Clichéd lines! We all love to hate them but still can not help using them at times. Some are social and cultural clichéd, some are modern clichés; whatever category they fall in, it is definitely fun to analyze them, which is exactly what I’m going to do next.
I enjoy listening to music:A modern cliché. This line can be read or heard in almost all the introductions, be it What are your Hobbies question in the job interviews or a date or a casual conversation. Give me a break! I have yet to come across someone who does not like to listen to music. Everyone likes some sort of music. It’s a basic human tendency, unless you have the hatred towards music due to whatever reasons. There are many genres of music such as Pop music, Rock music, Country, Indian classical, Western classical, Jazz, Bollywood etc. No one can follow ALL the genres of music due to its vast variety. If you like a specific genre of music, specify so. For example, I enjoy listening to Rock music or pop music. It sounds more credible and can act as a conversation starter. Saying I enjoy listening to music doesn’t account to anything. It’s just too boring.
When are you getting married? This one is a cult Cultural clichéd; often asked to single boys/girls on almost every social occasion. Asking this question means getting irritatingly personal. Marriage is a highly personal issue for any individual and asking this to someone means intruding their privacy. Asking this can get you labelled as a Nose Poker:)
We believe in Family Values: Oh Yes We Indians have strong “Family Values”. We love our families a lot. This sentence is used to indirectly indicate our superiority to so called western culture. But, who on earth don’t love their families? The truth is, every individual believes in family values, unless you belong to a medieval and uncivilised society. Even criminals love their families a lot. West has different family structure than the east. Western culture emphasises on individualism because of which children separate from their parents from very early age. That doesn’t mean they don’t love their parents. You don’t have to stick to someone 24/7 to prove your love towards them.
Study/Work hard now, Whole life is left to enjoy: Another social clichéd; this is often told to school children and college going students, who generally have huge pressure of scoring marks. And let me tell you this, its utter bullshit!
Life should be enjoyed at all the stages irrespective of you being a school kid or a seventy year old. When I say enjoyment, I indicate at activities you like doing. For some, it can be reading, writing, for others, it may be dancing, singing, sports etc. If you are studying/working hard and think that you’ll pursue your hobbies at later stage in life, probably after studies or retirement, you are committing a huge mistake! You will surely miss out on whole lot of fun and skills you can possibly acquire. But unfortunately, they don’t teach us such lessons in school!
Everything will be alright after Marriage: Yes, "Marriage" is a magic that is supposed to solve ALL your problems.
You have financial problems? Get Married
Health Problems? Get Married
Don’t have anything better to do in life? Get Married
Love? Compatibility? Mutual Respect? Integrity? Forget all that. Just get married; everything will be alright; God will take care of everything, which is my next point: )
God will take care of everything: God almighty is sitting right there, listening to all our silly cribbing and demands. You have business problem? Relationship issues? Job problem? Money problem? Rush to temple/church or wherever you’d like to pray, and leave it up to God. You have abusive spouse, boss, in laws? Leave it up to God. It was after all God’s choice to put you through such circumstances, so he better take care of it! In any case, it’s also easier to sit back and pray than to address and face problems!
Such escapist attitude is fatal and it has brainwashed many of our generations. It is very good to have faith in God and it surely acts as a support system in the event of calamities which we have no control over, e.g. fatal illness, natural disasters, death etc. But, to fix all other practical problems, you have to WORK on it. If you want results, you have to put EFFORTS. Faith in oneself is as crucial as faith in God. Do not forget that you are also a creation of the very God you are praying to. Our life today is the result of our choices and not God’s will. So let’s not bother God with our problems which are well within our control. God has better and bigger things to take care of.
Vaibhavi
