While I have visited Mumbai several times over the years, my most recent visits in 2011 and in 2014 were probably the most surprising. Physically, Mumbai was the same as it has always been — sultry to the point where you’re desperately seeking for a fan within five minutes of stepping outside, roads so narrow yet somehow still two-lane, bustling at all times of day — however, culturally, it couldn’t be any more different. All the sudden, all my cousins would prefer to listen to songs trending on the Billboard top 100 (as supposed to Bollywood). Clubbing, smoking marijuana, and drinking underage was the typical night out. Speaking in American English became a sign of being educated and popular. All of the sudden, Mumbai went from a city that was only vaguely aware of American trends to one that was emulating the US more and more, day by day.
And this trend has been documented far beyond my own observations. Indian media and pop culture, which has normally been dominated by Bollywood and cookie-cutter television dramas, now come to develop is now developing a whole new line of American-influenced media that appeals to the youth in particular. Today, India has one of the fastest growing comedy and stand-up scenes in the world, with several comedy groups such as All India Bakchod (AIB), East India Comedy (EIC), and The Viral Fever (TVF), all of who emulate shows such as SNL and The Daily Show in their sketches. Each has risen to fame on social media and television in recent years.
In addition, Western merchandise and brands, such as Starbucks, Zara, and Netflix, who never used to distribute in India, now have opened up shop there due to the overwhelming demand for them.
I have to admit, part of me could get used to this trend of Americanization. For the longest time, whenever I went to Mumbai, I was that outsider. That American. I wore brands of clothing my cousins only wished they could have. I ate bagels on a normal basis. I watched kid shows such as Suite Life of Zack and Cody and Avatar: The Last Airbender which no one has ever heard of. But now, the same merchandise and services Americans mass consume are the same ones people in India consume, and therefore, the common ground I tried so hard to have with my family is finally achievable.
However, globalization also often leads to the loss of cultural diversity, which, in many ways, is disappointing and even frightening. Take language for example. During my parent’s generation, English was a language that was almost exclusively reserved for school. Otherwise, Hindi was the everyday language to speak. However, today, Mumbai’s youth tend to speak in exclusively English or some Hindi/English hybrid. But at least, Hindi is still well and alive in most of India. Regional languages, on the other hand, are dying out even faster (honestly, who speaks Marwari anymore?).
And the same goes for religion. As kids, eating Jain food in India (no onions, no potatoes, no carrots….the list of root vegetables goes on [1])was expected from all of us, but as we grew up and had the ability to make decisions for ourselves, many of us gave up those customs and started to eat all the root vegetables we wanted. Many of us don’t even fast during holidays anymore and try to avoid going to the temple as much as possible. It’s devastating to see that in many instances, it’s the generic American stereotypes (like not being religious in order to be considered modern) instead of actual American values (independence, optimism,etc.) that are influencing people around the world and is ultimately threatening cultural identities.
Without our traditions, religion, and language, who are we? What will this world become if our cultures are becoming more and more homogenized as time goes on? What will our children grow up learning? Will they even identify themselves as Indian or as Americans with some distant Indian ancestry? How can we prevent a part of our culture, our identity, from being lost forever?
These questions have disappointing answers, unless we as a generation make it a point to keep our culture alive. Therefore, while globalization and understanding other cultures is not a bad thing at all, that doesn’t mean that we must give up who we are in the process. Being a person who is adamant about traditions isn’t something to be ashamed of or something to change, but instead something to embrace, and in fact, it’s time we have more of that in our world.
Feature photo credit: Originally uploaded by FuzzyMachineGuns on Deviantart
[1] In Jainism, we believe in minimizing the amount of harm to impose on other species of life- and that includes the harm we impose on microorganisms. Scientifically, root vegetables such as potatoes and onions have disproportionately more microorganisms living on it that other vegtables would. Thus, we avoid eating such vegetables.
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