A cosmopolitan girl

Résumé du document

-They have cable (if they were narrow-minded they would be afraid of modern TV) so the girl can discover other cultures
-But they explain that the TV is responsible for their daughter's behavior : “this is what comes of too many TV channels”

-The girl went to university
-But she probably went to university because being well-educated is an asset for marry her, not in order to guarantee that she will find a good job
-The boy can do whatever he wants – working in America isn't an issue, which once again proves that they aren't narrow minded – the parents are proud of him
-But Priti the parents don't expect the same thing from the girl and from the boy - Priti has a “traditional” place in the family

-Priti's view differs from her parents (she's fully integrated in the modern globalized world and doesn't accept her parents double-standards) thus the parents clearly disapprove of their daughter's attitude, and are against the principle that she works

Extraits

[...] She has to pretend that she's Australian: she has to put on an Australian accent, to be able to speak about Australian trivia; she has to take an Australian name (to take an English-soundly name) Why is Priti excited and proud? It's a way of escaping, some kind of game. [...]

[...] No, given that customers would be wary if they suspected they were phoning India From her parents point of view it raises two problems : it looks as if their daughter was turning her back on her roots, and moreover the job seems to be a fraud / cheating At the beginning they don't understand what job it is, thus they can't be really object to it, yet they aren't enthusiastic either The more she goes into the details, the more objection they have First they don't see the point in the fact that Australian customers are calling India to get information from an Australia company : it is nonsense, it is the world upside down Another problem is that she has to take a new identity: not only have her parents the impression that she's turning her back on her roots, but they also find this idea crazy and dishonest, for the father it is deception toward the customer, he doesn't see the point in pretending that she's Australian Moreover learning about trivia is useless (and even more so Australian trivia), she could at least be learning about something more useful III Who should be blamed? We can't really say, given that both attitudes can be understood The parents are attached to Indian traditions and it's quite normal that it's hard for them to understand their daughter's project We can't really blame them: they respect the Indian tradition and even if they can appear as being narrow-minded it's quite logical that people don't abandon so easily their point of view, their culture etc. [...]

[...] It's a big company. She feels useful, and it is as if she worked in Australia Does she see a problem in having to play a game? [...]

[...] A cosmopolitan girl I A modern family in which traditions still matter a lot: thus there is a between the Indian traditions and the changes brought by the development of a globalized world On the face of it, the family isn't narrow-minded, yet it is still traditional They have cable (if they were narrow-minded they would be afraid of modern TV) so the girl can discover other cultures But they explain that the TV is responsible for their daughter's behavior : “this is what comes of too many TV channels” The girl went to university But she probably went to university because being well-educated is an asset for marry her, not in order to guarantee that she will find a good job The boy can do whatever he wants working in America isn't an issue, which once again proves that they aren't narrow minded the parents are proud of him But Priti the parents don't expect the same thing from the girl and from the boy Priti has a “traditional” place in the family Priti's view differs from her parents (she's fully integrated in the modern globalized world and doesn't accept her parents double- standards) thus the parents clearly disapprove of their daughter's attitude, and are against the principle that she works As a “cosmopolitan girl” she grew up in a globalized world and wants to discover the other cultures etc., she refuses to be compelled in her traditional role : she disagrees with her parents traditional view, she wants to have a more enhancing place in the family Having this job is for her a way of escaping First they don't even see the point in her having a job after all, she's a girl, and according to her parents' traditional view, having a job isn't decent for a girl, moreover we can imagine that they fear that if she had a job she would be more independent and then more likely to adopt a bad behavior, and if she worked that would also mean that the father doesn't earn enough money, hence that she's not a good party To sum up, for her parents she's doing some sort of “rebellion” : the solution is thus to marry her before it's too late II The specific problems triggered by this specific job We saw the issues of Priti's attitude given her parents' attachment to the tradition. They are in principle adverse to her working. [...]

[...] But problems also come from the specificities of the job she's doing From Priti's point of view, this job is great and she's really proud What kind of job? Helping the customers of an Australian power company What are the specificities? [...]