Few days back, I was walking past this construction site, when this child of a construction worker came running to his father and shouted, 'Papa, mujhe kuch paise de do'. The moment I heard this, the first thing that stuck me was that, in urban India, the local salutations for father and mother, i.e. 'Maaji or Pitaji' have almost perished. No where in the Indian cities nowadays we find children using the traditional salutations for their father and mother. The words Mama, Papa, Mom, Dad, have replaced all.
I come from the state of Assam, where we use the word 'Deuta' for Dad and common Maa for Mom, but hardly I find my friends using the salutation. Unknowingly we are making our traditional salutation extinct. It can be assumed that about 80% of the present generation in the cities have almost left the use of such salutation. Where is the impact is not so much in the rural area.
If we go for the analysis of the probable reasons for this change, the most obvious reason comes out to be the adaptation of the western culture. After the hype of Globalization, there has been an entry of large no of western cultures in almost all aspects of our life, be it the television or the education industry, every where the western norms are being followed. Very first of all came the western literature, which became immensely popular in among the urban youth. They stared reading them where the use of the words such as 'Mom' and 'Dad' was very evident. The readers tend to get influenced by this, an they to adapted this in their figure of speech. With the advent of Cable television, the use of the modern salutation for father and mother was made even more wide spread. Television made a reach to all aspects of the society and almost every one in the city region tend to use follow what is being showed in it as a sign of modernity and urbanization. Later when the culture of the English medium school became popular, the very small children were made to learn such words. This is no surprise that even the parents now a day encourage their children to use the western salutation instead of the traditional ones probably thinking about their social status. Never the less, with the wide spread and easily avail able media, the children of now a days are very much exposed to the encouragement and use of such salutations.
This is a source of major concern now that in the urban India, the use of salutation such as Maa and Baba has almost become extinct. People actually tend to make a mockery of you if you happen to use them. The concern has always been raised about the lost of culture and value in the present generation, but isn't this also a matter of the loss of our Indian Identity. I assume, even those who fight for the cause for the preservation of the Indian culture let their children use the modern salutation and do not encourage their children to use the traditional ones. Its high time, now that we should check our day to day words and work for the up liftment of our culture.
PS: Honest request to all the readers, use Maa instead of Mom, it feels more loving!
If we go for the analysis of the probable reasons for this change, the most obvious reason comes out to be the adaptation of the western culture. After the hype of Globalization, there has been an entry of large no of western cultures in almost all aspects of our life, be it the television or the education industry, every where the western norms are being followed. Very first of all came the western literature, which became immensely popular in among the urban youth. They stared reading them where the use of the words such as 'Mom' and 'Dad' was very evident. The readers tend to get influenced by this, an they to adapted this in their figure of speech. With the advent of Cable television, the use of the modern salutation for father and mother was made even more wide spread. Television made a reach to all aspects of the society and almost every one in the city region tend to use follow what is being showed in it as a sign of modernity and urbanization. Later when the culture of the English medium school became popular, the very small children were made to learn such words. This is no surprise that even the parents now a day encourage their children to use the western salutation instead of the traditional ones probably thinking about their social status. Never the less, with the wide spread and easily avail able media, the children of now a days are very much exposed to the encouragement and use of such salutations.
This is a source of major concern now that in the urban India, the use of salutation such as Maa and Baba has almost become extinct. People actually tend to make a mockery of you if you happen to use them. The concern has always been raised about the lost of culture and value in the present generation, but isn't this also a matter of the loss of our Indian Identity. I assume, even those who fight for the cause for the preservation of the Indian culture let their children use the modern salutation and do not encourage their children to use the traditional ones. Its high time, now that we should check our day to day words and work for the up liftment of our culture.
PS: Honest request to all the readers, use Maa instead of Mom, it feels more loving!
great compose amlan..
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