The Rat

Once upon a time there lived a rat in a jungle. It got chased by a wild cat and it prayed to God and asked Him to make it a cat to escape the chase. God appeared and poof the rat turned into a cat. Then the cat was chased by the lion and the poor thing prayed to become a lion and God granted its wish again. Few days later the lion got caught in a net and now it was left wishing it was just a rat, so that it could have bitten the net and escaped it.

Nice story huh? Well, after the story I was just left with the idea that we are what we are. There is no denial of the fact. A foreign degree, 3 years in a foreign land and a job in a 20 mile stretch where there is no one from anywhere close to where I live does not change who I am. I still think I am very much Indian and I am so happy to talk in Tamil to a friend over the phone or see some crazy ass Tamil movies.

I think the story also explains why some of the older folks in India do not approve of love marriages. Think of their time. Just as much as talking in Tamil and Tamil movies are important to me, customs and religious practices were important to them. They think that ultimately their kids will also love to have the same stuff around them and so do not approve of love marriages between families from different parts of India or in some crazy cases between Iyers and Iyengars.

But, what parents fail to see is that they have this glass on their eyes through which they see the world and this glass is made out of their experience. I believe they should acknowledge this and try to respect their kid's decision too because they are wearing a glass made out of their experience where religion, customs and practices are no longer so important.

However, there is another point to the rat story. Listen to it my American room mates and my American boss. I am who I am. I dont think I can be the American boyyy anytime. This is exactly why I don't wanna date some random American chic. I am tired of smiling all day at ur silly jokes. So quit teasing me and get back to your work.