British-Born Asians
The confinement of British-born Asians:
Both sides of the spectrum
As a British-born Asian myself, I have always been fascinated by the reasons to which my parents felt they had to confine and shelter me from what they thought were negative influences. Many other British-born Asians have found themselves in a very similar situation. The more I talked to them about their experiences, the more I found that there was an ever-bridging gap between the two generations. This cultural phenomenon (teenagers becoming distant and elusive from their parents) is not unheard of in Western societies. However the reasons for this rift with the families of the British-born Asian is different as it involves an entire new generation being brought up in conditions and environments completely different to the parents own. The parents were born and raised in India whilst their children were born and brought up in a country entirely differentÂ… England.
For the past few generations in almost every culture, such as the ones for our parents and grandparent's generations, a lot of emphasis as placed upon creating a better, easier life for the upcoming second generation. This was the case in India. In the 60s and 70s, India saw its very first generation of citizens who were free from the control of the British. They didn't have to contend with having to fight for their own freedom as they were born into a recently freed nation.
However, as much as they valued their own motherland, when reaching the end of adolescence, it became apparent that India just didn't have the resources to meet their expectations. This was because the opportunity for jobs and promotions was very limited as many of their generation were striving for that very goal. This meant this generation of Indians were very highly motivated to succeed. Without the material distractions of today, they worked hard to finish their education.
After completing this hurdle, the next...
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