The Americans want to follow Indian culture but the Indians......

We are still way too illiterate to understand each other's culture within our own nation. We make fun of different state languages, cultures, traditions and ways of living and to the extent that we make fun of the way they worship God. A small example to how we praise the west more than a fellow Indian. There was a Bihari couple and another Bihari student traveling with me and two other sisters (Tamilians) from Chennai to Mumbai. These Biharis start making fun the food we Tamilians eat, the way we apply ash on the forehead, and how we do shashtang namaskar in front of the deity. But...but....look at the hypocrisy. They have been to Germany, and found the culture very nice, and however liberal westerners are with their ways, they say, "It is their culture. We must not make fun of them, but accept them the way they are." We stared at them in awe and I wanted to say,"Excuse me, you just made fun of the Tamil culture and tradition, and disrespected us right on our faces, and you want to praise and respect some culture which is far away and they don't even belong to the same nationality?"

That's a good point cobradene, let us first be united as Indians and respect all from all the states. then we can go to the next level....

I subscribe to that grass is green on the other side of the fence concept. :)

Very true trinidadvelasco. I fully agree with you.Of course there are so many good things of America that we can follow, but unfortunately we are more interested in copying some of the bad things from them.

And it is not as if we did not have precedence of divorces in our culture. The most famous equivalent of it would be Shantanu and Ganga, where Ganga left Shantanu for not fulfilling his end of the bargain. So our culture permits that.

Hey - Shantanu wore his heart on his sleeves - that is the reason he fell for Satyavathi - something like Shiny Ahuja falling for his maid. Never mind I am not here to argue but when you called us women cruel then all my antennae were up.

Yeah, because Shantanu loved Ganga, he fell head over heels in love with Satyavathi.. Gimme a break - two of the best characters in Mahabharata - Bhishma, and Karna. Rest deserve no respect according to Vandy. And two of the best characters in Ramayana - Lakshmana and Bharata. Rest can go to Timbaktoo for all that I care.

I wonder how many Americans would marry if there was no divorce? I have always seen marriage as the end of happiness and hope.I choose love over marriage and always will. Here in The States you can remain unmarried. many are so pressured to marry and then they divorce.But what if there were no divorce?

Hi, sarahruthbeth22 , if there is no divorce there, no one will take the risk of the marriage. I think due to increased court expenses people avoid getting married. Life is so different in different parts of the world.

Yes sid556, we have rich spiritual culture. It's sad we are also going for divorce at higher rate these days. Even Chinese martial arts and FengShui originated from India. Ancient India was top in all the fields.

I have to say that I've been interested in the eastern culture for years. I do think that divorce it is good that divorce is an option but I think that too many rush into it as quickly as they run into the marriage...at least that is what I see here in the States. Both Western and Eastern cultures have their good qualities.

You are right sid556. We never opt for a divorce even when there is a need for it, wherein you go for it even when there is no need for it.

that's the curse of our loving country.politicians and leaders are corrupt and have no morals. Good and honest people should come forward to lead the people and people should encourage them when they come forward to lead...

Hi, kiran8, I agree with each word you said. There is nothing wrong in accepting the good things from western culture. But do we take only the good things? That's the problem we face now. I agree with you that divorce is inevitable when both sexes get financial independence as you said. We have to give something to get something and that's life, isn't it?

Exactly! The problem with most people including our politicians who go for foreign jaunts apparently to learn something is that they don't take the trouble to observe and learn what is good in the western system .Instead they shop, gamble and generally have fun and come back.Of course we need to have some fun in our life but, here it is only that...When we look at the infra structure and the way things are run there like clockwork, we have to hang our heads in shame.We don't even have proper roads and sanitation facilities in many major cities...

my dear jai sister, no need for statistics, India still has lower divorce rate than many more countries in the world. USA has a higher divorce rate for sure. You can do Yoga and meditation daily and stay fit and young.

Jaiho - quite often it is financial constraints, and at other times it is ignorance. Culture is not the main reason that our marriages remain intact.

yes, i agree culture is not the reason why marriages remain intact but personal decisions.

I can't agree more RobtheRock. Divorce is not Hinduism. As you said I also think India won't be that far behind.

You are absolutely right fabsprecious.It's good to note the westerners show interest in Yoga and meditation. It's sad that the divorce rate has increased in India too lately. Still, divorce is a rare thing for us even now.I wish you to have a ever lasting and happy marriage.

That's so unfortunate fabsprecious that living happily ever after happens only in fairy tales and not real lives. Though it's a silly dream it's good to have it. may be your dream will come true..Good luck.

Thank you vijayanths!!! It is sad to see that the divorce rate is increasing, I wish everyone could have the happily ever after ending, like in those fairytale stories. I know it's a silly dream, but it is still my dream.