Culture in Dream Land

It has been more than an year since I landed in the "Land of Dreams". I know people who can complain, go on and on about getting snubbed, flaws in American culture etc. Surprisingly, I have mostly good things to say. Unlike Many. USA is a wonderful nation. HANDS DOWN.

Yes, I have had my share of snubs here and there for being an alien. But in general, I have found people to be extremely affable, courteous and helpful. Be it a group of young girls helping me find my apartment when I "got lost" in Boulder, first day I reached there. Or group of guys and gals calling us over for the party in their house [ I had a forgetful time though because of my phobia for dogs :D ]. Or should I mention the American Professor who paid money for my Grad Assistance from his own hands and waited for one month for project funding to replenish the paid money. I can go on and on. Perhaps, I tie up good experiences with Americanism and who criticize do the opposite.

A few days back, I and my friend came across a group of Indians in local bus. They were shouting at the top of their voices in their local language. I and my friend felt like giving them a piece of our mind for shouting. Wonder what an American has to say about it. Hell no, if he does, its racism. I have seen group of Indians sing Hindi Song loudly in chorus in local bus like they have hired it. Then, there are guys who dont tip, though they know its the culture here. The list unravels endlessly and can get uglier but then criticizing what we do is not the point. Neither am I saying I am perfect. I have been dumb lots of times but at-least cant we avoid when we know we are not right ? We are the representatives of our nation. For an American, an Indian is what he comes across in a bus or during pizza delivery or in a saloon or the likes. Isn't the onus on us to give a good account of ourselves ? If we sow wheat, we cant eat lobsters.

Coming to American culture. Like in any culture, they have things which are good, things which are bad and things which we perceive to be bad because its bad in our culture. Its all about how one looks at things probably. Whats crowd in a bus is atmosphere in a disco. Almost.

I am amazed by how much Americans trust people and how courteous they are. Like it goes in a famous war-time movie, Americans are extremely proud people. They are extremely passionate about THEIR sports. A stadium with a capacity of more than 100,000 to just host university soccer games [ which would be mostly full capacity]. Their celebration of Christmas, revelry during weekends are mind-blowing. The list can be endless. Culture too, like Beauty, probably lies in the eyes of the beholder.

It amazes me when Indians complain about racism, cultural flaws etc. We Indians are some of the worst discriminators. We discriminate on the basis of language, religion, caste, status, race and list goes on. And then here we come and complain about apparent discrimination in an alien land. Speak about animal rights petition by mass murderers. Speak about discrimination complaints by Indians !!

Make no mistake, I am not a big follower of Americanism. I am too much of an Indian for that. But then, every coin has two sides. I am not calling "for the head". Pun intended.