East Meets West: Mindset
Jaki Sabourin asks Jasbina Ahluwalia: When you say, “Blending the East and the West,” can you give me that in a nutshell? What do you mean by that?
_____
East Meets West: Immigration
When my parents immigrated from abroad, they came with the idea of, “There are great things about our homeland, India. There are great things about the US, which is why we’re gravitating towards the US.”
East Meets West: Lifestyle
They had this idea of combining the best of both worlds. That’s something that I grew up with.
It’s something that I internalized.
When it came to creating my service, it is a philosophy that underlies everything.
I see it as combining the best of the East and West with the whole idea of dating, relating, relationships and marriage.
East Meets West: Dating to Marriage
One concept of this is, who we date becomes who we marry.
We give that lip service, but sometimes when we’re dating, we don’t always keep in mind the end goal of, who we choose to date is who we choose to spend the rest of our lives with.
East Meets West: Long-Term Planning
A really important part of that, which comes from the East, is the idea of looking for someone who shares your relationship goals and your core values more so than sharing interests or chemistry.
The idea is to focus on those kinds of things with the long term in mind.
You’re designing a life. That’s one aspect of it.
East Meets West: Family-Oriented
In the East, it tends to be a family-centered culture. We’re talking about Indians.
People throw around the terms “family oriented” and “family centric.” That is true to a large extent.
One aspect of that is the recognition that family is important. It has a lot to do with who we are, our philosophies, our world views and the way we see things.
It is relevant to see the family that someone comes from and the viewpoints and ideas.
Some of us choose to adopt things from our families of origin. Some of us don’t. Regardless, it’s relevant.
There are some other concepts, but those are two of them in terms of the aspects of the East.
East Meets West: Interaction
One aspect of the West that is really part of our service is the idea that there is no substitution for time and interaction.
That’s where the relevance of dating comes in. That’s why I think it is important to get to know someone as opposed to making a decision on paper with a checklist.
I do think that time and interaction reveal things.
There can be no substitute for that. That’s an aspect of the West that we incorporate.
I encourage our clients to take that time and interaction with someone as opposed to trying to fast forward things.
_______
Tell Us:
South Asian readers, can you share with us some of your east meets west mindset and lifestyle experiences in the comments section below.
_______
The above is an excerpt from Jaki Sabourin’s interview with Jasbina Ahluwalia
The entire interview transcript is at:
_____
