how western are we..

Recently I was at a spiritual function and met many people and as it was a 3 day long fuction I also made some really sweet friends both old and young.. Actually ever since I have come to berlin I guess this is the first time I met people who were really sweet and extra friendly..

Well so sometime during the function  all of us had to stand in a Que for tokens for dharshan, a few more came after me and an old man came too, I let the old man stand in front of me and he gave me 1 big smile and a surprised look and says ‘politeness..!! you are from India..!!’ I smiled back and proudly said ‘yes’..

The function went on till the late hours of night.. Daya a 50 year old lady also a friend of mine was sitting alone, I went sat by her and was talking to her, she said, she was tired and could not wait any longer till her token number approached., I suggested we exchange tokens as mine was soon approaching, she was overwhlemed and took my token and her eyes filled with tears and as she took it from me. After her dharshan she came back to me and hugged and kissed me again..

""Are we too polite and caring and warm or are they not used to this kind of treatment.."" i wondered..

Later again on the same day, another lady who was talking to me asked me what I was doing here in Berlin and if I would ever go back to India.. i said, I will definitely keep visiting, cause my husband and parents live there.. And she was quite surprised, that I was eager to visit my parents she was more suprised when i told her i talk to them everyday..  She said, ‘Parents and children here, have a gap between them.. Children are looked after and loved and cared for and provided for, until they are old enough to leave home and go., and then they are by themselves.. even if you live in the neighboring city or town you never visit your parents ever again.. except maybe once in a year during Christmas or some family gathering or a wedding etc etc..’ (most families)

She also told me., ‘soon we will also become that way, it will all stop, all the love and affection will go away, money would become our priority and that children would drift away from their parents physically and emotionally..’

Earning a living, wanting to live life King size, being ambitious, all these have always been there in India and among us, but that has never changed the way we look up to our parents and the way we bond even after we get old and drift away in kilometers.. and I know it will never change,  not for me..