Somewhere along the way, we created a very strange choice for children.You can be modern.Or you can be traditional.Pick one.You are “modern,” in case you speak fluent English, use technology, travel, wear western clothes, listen to global music.Speak your own language, have some festivals, touch the feet of elders, eat traditional food, wear ethnic clothes you are “traditional.”But most of us are actually both. We just don’t say it clearly enough.We order food on apps and still fight over who makes the best rasam or biryani in the family. We watch international shows and still take leave for festivals. We use UPI and still keep cash inside old steel cupboards.
We are already a mix. But when we talk to children, we sometimes present modern and traditional like two opposite teams.
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Children then feel like tradition is something that belongs to old people, and modern life is the real world. So they slowly move in one direction and leave the other behind.The problem is not that kids are becoming modern. The problem is that they are being made to feel like tradition and modern life cannot exist in the same person.
But they can. Very easily.You can wear jeans and still wear traditional clothes for festivals because they look good, not because someone forced you.You can speak English outside and your mother tongue at home.You can celebrate festivals and still question superstitions.You can respect elders and still disagree with them.You can work in a global company and still know your family history, food, language, and stories.Identity is not a switch. It’s a layered thing. You don’t replace one identity with another. You add to it.Children should not feel like tradition is a burden they carry to make older people happy. They should feel like it is something that belongs to them, something they can interpret in their own way.Because every generation actually changes tradition a little bit. Food changes, clothes change, music changes, wedding styles change, language changes, even festivals are celebrated differently now than 50 years ago.
Tradition has never been frozen. It has always been edited by every generation.So maybe the conversation with children should not be, “Don’t become too modern.”Maybe it should be, “Don’t forget where you come from while you go where you want to go.”That’s a very different message.Children don’t need to choose between being global and being rooted. They can be both. As a matter of fact, the most assured individuals tend to be both. They are able to walk into the world with a good feeling since they are aware of who they are and their origin.Modernity is all about the present way of living.Being traditional is about knowing the story behind how you got here.You don’t have to pick one.You just have to carry both properly.
