Among many of us Indians the craze for a male child is always there. Whether we live inside or outside of India or in moon, having a son is considered as a boon. A daughter is regarded by many as an unwelcome arrival, which is something we are quite familiar with since time immemorial.
Among Americans the preference for a male child is there, though to a lesser extent in a more subtle way. The issue in America is not dowry or nagging in-laws or the craze for a son for passing one's linage to the nextgen, rather a desire to have a son to wrestle or play football with.
Or like one of my colleagues put it - A son can bring headaches home but if the issue involves a girl then it is somebody else's headache. A few years ago I was in a training class where the instructor during the perfunctory self introduction asked all to say a special thing about himself or herself. One guy said "My specialty is I have 5 daughters all in the age range of 12-20." The whole room erupted with laughter.
Among Americans the preference for a male child is there, though to a lesser extent in a more subtle way. The issue in America is not dowry or nagging in-laws or the craze for a son for passing one's linage to the nextgen, rather a desire to have a son to wrestle or play football with.
Or like one of my colleagues put it - A son can bring headaches home but if the issue involves a girl then it is somebody else's headache. A few years ago I was in a training class where the instructor during the perfunctory self introduction asked all to say a special thing about himself or herself. One guy said "My specialty is I have 5 daughters all in the age range of 12-20." The whole room erupted with laughter.
I did not find this so funny, hence just chuckled a bit lest it would be construed as my foolishness of not understanding something. As the laughter subsided, the instructor asked "So, what is so special about it ?" Well, the 5- daughter-dad shied - "having 5 girls in that age range plus your wife, they are half a dozen and I am jus alone. They just drive me crazy maan. That itself is special". Again laughter reverberated across the room.
He continued further - "They just gang up against me maan, I am the lone ranger holding the fort. They kinda getcha maan, I know it just makes y'all laugh but I am tellin' ya maan it is no laughi'n matter. My hair is grayi'n and BP is shooting up. Heart of heart, I always wished I had a son in the house to give me company".
"Wow, wow", exclaimed many in the room with ladies giggling with their palms clutching their cheeks uttering great, amazing, unbelievable, awesome (Americans are apt as using superlatives to drive home the message. An example is the common usage of the word great for the silliest, trivial stuff).
A good 5 plus minutes were spent on this discussion before the next person's introduction. No wonder when asked how many children he had, the famous boxing legend Muhammad Ali once said "I have seven mistakes and one son". Ironically it came from the mouth of a person who fought his whole life against racial inequality.
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