A couple of days ago ,after shopping at my local grocery store, I was at the checkout counter. After waiting in line for about 25 minutes, and holding a heavy shopping basket, I was just about to have my purchases billed, when a guy cuts in front of me. I asked him what he thought he was doing, and he turns and says to me "Madam I only have one packet of chips." A hard day of work, and a long bus ride later , I was in no mood to be messed with. I asked him what that was supposed to mean to me, and he stared back at me with a blank expression. Apparently its his birthright that allows him to cut ahead of people in lines when he only has a couple of measly items , and makes the rest of us who have heavy baskets and have been waiting in line for ages, invisible. And telling someone to please get in line apparently makes me a raging crazy monster. Well, थाथास्त्हू ("So be it" for the uninitiated) is what I say to that.
My point is, whether it is admonishing someone for cutting queues, or for spitting in public places, or for bad driving on the roads, why do I get told "Madam, this is India..this is what happens here..". Why is this what happens here? As a good friend of mine once said - "Why is it that we are allowed to expect quality in a foreign country, but not in our own? ".
Why are there different standards for men and women? Why is it that when my male friend smokes, he gets smoking buddies, but when my female friend smokes she gets stared at?Why is it assumed that I do too, just because I hang out with her? More importantly, why is it that we are both judged for that?
Why do I get judged for having lived in the US? Why is it that when I speak in a certain way, I get made fun of? When did speaking English well become a bad thing? Why is it equated with drinking and smoking? Why do I have to be careful of who is around when I talk to men? Why do I have to second guess what "people" might be thinking when I talk to certain other people? Why am I told that I have to watch what I say, whom I say it to, and when and where I say it? Why is it that a coworker recently told me, on seeing that I have a number of male friends , that I should "control" my behavior? Why is there a generic incapacity of people to accept that my lifestyle is different from theirs, and that DOESN'T make it wrong? Why is it that I should care about ANY of this stuff?
I don't. But the bottomline is - I love my country, but then why am I made to feel unwelcome in it?
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