{"id":3209,"date":"2016-06-14T21:10:21","date_gmt":"2016-06-14T15:40:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3209"},"modified":"2016-06-14T21:10:21","modified_gmt":"2016-06-14T15:40:21","slug":"liberal-indians-non-woke-parents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3209","title":{"rendered":"Liberal Indians, Remember to Thank Your \u201cNon-Woke\u201d Parents For Your Broadmindedness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

W<\/span><\/p><\/div>

hen it comes to desirable qualities among <\/span>millennials<\/span><\/a>, social consciousness tops the list. A gorgeous head of hair or a killer smile is worth as much as a US dollar in <\/span>North Korea<\/span><\/a> if your bae isn\u2019t #woke. A<\/span> study<\/span><\/a> from Stanford Graduate School of Business shows that a whopping 90 per cent of MBAs from European and North American business schools prefer working for socially responsible organisations. Neilson\u2019s 2015 Global Corporate Sustainability Report indicated that<\/span> 73 per cent of surveyed millennials<\/span><\/a> prefer spending more (of whatever little) money we have on products that come from sustainable brands, but I could have told you that with one look at my shower cabinet full of organic soap.<\/span>\n\nSo <\/span>why<\/span><\/i> are we, the liberal youth, so \u201cwoke\u201d? I believe we owe it to our parents. What a perfect Indian beti answer; my mother would be proud. But wait, there\u2019s more. In my experience, most of my fellow free thinkers are also <\/span>privileged<\/span><\/a> AF. We grew up fairly comfortably, with well-educated parents who strived to give us everything they could. Parents who were liberal\u2026 for their time.<\/span>\n\nMy dad was the first feminist I knew. One of his favourite jokes to tell me was, \u201cYou can grow up to be anything you want, except a dad!\u201d Similarly, my mom was the first empowered woman I met. As someone who raised her <\/span>daughters<\/span><\/a> in a small town with an even smaller mindset, she dressed us as she saw fit, whispers of \u201crevealing\u201d clothes be damned. Even as the neighbourhood would thump with the sounds of Falguni Pathak every Navratri, Cliff Richards, The Eagles, Beethoven, and Elvis resounded in our house. My parents did their best: We were an Indian family with a global attitude, even if we were a paradox.<\/span>\n\nGrowing up, my highly educated, intelligent <\/span>parents<\/span><\/a>, who ran a double-income household even before <\/span>Cosmopolitan<\/span><\/i> said it was in, were an inspiration. They taught me to question everything \u2013 politics, religion, and social hierarchies \u2013 and take nothing at face value. This worked out great, until I started questioning things they never thought to. Until I started questioning them. <\/span>\n\n

As my aggressive wokeness made my life quite miserable and impossible to enjoy, my parents retreated deeper and deeper into their bubble.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\nIt started innocuously. I used to be the girl who happily laughed along with her parents at <\/span>F.R.I.E.N.D.S. <\/span><\/i>reruns, but as buzzwords like <\/span>homophobia<\/span><\/a>, fat-shaming, slut-shaming, and transphobia crept into my consciousness, I found myself cringing at the same jokes I once enjoyed. Suddenly, I found myself explaining what a \u201cmicro-aggression\u201d was to my mother when she questioned why <\/span>Muslim<\/span><\/a> women want to wear burqas on European beaches. Where earlier I dressed as I saw fit with no reproach, I now have my dad to remind me that \u201cwe\u2019re broad-minded, not nudists\u201d every time I step out at night. I\u2019ve lost count of the times I\u2019ve voiced a criticism of the government only to be told that <\/span>\u201cAcche Din\u201d<\/span><\/a> are here because onions are cheaper in the marketplace. <\/span>\n\nThere was a new #movement every day that I outraged over and that, in turn, bewildered my parents. <\/span>\n\nAs my aggressive <\/span>wokeness<\/span><\/a> made my life quite miserable and impossible to enjoy, my parents retreated deeper and deeper into their bubble. Our conversations had devolved from being about art and literature, to religion, the life I should be leading \u201cas a woman\u201d (as opposed to the \u201cmanly\u201d life I\u2019m currently leading, flashing my penis at everyone), and questions about when I\u2019m getting <\/span>married<\/span><\/a>. My parents and I are now locked in a struggle where we aggressively push our views down each other\u2019s throats at every chance we get.<\/span>\n\nI suppose this is <\/span>Adulting<\/span><\/a> 101 \u2013 when you watch your idols fall, or at least realise they have flaws too. It\u2019s also a bit of a bind. My upbringing has ensured that I am able to question the very people who brought me up, much to their displeasure. At the same time, I know I have to cut my parents some slack. On the scale of wokeness, I might have gone from 10 to 15. My parents, however, have probably gone from -10 to 10. Theirs is a longer arc, a longer journey. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\n\nPerhaps my parents and I are simply enacting a cycle that repeats itself in every generation. Our parents are a product of their time. There must have been a time when they became too <\/span>liberal<\/span><\/a> for their own parents, who were probably much more conservative. They then raised us to be as socially aware and forward-thinking as they could, and watched sadly as we left them behind on the endless ladder of wokeness. <\/span>\n\nSo, here\u2019s my theory \u2013 our liberal <\/span>parents<\/span><\/a> (T&C apply) did their job so well that we eventually outpaced them in defying conventions, possibly to the point of causing them some discomfort. Now, while my decision to bring up #FreeTheNipple over breakfast cereal might make them lose their appetite, I owe my wokeness to them, even if it doesn\u2019t feel like it anymore. I\u2019ve come to realise that their liberalism shaped mine, and can once again see them for the inspiring individuals they\u2019ve always been. Isn\u2019t that what being <\/span>woke<\/span><\/a> is all about?<\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Growing up, my highly educated, intelligent parents, who ran a double-income household even before Cosmopolitan said it was in, were an inspiration. They taught me to question everything, which worked out great… until I started questioning them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":278,"featured_media":3210,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[4342,6251,1003,2400,4671,1726,4629],"class_list":["post-3209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pov","tag-adults","tag-boradminded","tag-children","tag-generation-gap","tag-liberal","tag-parents","tag-woke"],"yoast_head":"\nLiberal Indians, Remember to Thank Your \u201cNon-Woke\u201d Parents For Your Broadmindedness<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Growing up, my highly educated, intelligent parents, who ran a double-income household even before Cosmopolitan said it was in, were an inspiration. 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