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In pop culture no man's land

A few days ago, I had used the phrase "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!", a famous dialogue from the move The Godfather Part 3 in a situation that was perfect for the dialogue to be unleashed.

I looked up to my audience, hoping to see them give me a smile that said, "Yeah, I get that reference!"

But what I got instead was them looking at me in a perplexed manner. They did not know what the hell I was on about.

This post is not about me trying to complain that nobody gets my pop culture references. Its that its a two way street. When most people drop references from Hindi or Telugu pop culture, I don't get them either.

While most of my friends and relatives laugh at their pop culture references, I stand there awkwardly, trying to smile and nod as if to convince them I know what the hell they are talking about.

At first, I thought that if I had been in USA (hypothetically, cuz I don't think I'm ever going there), then I would be in my pop culture land. But then, Americans these days would probably be dropping references from movies like The Hunger Games or Diverget, which I wouldn't understand anyway.

I am caught not just in pop culture no man's land, but also in pop culture long gone's time.


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