Struggle

the people from my grandparents' generation struggled with the pangs of an emerging nation. they were uprooted from their homes and made to flee from their motherland. they had to painfully see their home and identity being decided merely on the basis of religion. they had to re-start their lives, find new livelihood, support family and keep the family together in a new land. their struggle was parallel to India's struggle as a new nation: how do i feed my family, how do i keep my family from falling apart, how do i arrange for work for so my young men and women ? 

my previous generation rebelled against the society which, till then, favored a joint family system and asked middle-class people to put family over ambition. they struggled with the disadvantages of a nuclear family - taking care of their kids and fulfilling their ambition - both. the ambition that took them away from their home, to unknown lands, where they made a world of their own despite facing discrimination due to their background, education and language barrier.

people in my generation probably do not have any of the above-mentioned struggles. from the time we are born, we are told that we live in a free, post-liberal world. religious identity is a secondary concept. we probably have never seen poverty (first-hand). having ambition is in our second nature that is encouraged by all.we have been brought-up in a certain sense of abundance and well being.

yet, we have our own share of struggle. the struggle to find our self. perhaps this struggle may not sound as simple or as big as struggle against poverty, discrimination, language barrier or religious identity. but it still is a struggle. perhaps to find our identity independent of our parents; the need to find our passion, not just our livelihood; to find good people, the pain of losing them and still keeping faith. the struggle to find love, have faith in marriage. our struggle may not have a bigger picture, it is probably a struggle to get though, each day, one day at a time.