Non-Resident Indian parents

I've already spoken about the problems faced by Indians in completely adapting to a culture due to ideology conflicts. The height of that, I'd say is the way Non-Resident Indian parents bring up their kids.

Americans bring up their kids in a totally different fashion. The syllabus is limited and the elective concept is brought in at very early stages of their curriculum. Parents hardly shout at their kids and even when committing mistakes, kids will not be reprimanded. Indian education traditionally has been of high standards and until the child comes to an age where s/he can decide what is needed and what is not, choices are not provided. In the recent past, things have become tougher with parents forcing their kids to excel not only in education but in extra/co-curricular activities too. An average Indian parent would say his/her child should rank first in the state, play cricket like Tendulkar, chess like Viswanathan Anand, sing like SPB/Chitra as the case may be and be an obedient son/daughter. Somehow the concept of normal distribution and the fact that there is just one first place is not getting into their heads.

So how do Indian parents manage in a completely different setup? It's real fun to watch them discuss child care among themselves. "Rahul has turned 3 and counts better than the American kids. I don't know if it's good or bad", "The culture here is too different and kids need their liberty here", "Araksha (don't ask me if it is a name... Hard sounding, short Sanskrit names are fashion today) is not talking well these days... I guess we should change the day-care" are some of the most popular dialogs in the list. With no elders to guide them, with no idea on child care, folks who are are not even 30 and filled with confusion pretend to be real mature adults and the consequences become obvious. With their Indian minds not getting generous enough to accept the American culture and the American society not allowing them to think of any other option, Indian parents always stand on a thin red line when it comes to bringing up their children especially when it comes to girls.

Indian society today might be too fast for an average kid and comparisons have always been the heritage of Indian parents. Nevertheless Indian way of bringing up kids in my opinion scores better than the American way in that kids are exposed to a lot of things at least by force and the family embosses culture and tradition into the kid's mind. As Chanakya rightly says, a kid under 5 years is to be treated like a darling, a kid between 5 and 10 is to be scolded when they commit mistakes and when the kid turns sixteen, s/he should be treated like a friend. That is when a balance between value and freedom will be established.