Enrooted childhood and global culture

As I was growing up, on several occasions I was given a choice to make major decisions of life during my teen years. It could be that I was very aggressive and stubborn and wanted to do what I want to do. My parents are generous enough to give me blessings for my selection. On the other hand, there are few incidents where I was grounded and my ideas had been tossed away. However, looking back, I had pretty decent relationship with my family. When my kids grow up, are they going to appreciate what I have done to them? All these questions really give me a chill, now a day.

My grand child is growing in Australia. I am forced to think that which cultural values I should apply to my children. In Asian culture, parents make a decision for their kids and the kids are expected to follow the guidelines without even having to decide whether they like it or not. It is considered a respect toward their parents. If kids walk on the line the parents drew for them. Parents always force the kids in a direction.

Our own cultures do not discuss the topic on feelings, sex and affection with their kids. They treat these words as if they never exist in the dictionary. There is no concept of children to have right of privacy in the society I grew up. To have privacy for kids is a foreign word.

Keeping both cultures in mind, several questions demand answers. How do I raise my kids? Which way should I raise my kids, western or eastern way? Should I allow my kids to make choices what they want to be when they grow up instead being a typical Nepali parent and pressure them to become doctor or engineer? Should I encourage them to voice back their opinions and stand on their thoughts and ideas? Should I discuss the issues like affection, sex, teenage pregnancy, drugs, bisexual, guy, lesbians and so forth openly and make them aware of this society. Will I be comfortable with them discussing all these serious topics?

It would make me feel good if my kids are happy with the life they choose for themselves without worrying about what others would say. I have no doubt that I want my kids to be independent. I want to give my kids an opportunity to decide about their own lives and not force them what I want them to be. I want them to become who they want to be.

Since I grew up in Nepalese rural culture, should I be able to raise my kids in so called American standard without knowing much about it? Whether I like it or not, my kids will end up learning more about that culture than my native culture. They will be absorbed in foreign society than Nepalese society. No matter how much I try, they will have English accent when they speak my native language. Their favorite food would be burgers, fries and pizza instead of dal and bhat.

But, There will be certain things I may not be able to change. There will be some things I would want to change. There will be some situations where I might have to force them to do what I think are right from my standpoint. At some times I will suffer and in some time they will. There is a high possibility that I will want them to expose them to my culture and they may not want to be. There will be times when either my children or me will have to sacrifice our own needs and wants.

I'm not sure I really understand what Global Culture is. Is it merely acceptance that all cultures are valid? That does not imply a discrete culture. What are the hallmarks of the Global Culture? Are they the same hallmarks for the vast majority of those who consider themselves part of this culture?

I think, the knowledge of multicultural era comes from our awareness of the fact that our own cultures don't exist in isolation anymore. Its evolution accelerated by modern technologies and social trends that have catapulted a massive number of people out of their places of origin. Some one said that globalization is the gradual erosion of a poor country’s' culture by the back door.

Some people might see the global culture as a good thing as it brings people together. The question is , will the world become less interesting when all the people wear the same clothes , eat the same food and speak the same language?....

However, I do not see globalization and a global culture as the same thing. I do not think globalization is inherently bad or corrupting, though it is easy for it to move into that realm. For example, I think the thirst for education that is spreading through the east is a positive development. It is once one country decides their way is the only way that globalization starts to get ugly. I think, as long as globalization is an option, not a forced thing, all the world's cultures will not blend into one.

Therefore, I conclude that a move towards cultural understanding and sharing of cultures important, but perhaps not to the extreme of anything that could be defined as a "global culture." Perhaps if along the way some of the long historical battles can be settled and exchanged for peaceful understanding, a global environment of mixed cultural influence across the bored could be eventually established and the nation-state left as a token of past conflict, but for now I think that a compromise between the separation of today's culture and the ideal of a global culture must be reached first so as to establish peace and allow us to further our society to the point of mutual understanding.

So we, two generation, will have to comprise and struggle at the same time to keep us going in this multi-cultural society. My kids will have to look back and understand where they came from and I have to acknowledge where they are heading. I am concerned that I might be helpless on occasions trying to make sense out of things that I have never experienced. Anyway, I will try to raise my kids in a way I know better in this diverse culture and I hope they will cooperate with me. We will both have to learn and understand each other to survive and be successful in our own lives.