Bhel Puri tastes good with all the different ingredients. But it cannot be the main meal. You still need good old subzi, prata and dhahi. So, the "fusion" people can be interesting up to a point. But they cannot taken seriously to learn any deep culture from. It is in "choppy waters" that a ship needs strong moorings. In a globalised world, Indians must retain an appreciation of the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Upanishads, the music and dance schools of India, the great Yoga and Pranayam practices of India. Raj, eating Paan worries you when there are so many more important positive things in Indian culture?
Every NRI should ask: "What is my unique and new contribution to this country I am living in? Speaking with an American accent, well, millions of people in USA do that. Showing my mastery of American history? Okay, but that is still not an unique contribution. Telling the USA and the world about Vedic Maths? YES, that is unusual and new. Every NRI can become a brown copy of an American or British person. Okay, up to a point. But if the NRE wishes to be more than average, he or she needs to dig into Indian culture. See, appreciation of Jewish culture has enabled jews to re-create their culture in Israel after a gap of 1700 years. Do NOT ignore India's cultural history of 9,000 years. Proven. Some "rigs" of the Veda were composed around 6,500 before christian era. Dig into India's antiquity, Sanskrit literature. Gems of the purest ray serene hide there.
