In Britain, the term 'Indian" is a word of abuse. In Australia or USA no one cares about India; at best they think every Indian is a telephone operator. All the time in UK and USA- Australia you can see only about India's poverty. In view of that 8 VCs or 12 Maharajas or 1 Aga Khan cannot and could change India's image, unless the problem of poverty and deprivations of the 70 percent of the Indian people can be solved.
RE:False Ego
by Venkatesan Seshadri on Feb 19, 2007 02:17 PM Permalink
Hi, I had been in UK for some period of time and never got the feeling that 'Indian' was abusive. While I agree that just ten achievers cannot change the fortunes of India, I think we can feel justifiably proud of them. This should be a motivation for other Indians.
RE:False Ego
by Saagar Bhatia on Jul 01, 2007 06:15 PM Permalink
Absolutely, I personally feel that Indians have an inferiority complex. There are 200 other poor nations but somehow, I always get the feeling that Indians, especially those who live the Indian lifestyle, consider themselves backward to the west and this is always revolving at the back of their head. I have claimed to be an Indian and a Hindu to caucasians (despite never having lived in India for more than 1 year) because I feel Indian, I am proud of its progress & heritage. Besides, Britons should know how 200 years of colonialism is a major factor in India's poverty today. If a Briton only looks at India as a land of snake charmers and poor beggars, it says something about him/her. Indians spend too much time associating themselves with the west ("all my family is outside India") than claiming that they watch, eat, listen and function as an Indian 24/7.
