India - My Life within and without

I was just talking to my little brat - Gandharv. He asked me if I celebrated Holi this year, I said we don't celebrate Holi here in the US. When he asked the reason, I replied, because the culture here is different. He felt bad for me and stated that Americans are too strict and their culture sucks. I knew this reaction, I used to have the same reaction in my childhood about Non-Resident Indians; curious soul inside me asked the reasons behind it and found out that he doesn't like the RULES of Americans - mind it he has never visited here and all his thoughts are based on what other people tell him, and the kind of environment he is living in, the kind of environment I lived, for 20 years of my life.

While talking about the rules and its explanations, I heard him saying that if one doesn't wear a seat belt in the car while driving in the US, he/she can get a ticket. I agreed and told him that it is a good thing to wear a seat belt otherwise one can die in case of an accident. Garry said innocently right away, "If I die, why someone would care? What difference will it make in a cop’s life?"

I was speechless; I had no reply to his this innocent answer, cause I knew that the value of human life is different in my country, and the value of human life is 180 degree opposite in the US; may be this is the reason I like living in the US. My life has some value.

~V