Reveling in the comforts of a developed country? Not me!

Me: Are you going to India for vacation?
X: No.
Me: Will you go during June holidays?
X: No, it will be too hot there. There will be power cuts and my child isn’t used to power cuts!

It is conversations like these that always reminds me how even after moving away from India, my views and wishes have just not changed and how my husband and I continue to let our children remain strongly rooted in our Indian values, culture and lifestyle and want them to be exposed to what others perceive as ‘hardships’ in a developing country like ours. Strangely, these others are people from our very own country. These are the people who have not just lost themselves in the comforts offered by a developed nation and are absolutely enjoying it, but they don’t even want to expose their children to the current status in our country.

I will not deny that I am not enjoying all the comforts from clean drinking water which you can drink straight from the tap to uninterrupted power supply to high-speed uninterrupted Internet (How essential has this become!). Yes, the city is super clean at all times. But, in the larger scheme of life, these just don’t matter. It is the people who surround us who make our life what it is. It doesn’t matter whether there is a power failure or not when you have the strength and support of your family and friends with you and you are in the comfort zone in your own native.

Before you start reminding me that I also don’t stay in my country anymore, yes, I don’t stay there now. Work, career, studies and marriage have brought so many of us away from our country. But, my heart remains deep-rooted in India or, to be precise, in Madras and I, for one, will never really miss these comforts of a developed nation which are still a luxury in our own country, if and when I move back to India for good.

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