Word: modernism
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Contrasted with the very visible modern structures of President Teodoro Obiang’s government and family, the deplorable slums of Malabo are a visual hypocrisy staring everyone in the face. Tackling government corruption and greed in a developing context is admittedly a challenging task, but that is perhaps not even the real issue. Obiang could easily invest in bringing Malabo and the rest of the country’s infrastructure into the 21st (20th?) century and still have plenty of money left over to squander...
...booms have led more and more families to forgo this ages-old tradition of living together, called “saath-saath” in Hindi. Likewise, the family business is no longer the only source of livelihood for sons, since alternative opportunities abound. But some attribute even this modern move away from the “family as necessitated for economic stability” mantra to the timeless strain in extended family relations as a whole. The Ambani’s are perhaps not unique in their recent disputes, but only in their press coverage...
...country with almost a dozen Hindi words for “aunt” or “uncle,” depending on the exact relation, such a modern progression toward family breakdown and divide seems incongruous. But then again, partition in Indian history is a recurrent theme, referenced even in the Sanskrit epic “The Mahabharata,” where dividing the kingdom of Hastinapura among cousin, princely heirs is proposed as an alternative to war (although war inevitably ensues). In 1947, geographic partitioning of the subcontinent, intended to veil cultural-turned-political differences, later became...
...relatives and brash younger generations. Surely Dhirubhai Ambani may be rolling over in his grave, but today’s evidence for familial breakdown is rooted in themes of family disputes that are as timeless as “The Mahabharata.” Quarrelling families are not a modern phenomenon in India, but the recent move away from the joint-family arrangement is arguably facilitated by more modern trends—India’s continuing growth and a booming real estate market. These factors are nonetheless coupled with desires for separation that have long existed in many joint...
...However, the cultural entrenching of familial respect does live on in its own modern formulation. Each year, countless Indian-Americans voyage back to the motherland in hopes of preserving the unity of families now separated by oceans. The state of “family” and its importance in India is thus seen in a new and modern light. For immigrants in general, relatives function as a symbol of stability in a foreign land. And undoubtedly, one maintains greater respect for those back home when seeing them requires 10,000 miles of travel. However, emigration, too, is a form...