Reflections from the pensieve

Thought of penning down a dilemma which has irked me for long, "for whom should we live", philosophical yet so practical this question marks our life's journey with an indelible mark. Something which average normal Indian teen has to answer one day or another to himself / herself. Why exactly does this question mean so much? "Do we live lives for others or do we live it for ourselves". Way back in my college days i used to tell people live your life for your parents for they have done so much for you. They deserve it, don't they; after bringing you up, sacrificing their entire lives their joys for your upbringing, to give you a great life, they do deserve something more than what you can otherwise give. So should you leave your entire life in their hands? Make them the focal point of all your decisions? Let them decide what you want and what you don't? Will this gift from your side equal the sacrifice of theirs? For an Indian teen this means not only decisions of his / her career, but this ideologies, his marriage, his peers everything comes under that one single umbrella. But what if your parents don't make the right decision for you. They also are humans, they can also make wrong decisions, their decisions can also be shrouded by a veil of their past experiences, their time and tested fundamentals, somethings they wanted to achieve but couldn't. But then the wise claim, parents have seen the world more than what we have, so their decisions are wise (usually). But that would mean that if they were risk averse they wouldn't let you take risks and like wise. I saw a brilliant chap settling as per his parents wish, this guy would ve worked wonders in the corporate world, but since his parents wanted him to settle in their native he couldnt do much. Anyways that's individual priorities, what I think it's better to live a life cursing others for the decisions that they have imposed on you or taken for you, its better to live a life on your terms, taking suggestions from them, thinking it aloud and then going with it. If your decision fails its your onus rather than others and its much much better than spending your life cursing others.