Have you ever looked at what a typical lifestyle of a person living in India is like? It seems like he never thinks but just follows the crowd. Observe him carefully. Because that is not what you want to live like. You, who are the thinkers, would not want to live this way.

At 10 years of age, he wakes up in the morning and goes to school at 9, comes back in the evening and goes to tuition and comes back from tuition, studies more and then goes to sleep.

At 20 years of age, he does the same, but goes to college instead. You don’t even have to ask what degree he has taken. It would always be engineering, if he cannot have MBBS.

At 30, 40 and 50 years of age, he does the same, but goes to office instead. 35 years or more of his life will be dedicated to the same workplace.

At 60 years of age, he retires and that’s the end of his life according to him. No other duty exists for him to perform. He would have performed all of them by this age.

For a woman it’s different. While at 10 she studies, harder than boys, she is married off at 20. She has children soon and that’s the end of her life. If her husband meets a tragic accident and dies, that’s the end of her life too. She has no more earthly pleasures to pursue.

Why does it seem like only the Indians have such short period of life compared to he rest of them in the world? I am not just generalizing here. I am stating the fact of what is happening to most of the people in India. Their attitude towards life is appalling! They live a life of emotional and cultural drudgery, struggling throughout their life trying to live for their family and for the others.

But things are approaching a change right now. The youngsters nowadays are changing and are more drawn to Western life. They are individualistic, open-minded and all-around type of people. This is mostly brought about by the developments of the city life and developments in technology available in India. Still, India has a long to go.

But do Indians like Western lifestyle? A lot of them hold dear to their heroic “Indian Culture” when it comes to this issue. The culture, they say, has enabled them to live peacefully and prosperously until the westerners came. Like the dialogue they speak in the hindi movie Swades, these people hold their culture dear to their hearts. They blame the youngsters for eroding “Indian Culture”.

Okay, enough of digression. Coming back to the topic at hand. Like I said, India has still a long way to go before all of them open their eyes to the world outside. Seriously, people live within a small circle and refuse to come out of it. Believe me, I know such people. They are above 50 or 60 years of age and it’s a bit too late to tell them to come out of the circle and look around them. They are financially well ridden. That is not a problem for them at all. But they refuse to do so. To know that they have spent half or more of their lives in the same place on earth gives me a disastrous feeling. Like they have wasted the whole of their lives. They have a lot more to see and they are missing it all.

Notice what happens to people who come out of this circle. Their first reaction will be to question those around them and wonder why people live like that. They will start to defy all conventions. They will start to think for themselves. They grow much matured than their parents and elders because they have come out of this circle. They will start to see life as they should rightfully see.

But what is the reaction of the majority living inside the circle to this outburst of knowledge? They brand them as being “selfish”, “talking too much”, “impatient”, “irresponsible” and “not being respectful”.

Such is what happened to me and to my parents. They broke out of the circle first, when they left their relatives behind in India and came to Singapore. It happened to me next. I have broken out of the circle too. I don’t want to live a life of a typical Indian girl. I want to live a life that I want.

What kind of life I want? I want to live only for myself, not relying on others and not letting others relying on me for anything. For now, I have to rely on my parents to educate me. That is their duty. But once I have completed my formal education, I will be left on my own. I want to take life decisions on my own, not seeking anybody’s help. I will not sacrifice my life, my interests, and my wishes for anything not under my concern or responsibility. If I did take any wrong decisions, it will be me and only me who will bear the consequences for that. Having said that, I will not bear the consequences of anybody else’s wrong decisions, be it my parents or my dear friends. All of this is my right, as it is everybody’s, and nobody can stop me from achieving it except myself.

“I swear by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for the sake of mine.” ~ John Galt’s Oath. It’s mine too, from now on.