The Generation Gap

Yukta is growing every day and every minute and needless to say it is a delight to spend time with this Wiz kid….every single time I meet her and spend time with her she teaches me so many things. I come from a typical middle-class Indian family I grew up with my parents and a younger brother (in Indian standards, I come from a nuclear family). Most of the Indian families have a very common mindset for upbringing the kids and showing love to their kids. Some of the most common traits of showing love are:

You feed your kids (even guests) with loads of food in spite of their resistance. For example I loved eating chapatti in my childhood (Indian bread), I could hardly eat 2 chapatties with my favorite curry…..but my parents always made sure they served 3 chapatties inspite of my resistance…though you are full they still expect you to eat little extra and they feel this is the way to express their love……I honestly enjoy such love…I can see the twinkle in my mom or my wife or my relatives eyes when they force me eat that 1 extra bit. I always felt nice when I was forced………..it showed the extra love.

On contrary when I try doing the same thing to my daughter Yukta she hates it…she is little less than 3 years but acts so mature and elderly. There are several instances I want her to eat something she just does not like it. As recent as last month, we went out to Pizza Hut and I ordered for pizza and mock tails. She didn’t touch even a byte in the pizza coz it had capsicum instead she ordered Potato Wedges and relished it. Since I like mango drinks I ordered maaza for Yukta she didn’t bother to touch maaza but enjoyed her fruit punch. I can clearly see the Generation Gap. I remember the first time I ordered a dish in a restaurant was on my 19^th Birthday and my dad said “My sone has grownup he orders his own food…”

Every time I plan to buy clothes for Yukta she just does not like to wear dresses of my choice……She selects her clothes with her fav color and the way she wants it…she tries the dress once…appreciates the work by wearing it and seeing herself in mirror and then buys it…..I mean they are so independent at 3. I always wanted to buy my daughter loads of pink dresses…I have this stupid fantansy to buy pink if I had a daughter and blue if I had a son….but Yukta says “Papa pink is not good for me…I like Green”. Fortunately Green happens to be my fav color….to be more precise I am obsessed with Green color and thank god Yukta likes Green….

She also has a different way of using my Laptop:

In a nut shell if I have to say from things as trivial as food or clothing or outing kids of this generation do what they want and like to do not what their parents like or want them to do….I see a huge GENERATION GAP….its time for us to sync with our kids and start thinking as they do.