"Track"ing the impact of American Culture

For the past few months, my grandparents have been spending part of their extended visit from India at my house. Behind all the complaining about the cold weather (in India they think its "cold" when the weather drops under 55 degrees), I have noticed many small hints of not only how American culture is beginning to shape them but also how their heritage contrasts with mine.

The first thing my grandma said once she had settled in here was something along the lines of "hey Vibhi, come and teach me how to turn the TV on so I can watch my Indian dramas." Looking back this at the moment it actually seems pretty shocking how the wave of consumerism in American culture had impacts worldwide and into India. For them, they grew up with basically no technology around them. They didn't have their own cellphone until they were in their 60s and still to this day don't own a computer. This dramatic difference between the life I live with the life they grew up in characterizes the huge change society has seen both materialistically and consumeristically.

Another thing that caught my eye about them is their obsession over their iPad (a gift from my mom and my aunt). To say my grandma uses it 24/7 would be an understatement. The thing is basically glued to her hands. Never would I have thought that my own grandparents use the technology around them more than I do. The story behind the iPad actually goes back to their last trip to the US when they fell in love it. The ability to play games such as Angry Birds and watch YouTube videos all packed in one small rectangular tablet fascinated them. Their craze for American products was a signal to me of how materialism has progressed vastly through society;the feeling that once they saw something they needed it have one for themselves. Similar to how Wallace mocks the American people and their obsession over "lobster T-shirts and lobster bobblehead dolls and inflatable lobster pool toys," (665).

The sight of my Indian grandparents eating Jets Pizza in one hand and having an Apple iPad in the other will continue to shock me, but it clearly demonstrates the effect of American culture on people throughout the world.