MACHAAN

I saw these two stories and found it very interesting reading them both one after another.

A Punjabi Show Draws New Canadian Ice-Hockey Fans – NYTimes.com

“I wore hockey shirts,” Singh said, “because then I didn’t have to answer, ‘What is that thing on your head?’ ”

(From the video: “Chak de phatte goooaaalll Joffrey Lupul! Torrronto Maple Putayyy!”)

For every Sikh religious figure on the walls of the Singh home, there is an equivalent picture of (Canadian Ice-Hockey legend) Wayne Gretzky nearby.

 

In Rural Georgia, Black and White Students organise Integrated High-School Prom for the first time – NYTimes.com
(Proms are not official school events, it seems)

But locally, the separate proms have defenders. White residents said members of the two races had different tastes in music and dancing, and different traditions: the junior class plans the white prom, and the senior class plans the black prom.They do not reflect racism, he said, but simply different traditions and tastes.

When he was a senior in high school, in the 1970s, he said, there were separate proms for those who liked rock music and country music.

The question that occurs to me is that when its about changing a culture, adopting a culture, and also preserving a culture – how can one draw the line to separate the three?

All three happen simultaneously, and some people focus only on part of it.
Adapting your culture means expanding it to include.
Adopting a culture means expanding your own to include.
Preserving a culture also means including more to keep it relevant, which is coming a full circle and also Adapting it.

Attempts at self-preservation without inclusion and adaptation = extinction, isolation, or war. It explains a lot.