Culture Shock: A Teenager's Story

By Aditya Srivastava

What do you do when your life suddenly changes as a teenager and you have no control on it? Your friends, your whole life, the things that you love are not there any longer. Its not just a story of a boy trying to adjust to a new city and a new set of friends, but a story of self-discovery. Of realization that life is what it is, we have to make the most of it. Its about overcoming prejudices, the big city/small city chasm and understanding a little bit about the nation that we are.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing India
• Release date: Jun 20, 2014
• ISBN: 9781482834086

Book preview

Copyright © 2014 by Aditya Srivastava.

ISBN:   Softcover   978-1-4828-3409-3

             eBook       978-1-4828-3408-6

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

To order additional copies of this book, contact

Partridge India

000 800 10062 62

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www.partridgepublishing.com/india

Contents

Note from the Author

Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Epilogue

"Life is made of experiences, no story makes life.

So, the same goes for the book."

Note from the Author

This book is not how it was meant to be. I wanted this book to be profound, one that will take a serious look at the events that take place in the life of a boy after he shifted from a cosmopolitan city to a small one.

But then I decided that perhaps humour will be more appropriate. It’s not just a story of a boy trying to adjust to a new city, but a story of self-discovery. Of realization that life is what it is, we have to make the most of it.

This change gives the protagonist a feel of the unpredictable life and also, makes him mature in many ways.

Though this book is lightly inspired from my real life, all the characters, names and events taking place in the book are not based on anyone in reality. No offence is meant for any person, religion or city.

To my parents,

Introduction

Hello there. My name is Arjun Singh and sadly, I don’t have a nickname.

The following story is all about my experience of shifting from a cosmopolitan city, Pune to a tier two city, Ranchi.

Its life changing, from being the ‘cool guy’ of the school to being the ‘unknown guy’ in my new school.

From being the naughtiest guy to a model of discipline; the outgoing guy to the sit-at-home guy.

Diversity was almost everywhere. It ranged from the ‘Vada paavs’ to the ‘Litti chokas’; from Eminem fans to fans of Honey Singh.

From people watching ‘Big bang theory’ to people watching ‘Bigg Boss’. And there I was stuck in the middle of both.

Both were double edged swords, but it was fun, getting a slice of both.

It was all new, adventurous, strange and fun.

At the end, it was all and all an experience that somewhat changed my life

Chapter 1

We were in a rush, confused and emotionally drained, but we had to move. I was surprised that I managed pulling two heavy trolley bags and my dog, all together in a busy airport.

My mother was on a wheel chair that was pushed by my father and me, my mind was flooded by thousands of questions regarding my dog.

Something was peculiar about this situation.

Was it a sign? Well, who even had the time to think about it!

Michief, our black Labrador, was in his case and was moving on the baggage belt. There was a sticker that was put on his case which said ‘live dog’.

Mischief appeared to take all this transition in his normal stride. The care that the airline ground-staff was showering on him meant that he was at his charming best. Does he enjoy attention!

The airport looked unusually empty considering that it was 7:00 in the morning.

I looked

Reviews for Culture Shock

[sorrel_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Culture Shock! Japan is an easily readable guide to some basic Japanese etiquette and customs. Some of this information was interesting and specific enough to be useful (especially business etiquette), whereas other sections were more generalised in not-so-interesting ways. My biggest disappointment was the section on minority sub-cultures, which I expected to be colourful and entertaining, if not particularly practical, but which turned out to be a list of general regional prejudices (people in area A are thought to be even more hard-working than the average Japanese person; people in area B are considered to be more snobby than the average Japanese person; people in area C are considered to be more yuppie etc. etc.).

[bibliotropic · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was immediately thrown off by the less-than-clear image on the cover, and flipping through I saw that all the pictures were in black-and-white. I almost put the book back of the shelf, thinking that it must have been written in the 60s or 70s and that a good deal of the information would have changed and be out-of-date. Don't let the lousy graphic quality throw you off, though; this book was only published in 2005.Much like the last book I reviewed about Japan, this is not a travel guide. Unlike the last book, it isn't really a memoir, either. The author drew upon his own experiences of living in Japan and told some amusing anecdotes, yes, but this wasn't a book about him.Unlike travel guides, which do a good job of teaching you how to properly order sushi or how to hail a cab, this book prepares a person for living in Japan, not merely visiting. It covers things that travel guides won't, such as how to pay your bills, or how to get by at the office. As such, I learned a remarkable amount about daily life in Japan, from a westerner's perspective, that travel guides and memoirs often don't speak of. Travel guides assume you won't be there long enough, and memoirs assume that some tidbits would be too boring for the reader.Thankfully, I'm the kind of anthro-nut who appreciates all the scraps of information I can gather.I wouldn't recommend this book to everyone. It doesn't have enough information in it to appeal to a very wide audience. But for those who are curious about day-to-day tasks in Japan, or for those who are planning to move there for work, I definitely recommend this one. It may not be a definite resource, but it's certainly a big help, and will teach you things you probably never even thought to ask about.

[gimmemoore · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A light-hearted but in depth look at Japanese customs and culture, very readable with plenty of tips to help you fit in.