhere, i think that they were fairly prominent and well-known practitioners. so, i am not sure what it is she's saying about yoga -- that her generation thinks it's corny and old hat? i guess i dig that, if that's what she's saying. all urban trendyness aside, the majority of white bread americans think the yoga is the work of the devil. and i don't think it a bad thing that they get some education in that area.

how many people is that i wonder?

Probably a few more than you know, buddy.

well, yeah.

Jhumpa Lahiri has expressed herself as an indian girl, writing about indian culture through her eyes. Growing up in America is to be both western and eastern at the same time, all the time. It's just who you are...your roots are planted in a country far away, but close enough to you that you take pride in saying where you originated from, while your feet stand on the grounds of a country you call home, and feel comfortable in.

There's nothing wrong with that. Each person from every country in the world who comes to the U.S., and sees a part of their culture manifested in everyday customs here, as in the yoga class, well the reaction is really, "oh..that's interesting.." It doesn't mean it's a negative outlook on it, it just means its interesting to view something you viewed before, differently. As a result, you become "open" to another view, another way at looking at something you thought you were so familiar with. For example, people in India may not practice yoga in the same manner as people in another part of the world, and then again, in some parts of India, they do. Yoga is inculcated into Indian culture in a variety of ways through customs, habits, behavior--greeting people, state of mind, enjoying nature, or conceiving ideas differently. Yoga is a form of being, as it is a form of art in its own right.

Ms. Lahiri's writings reflect a conscientious action to be clear about what she interpreted in India, its customs, beliefs, culture and in essence its people. Her clarity is appreciated, and surprising at the same time. It's also refreshing to read short stories that symbolize the reality of life for some people in another part of the world. Simplicity truly means more rather than less.

Thanks for the opportunity to share. It's through sharing we promote thinking, perhaps tolerance and appreciation of other things, other people, other places, of which we may have not known about before.

Think on this: if you were not originally from the U.S. and came here to settle down, with parents who were steeped in another culture, you too, would have a different outlook in life. Your customs, or culture displayed by your dress, style of makeup, or shoes, or manners, may be quite different. It is only when a person steps into the shoes of another, does that person feel just a bit, what that other person felt like.

Our differences don't always have to be looked at so harshly. We can, and I think we are capable of looking at and thinking of people, as people. The world may be a large place, but seriously, it's such a small world. We are really not that different,when you consider we feel the same, hurt the same way, love the same.

Feelings matter. People matter. Differences don't have to stand in the way.

Understanding is also listening, hearing, feeling, knowing and acknowledging.

-F.Sheikh

I am almost finished reading 'The Namesake.'

It's interesting...having read her interview in the NYT magazine, it's clear that the book is largely autobiographical. I'm not surprised at her comments in the interview, they echo the sentiment of the young characters in her book. I'm sure many 1st generation Indians share her experience. But I know that it hasn't been my experience. I, too, am a first generation Indian but I never felt like an outsider. This is probably due to my parents who were quite liberal and unorthodox in their approach to parenting and life in general. I still don't think there is a writer who has captured my experience--so I continue to feel alienated by Lahiri's and other Indian "diaspora" writers take on the east-west experience. For me these dichotomous distinctions just don't apply or work.