Monday, April 6, 2009

Relationship 101

This is a fresh approach to Relationships based on multiple sources including religions, science, logic and mainly a huge amount of crystallized personal experiences of people.

Read this blog with an open mind, like you would read an interesting story with an open mind and no preconceived notions based on what one has been taught or one has read, seen or heard.

We see so many problems around us in all relationships, parent-child, siblings, employee-employer, man-woman.

This blog is aimed at opening up the mind and making the reader think. This is not a one size fits all solution and it does not pass judgment on anybody.

Before we start the actual discussion on Relationships, let’s trace the root of our understanding and our views on relationships.

These are some of the primary sources from where we form our opinions:
Home/Parents
Movies
Books
Friends

Home/Parents When we are young, we imitate and follow everything our parents say. This forms a lot of what we become in the future. Think about it though. As generations change, unless parents are very flexible they find it difficult to deal with changes in their children’s lives. If we follow exactly what they said, it would be difficult to deal with your peers. However much we respect our parents, they are still humans and as fallible as you and me. Once you think of them as having the same fears and insecurities as you would, it is difficult to be unquestioning about their advice.

Movies Isn't it funny that some small time writer comes from a village in the wilderness, gets successful writing masala scripts and then .... Educated people, like you and me, who would not give him the time of the day, live their lives according to his scripts. At least some of the contemporary directors now have different stories with a more realistic approach on human relationships.

Books This is totally dependent on your selection of authors. Again, since most educated people read more of western literature, we lose out a lot on the wonders of our own roots. Mark that I don't say Indian culture because that is oft associated with just dance and song which is not even the tip of Indian culture. Think of mythology like the Mahabharata, it has emotion and drama to match any of Shakespeare’s stories.

Friends They come with their own background and experiences. These may not match yours. So what works for them, may not necessarily work for you and what they want out of life may not be what you want out of life. Hence their advice may not be really applicable. Also, at a certain age, people do a lot of things do get acceptance from their friends e.g. substance abuse, which many times is not the right path for you. The advice could be good or bad and one should always evaluate it objectively.

This is a start, but to get the ball rolling, we need your inputs and your questions. So go ahead, write back to us.

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