G'day Priya
I only had the chance to listen to your podcast. However reading your latest comment it seems all well and good. Congratulations for doing so well on you A levels. If it is any consolation I can tell you with considerable certainty that your situation is neither confined to Indian households nor does it happen to girls in particular. I am sure you know that already, speaking to your friends and so on. I found myself in your shoes many years ago. In fact it was a recurrent theme from PSLE onwards - which secondary school, which JC for A levels. My parents had the upper hand at least up until Uni when I finally got my way. I ended up doing what I wanted to do after much discussion. Your reasons were very very similiar with regards to why I didn't apply for Medicine at NUS. It is also not surprising that the next options proferred by my parents were Engineering or Comp Sc as at that time it looked as if it was going to be very popular. I ended up doing something that was I personally liked, paid well, great working hours etc but didn't really sink in well with society. So who cares what other people say - I think now. However back then I was much like you - a people pleaser - everyone had to like me or have at least have no opinions about me. You are a step ahead Priya - because you realise that whilst at that time I was quite blind and went every which way that people told me was the right thing to do. Anyway the point is - look after number one. You make your bed and lay in it.
Parents due to their caring, nurturing role will always want the best for you but will do it using the filters of the world that they know and are comfortable with. Better the devil you know than the one you don't so to speak. It is harder for the older generation that it is for the one that is stepping outside. This comment is way too long already but my last point it is also quite okay for your 'dream' to change and transform along the way. It is absurd to expect to make a choice about a career at all of 18 yrs of age. Such is our educational and cultural systems at this time. It is perfectly okay to try something out and change your mind if it wasn't what you thought it was going to be like. Its great that you are doing an internship, job placements, apprenticeships and such are a great ways of testing the water..
Good luck and would love you hear more of your podcasts.

Hi Anon, Moi, Prabhu and all who commented to this podcast,

Thanks for your comments and well wishes. I'm really glad that this podcast got so much more comments than the others. Well, let me update on what's going on now.

I got my A'level (+2) results and my parents were very happy that I could apply for any course, even engineering. Meaning that I will get the course if i apply for it. I don't have to sit for any entrance exams or interviews. Applications for scholarships were also open to me as i was eligible for them too. So my parents let me apply to any course i want. They know that I have been really wanting to do science research and PhD. So they let me.

I am even doing an internship in a research institute and I love the job of being a researcher. And I love science. I would one day love to become a lecturer cum researcher. They see that i love the job very much and so they have let me choose. Not to mention, my dad is in R&D himself but he's an engineer.

Half the problem is solved for me. I get to do whatever I want to do when it comes to my studies. But another problem with my parents is looming around and it will never come out until I have reached the age of marriage. I don't know how many of you there face this, but I know it's quite common. I'm talking about arranged marriages. But I don't have to worry about it now. It's too early. Although, I definitely do not want to have an arranged marriage.

i don't know when I'll be doing another podcast. Although I'm wanting very much to do it. But i'll definetely do more:)

i had acctually listened to your podcast much much earlier,i didnt acctually post a comment because i was also going through the same thing.well,now i hope that you have settled by now.first,let me appreciate you for your good tamizh.me being a tamizhian,i cant speak so well.well,
when you say that you were clear about what you wanted to do,it was rather your passion,more than your interests.acctually,the problem with our generation of our parents is that,they always had a bias or an obsession about what girls should study.i most probably suspect that your mom did home science or some Bsc course.very few,very very few went out of the way,because then,it was not a great idea for a girl to work,and even if they do,then it was either as a doctor or a teacher.doctors were rare because,it again involved studying through out their lives,and the amount of time and energy that they get tto spend with the family is very less.so when you consider the above factors i.e 30-40 years back,it was definitely a big thing for girls to get educated in college,and there was question of argument about what to choose.but now,as you and i know,things have changed,but this has to be made clear to the parents.
in my case,i wanted to do fashion technology,i wanted to have a colourfull life.by my parents told me strongly that,that option was closed,they said that,such a feild will not suite our kind of family and society.i had long arguments and discussions with a lot of people and family,how ever it was a far cry from my decision.
here again,i cant clearly say that my parents were trying to impose their dreams on expectations for me,but defenitely it was against my own.
well,all this went on in my 10th standard,infact i had grown up with the dream and passion of doing medicine.but my parents saw to it that i changed my opinion,infact they called upon their doctor friends and my doctor cousins to brain wash me against that decision.so i was too small to resist that at an age of 14,so i changed it to fashion designing,but that again changed when i had to enter college.
so considering your case,it is pretty obvious that,they want your future to be nice and not so difficult i.e where you will be able to balance yourself between your career and family.that is the kind of idea they have,so i suggest that you open out the topic to them about their thoughts for you,ask them why do they say so,and try to tell them that their logic is not acceptable,just in case it isnt acceptable.
there has also been one such kind of argument going on in my house after i have entered college.
it is some thing like,i want to do M.S and my parents want me to do an M.B.A,i want to do it abroad and they want me to do it in india and in chennai itself.i can certainly understand their feeling of insecurity or what so ever it may be,but just that it is quite difficult to argue with them because they bring in sentiments about how they have done all the right things in my life for me.oh,my god,this whole subject is such a torture.and when we really argue,my parents,if they are not able to defy themselves say that,there are still 2 more years to go before you really have to do anything.so,you see,this is my dilema.
so,ellam kooti kazhichu paartha,what is most important in life is peace of mind and happiness,and how does it come?
when you do things with involvement and passion.so,chase your dreams,but you will definitely not hurt your parents,if you are able to shine as the best in what ever you choose.but,just remember that this is not the end of life,there are much more openings in life,may be you could choose a different feild in your p.g,or some thing like that.