I found quite few comments interesting... actually more interesting than this article... It's really amazing how each individual feels about India or being Indian... I have been living in US for past 12 years, and moving back to india in the next 6 months. When I tell my Indian friends, I get different reactions... some feel I am making a mistake or some just wish they could just move back as well... See, for me being an Indian is a proud thing... Yes, we have several problems in India... but every country has its own share of problems. We can not just abandon our motherland, can we???
See, you can go outside India... get MS or PHD in whatever field... but then you have to ask yourself whether you would want to contribute to your country's development. I am sure pretty sure, ppl would give me crap about money... but hey, if you are smart, you can make money anywhere in the world...
If you really want to know whether you are an Indian or not... just ask yourself that question, and just be honest about it. It does not matter whether you live in India or outside, and importantly don't give importance what others have to say...
RE:Proud Indian!!!
by AK on Aug 08, 2008 05:30 AM Permalink
Serving motherland requires your will and others' machinery. It will be difficult but not impossible. I suggest you move if you have your own agenda and will get satisfaction in what you do irrespective of the results achieved since output to input ratio is much less in India as compared to what it was in US when I was there.
RE:Proud Indian!!!
by Vijay on Aug 08, 2008 07:33 AM Permalink
Serving motherland doesn't mean that you should join politics and do some charity work. Do your basic duty as an Indian citizen; pay your taxes, follow rules, work with pride (I'm sure you will be interacting with people globally and a quality work out of India goes a long way in showing the world), make sure family is law abiding, make sure your kids grow up to be a good Indian citizens and most importantly be proud to be an Indiann and love the country. If you do these things, rest will automatically be taken care. Jai Hind!
RE:Proud Indian!!!
by AK on Aug 08, 2008 07:43 AM Permalink
I agree with you and that is what I advocated "move with your own agenda". I moved here with that in mind and mostly content. I am just sharing my experience and telling him what to expect as far as results are concerned with respect to energy put in.
RE:Proud Indian!!!
by AK on Aug 08, 2008 08:01 AM Permalink
I am assuming that you are following your own advice if you are living in India. If you are outside India, comeback and follow it and make changes here.
RE:Proud Indian!!!
by Sachin Patwardhan on Aug 08, 2008 07:46 AM Permalink
Well Vijay, you spelt the whole thing out... I guess, ppl just do not realize how little things matter...
RE:RE:Proud Indian!!!
by Kaju on Aug 08, 2008 10:11 AM Permalink
I think you have a daughter who is reaching her teenage which is why you are heading back to India. Right?
RE:Proud Indian!!!
by AK on Aug 08, 2008 10:49 AM Permalink
Right and wrong. Yes I have daughters, but after few years of school, they livied independently in a flat in Delhi to complete their education and then moved to US. Foundation was built in India without chains and fears and no ABCD complex.
(Please read the message below and then continue here).My children grew up speaking American and in course of time we also got adjusted to speak to them in that language as we did not wish to impose our baggage on them.(It was also impacting on their ability of eloquence and acceptability in peer group.)By the time they were in the 4th grade I was 40 and my wife was 35 while half of our parents died back in India. We told them that we will be back in another three years, first it was green card, then citizenship and then the boys decided that Chicago is their home for the Vada,Iddly,pongal was foreign to their tongue and the mosquitoes back in India was a great problem. Now the remaining folks in India are too old to speak and are safely lodged in Old age homes with their funeral expenses pre-paid.We remember India when some marriage in the family takes place or some close relative dies. An earth quake or a bomb blast does receive a mention if it is any where near our former homes. All religious rites are remembered and functions celebrated the next available week-end while the children are amused at the abracadbra. Am I not a great NRI?
RE:WHO IS AN NRI ?
by RaNjiTh on Aug 08, 2008 07:09 AM Permalink
I know almost why you've written this,, i assume either u dont hv any option and ur in a situation where you cant get back to india but you want to, Or , you would be really meaning all these words to their right meaning, Whatever the thing is, If you want to get some thing, You have to GO GET IT> >> So there it is,, its for you to decide.
The people who berate the NRI's are retards who eye them with utmost jealousy because the NRI's have done something which they failed to do for whatever reason. How many people will look at a beggar and feel jealous? Its only when a person moves about in a swanky BMW does one feel even a hint of jealousy.
Looking at the NRI-bashers, its evident that they are all seething at the success that the fellow Indians achieve abroad. If you are all indeed happy, then why would you even look at another person to see what he's doing? Its only when there's hollowness and emptiness inside you that you start looking elsewhere. That seems to be the case with all armchair Indians who simply cannot withstand a fellow Indian earn money.
Sunil Gavaskar was right when he once said on commentary - 'Its a inborn characteristic of Indians to pull another Indian down. They simply cannot stand to see a fellow Indian succeed'. A most apt statement.
I moved to US in the early 70’s as a child. I lived there for close to three decades and moved to India to allow my own children to experience India. I have experience of a child, adult, and as a parent in both the countries. I have taken my steps for certain reasons and therefore want to share my views intermixed with my own observations.
Majority of Indians, who moved from India to US, are working class and are fleeing from CORRUPTION, STIFLING of their own minds and POVERTY. The businessman, who is the cause of corruption and has enough money in India rarely moves and if he does it is for expanding his own business.
They may have moved but “I” never left them either when they were being called NRI’s or PIO’s. NRI tried to emphasise the aspect that we are Non Resident and some even went to the extent of calling us Non Existent. We coined the term PIO and prefer to be called that as it does not differentiate where “I” lives, it may even be India, as long he was once an “I”.
I find that people who moved are the Indians who are living in present. They know their past very well and are proud of it. They locked India and her culture into their minds the day they left. Lot of people confuse Language with culture. Language is only a method of communication, culture is tradition, values, beliefs and religion does play some role in it as well.
RE:True PIO
by AK on Aug 08, 2008 04:58 AM Permalink
I am trying to live in the future. I saw the treatment of Indians in Fiji & Uganda, they truly became Nomads. My eldest daughter studied in India from 6th to MBA and has now moved back to US. She can truly call both US and India as her home, is not an ABCD but PIO in every sense.
RE:True PIO
by AK on Aug 08, 2008 04:57 AM Permalink
They are trying to instil as much of this culture into their children as possible. They do have constraints in a foreign land. Most of the time, changing of accent is automatic, sometimes necessacitated and only few times intentional to derogate our own culture. I for myself have kept my original Indian accent, it was my choice. But my children who grew up in a small town without Indian friends of their age group, developed US accent. They try their best to blend the two cultures and adopt what they feel is the best of the two. They are living in the present.
RE:True PIO
by AK on Aug 08, 2008 04:58 AM Permalink
Indians living in metro India are living in the past. They are proud of our past, preach what we are (were), adopting the western culture in all respects, take pride in communicating in English consider mother tongue too backward, still feel British(or US) are our rulers and use FAIR and LOVELY in an attempt to look like them.
I was not an intelligent or great performer in academics.After a basic degre in engg.applied for a good number of jobs and was rejected for want of a better standard and of course no body to push or pull me up. I applied for one of the mediocre universities in U.S. and enrolled for M.S. which I got through with as much ease as one could get through a B.A. from Punjab Univ. and then found my specialisation had greater competitors for employment in India and their subject content and depth was larger, hence enrolled in one of the mid-west univs. for a Ph.d which dragged on for another 4 years. On obtaining the Doctorate I thought, having been out of India for almost 7 years it will look ackward to start an entry level job in some capitation payment colleges and hence thought it wise to accept a job in U.S. which ensured my sustenance, a car and an apt.on hire.Two years in to the job,I was attaining thirty years of age and a little greying of my crown. Back home in India, every body was excited about my research and great contributions to science that I have made and many a fool in the eighties willing to offer me his daughter in marriage and one day I went on a 21 day furlough to come back with a dumb but beautiful bride duly wedded.A few days of driving,flying and trekking around we settled for a baby in two years that became double in four years.My wife also became qualified and worked enough for both of us to buy a house and another car and put the children in school.NRI
RE:RE:WHO IS AN NRI ?
by sri kiran on Aug 08, 2008 06:45 AM Permalink
Except for few this is by large the truth lying behind every NRI. Good pick was that point which turns around your whole life......
Hm...... interesting topic One thing is clear Indians who live abroad most of them are more indian and have more indian values that the people who live in India. I have been to many South American countries ........most of big cities have chinese restaurants run by chinese .......this is the way they work secretly.....never mix with anyone ...........other day on same rediff there was report that Indians don't mix well.... there are so many contradicting reports about all topics........which one are you going to believe..........I think in real Indian Philosophy whole world is one family...........some Indians work abroad .they send back money. .....they come back with some knowledge and share it..........I don't think there is anything to complaint about ...........its win win situation for all
RE:Its good for all !
by Santosh Gairola on Aug 08, 2008 07:19 AM Permalink
"One thing is clear Indians who live abroad most of them are more indian and have more indian values that the people who live in India."
in the madness that emanates from the very fact that " 1$ = 40 Rs ", we r forgetting certain things that should be our identity.
I look around at the indians who come to US, all try to copy the american culture. They will speak in american accent, and always feel that american way of leading the life, is better than the indian way.
On the other hand, I look at people from china, japan and korea,,, we may think they r dumb coz they can't speak english.. the way we indians do... but look at what they have done to their own culture.
Because they have refused to accept western culture, the west had to accept their culture.
we r only killing whatever good culture we had by blindly adopting american culture.
have a look at the usermanual of any electronic gadget you bought, or any website that offers you to view content in scripts of various language, you will find an option for Chineese, japaneese, spanish and other junk languages that only a handful on this planet speak.
Try searching for a "hindi" translation, you will find it nowhere.
This is what we have done to ourselves, our identity. Let's take care of us.
RE:lets take care of us
by kaushlendra tripathi on Aug 08, 2008 04:04 AM Permalink
Hi ashish i am agree with you. Good send one copy to girish also and ask about this american xerox (AC culture) culture which indians adopt after coming here. But few are there who don't copy above things but their number is less.
RE:lets take care of us
by chetan on Aug 08, 2008 04:00 AM Permalink
happy to know that at least some of use are still in their senses. but this tragedy do not start here ,it starts in india where parents prefer and feel proud raise their children in convent culture,who try to itch one concept on young mind that 'every thing that is native is inferior'.increase no of nuclear family structure and madness for money fuels this.I am right now america and often refered by my indian fellows as conservative because i dont drink and strong supporter of marriage system. on the other hand ,as you said koreans,chineese and europians came to us way before indian but they know importence of their traditions and are proudly trying to conserve it. well,one can speak extensively on tis topic keep it up
