Writing to you from the James Bond Room at My Caffee Latte, early on Monday morning. It is still Sunday back in the US.
One observation about India - it is being influenced by American culture about as much as America is being impacted by Indian culture.
As I stated, I am in The James Bond Room at a coffe house in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. That alone says a great deal.
People in the US are doing yoga in droves. Indian restaurants and food are growing quickly in the US. People with eclectic spiritual worldviews are including Indian beliefs and incense and chanting of Om in their self-concocted rituals.
Conversely, people in India are doing more aerobics, jogging and lifting weights. American restaurants and food are growing quickly in India. And more people are becoming Christians here in India than at any point in Indian history.
Admittedly, most people on both sides are largely unimpacted by this culture fusion. Let us call them The Unfusioned. I think there are many Indians who still live a deeply Indian existence, and many Americans who live a deeply American existence and know, or care, little about each other. Which is fine.
Then there are those who dabble from afar in the culture of the other. Let us call them The Dabblers. As I sit here in The James Bond Room, there is some young couple in the corner watching rap videos, developing an image of the US that isn't exactly the life most people know back there. To them, America is a bit blacker, more slick, highly sexualized, and filled with nice cars and scantily clad women. So, there is a bit of a misunderstood fusion taking place amongst some Dabblers.
Finally, there are those of us who jump in and actually go to the other country. Let us call them The Jumpers. Needless to say, there are more people from India going to places like the US than the inverse.... but there are several people here who are extending their stay because their economic and job stability prospects are better here in India than back in the US or Europe. Put that in your pipe and smoke it! A mere twenty years who would have ever thought anyone would be saying *that*?
As far as The Dabblers, a few observations.... the yoga classes in the US emphasize things that are so natural in India that it becomes a bit contrived when seen through an Indian lens. For example, we learned that many yoga classes in the US begin and end with a group "Namaste" and some gentle humming. This is totally fine, of course. But Tara made the point that this wouldn't happen in India because it is the equivalent of a group exercise class starting with everyone saying a collective "Hello!" and finishing with a group "Good bye!".
Additionally, there is a myth about India of being a spiritual country with placid people and beautiful vistas and exotic customs and aromatic foods..... and while there is some truth in this, the India that exists in reality is something other than the idealized scenes that we in the West put into our heads.
So, was Kipling wrong? He said, "East is East, West is West and Never the Twain Shall Meet."
I am pretty sure Kipling saw very little of what was coming in this era we live in. The East and West have definitely met, and neither will ever be the same. It is interesting to see people here who think they depict America in their mannerism, habits and language - and end up being something other than American. Conversely, Americans who get chakra tattoos, burn incense incessantly, and generally idealize all things Indian look a little silly. So, an authentic merger of cultures is not what is happening. In some ways, The Dabblers are a bit of a silly parody of the other culture. I find The Unfusioned and The Jumpers to be the most authentic people in what is happening now.
Anyway, it's all interesting. I am sure there is more to write on this subject, maybe I'll find time amidst the blaze of work I am experiencing!
Go Steelers!
