There are secrets in my family about two lovers who were found in a village water tank, wrapped in a sari. They d killed themselves because they weren t allowed to marry. Then there s the uncle who left his wife and children to go and live with his driver. Unspeakable in India and good dinner party conversation anywhere in the west. I sometimes wonder whether tradition prevents more open communication and advancement for the later generations.
Tradition is a shackle for many young people.
I think you have to lose your traditions before you have true value for them. I believe that the best traditions are the ones that evolve, without losing values that are evolutionary. Culture has to evolve culture counts for nothing if it s not in the making at this very moment in time. If traditions don t survive transportation to the current day they may well have gone past their use-by date. Your own family was originally chosen to be the subject of television s 'Sylvania Waters'.