I was fascinated when I got a polaroid snap to take home. (See picture above)
That is such a typical exchange in India. We go for a casual visit and come back with more smiles, a full tummy and sometimes, free food to take home.
Here of course, the charming Indian bistro could not give out food that I had not paid a dime for. Instead the staff clicked a polaroid snap of my mother and me.
While India is a hub of love and positive energy, it has a lot more influence of the west.
We all know how western-oriented social media is and yet youngsters have embraced it like it is so basic. Has the rest of the Indian market also embraced social media in equal measure?
Except for a handful of people, the previous generation of Indians feel very comfortable with the influence of the west. Of course there are far too many risks to that today.
While we have accomplished many things by following the western philosophy which has surprisingly borne fruit, it is shocking that some things which happened to be challenges many years ago are still well…challenging!
But it is not anyone’s fault.
I think we all can agree that sometimes we refuse to work on issues which have been clinging to us like glue. And some Indians are like that. The word for them is: Ziddi (stubborn).
It is nearly impossible to start the healing journey for those who have grown up among challenges which nobody could have imagined going through. It is easy to feel completely let down.
These folks have learned the hard skills in life. After having learned the Indian values in life such as looking after one’s family, being responsible and hardworking, planning for the future, so on and so forth, how do we start accepting the western fundamentals of taking life as it comes?
While we have heard that western values such as being independent, self-sufficient financially and emotionally work better in the long run, contemporary (not conservative) Indian values are a breath of fresh air which also seem to be working quite well for locals.
Pursuing creative careers is of course still a challenge. But I’ll tell you exactly how the new Indians are coping.
Indians are still very corporate-oriented. Older Indian brands are vigorously aware that most people tend to work for the old, established companies.
Good companies are providing a good amount of boost to the younger generation by setting an example that the latter can have the best of both Indian and Western values. (but of course, some millennials might see them as caricatures and not give credit to the creativity with which they transcend over both domains of challenges).
This is where the role of social media comes in, as almost everyone is very comfortable with it today.
Social media is the sensible solution for these brands to prepare the younger generation.
Social media keeps us connected to ground realities and problems in the world through news etc., which we can use to our advantage to learn about what we need to change.
Seeing top companies/CEO’s/elite businesses becoming more social-media centric, I feel that the millennials should change their perspective towards social media too, instead of watching idiot content.
I am of the opinion that if you want to become an artist in this country (writer, comedian and so on), then you just have to use social media to boost your creativity and at a later stage, even lay your work out to people on social media. But learning how to distinguish between intelligent and idiot content is very important. After all what use would all that time spent on social media be, if it wasn’t utilised for a purpose?
One day you might be able to say that giving someone your ten cents of advice helped him/her see the world differently and imagine a better future for themselves. Well who knows your feelings might hit home with someone who is going through the same?
And I say do keep your eyes and ears open when someone belittles your Indian values and/or creative process.