This is not Shilpa Shetty; This is Ravi Bhaskar, the guy who wrote this article, but I feel like Ms. Shetty in Big Brother - famous, controversial and stupid.
Phew, there has been a lot of bad blood spilt over this article. I apologise for not communicating well enough but make no mistake, I am not apologising for the meaning of the article, which I still think is positive.
I deeply appreciate and acknowledge all the feedback that I received today. Really I even took some of your personal assaults with a dose of good humor. But I regret the fact that this article triggered off a NRI vs Resident spat. I really dont know what this has to do with the message I tried to portray.
Honestly I have lived here for just over 2 years now and am still as Indian, if not more, than when I left India. And I am sure a lot of us living abroad feel that way.
An NRI has been stereotyped by misguided sects as someone who benefitted from India's higher education subsidies and then benefitted some other country. What seems to have pissed Resident Indians off is when jokes about how the NRIs came back strange accents, perfumed clothes, an aversion to our roadside foods and talked about how great their country is was taken without a sense of humor.
While some of this stereotyping might be true, I don't think the attack on NRIs is justified. Not all of us who leave the country don't contribute to India. While the Resident Indians judge the NRIs as being armchair critics, the NRIs can say the same about the Resident Indians - stop sitting in India and stereotyping all NRIs as detached people who dont contribute in anyway. How does simply staying back in India make RESIDENT INDIANS bigger contributors to India than NON RESIDENTS? Please be better informed before making judgements.
The common problem that most of you have had with the article is that I am an NRI, therefore your assumption that I am not doing what I preach, angers you.
Assumptions assumptions! Will you get the message of the article suddenly if the article didn't mention that I was out of the country? Or if I say that I am going to return to India in a couple of years, will that make the author more credible? But no, you will jump at my throat - "a couple of years, for what, to make money." Yes I want to make my money. I am not ashamed of it. Neither should you. No money, no superpower. And a country that has no money to feed its people will have little time to bother about being nice to each other.
What if I say that I want to make more money so I can open a free school for the poor; will that help you angered souls to make peace with me? Will that help you get the real message of my article and not wonder if I am an NRI or not.
What if I tell you that living abroad has taught me valuable lessons that I can use for the development of India when I return? Or is that a sin still for which I should be hanged?
Will my article be read for the right purpose, if I mention that I actively fought pollution, child labor and animal rights in my own way even before I ever left India?
Anyway, like most of you guys I have gone far besides the point. The point is that no matter where we live, we can still keep the wheel called India moving. In any which way we can. We(NRIs) like you(RIs) are not under any illusions about how difficult it is to transform the heart of a country. But all I am asking you to do, is to do your bit and the rest will follow. Wherever you are.
And let me leave this rejoinder with a small insight into macroeconomics. I know there are lots of NRIs who dont want anything to do with India. All I can say is they are free to do what they wish. It is a free world in which labor moves freely to where demand exists. But even if you are an ultra pessimist about an NRI please note that the retribution/money that NRIs send back year on year as a whole is more than what the IT industry contributes as % of GDP. Many of you may say, well the money goes to their family, how does that help the country? Good question - the money that the family spends in India is called Consumer spending which is the base of any economy. This is what drives Corporate Investment and Government Spending which are the other two legs of the tripod of an economy. So even the most indifferent NRI contributes.
This is unfortunate that I have to talk about NRIs and RIs....but I guess most of you were more interested in that topic than having a heart.
RE:I am Shilpa Shetty!
by Surya Prakash T on Jan 23, 2007 01:56 PM Permalink
Dear Ravi, You made your choice. You choose to be part of a (so called) greater country. Rest in peace there. Why are parents and family of so called NRI's staying back in India. When their children are so enlightened that they understand how being an NRI is great, then what will take to enlighten them to go out of the country and become NRI's. NRI's are able to save money and send back some to India as they leave the excess baggage (parents & family) in India. Part of the money thus saved is pumped back into India. The parents feel proud that their children are sending money back home but little do they realise that they are nothing but glorified caretakers of the money their children are investing in India. One fine day after the parents die, some of the NRI's realise that the (so called) great country is not the right country for their children to stay and move back to India where a cushiony life has been created with their invested money and their parents toil. May God have mercy on the souls of the NRI parents who unwittingly spend their last years as gatekeepers for their childrens wealth.
Please dont forget you are product of the India you detested. If you have any self pride, please do understand that the India you loathed in the past has not done a bad job in preparing you to be what you are today.
Re: RE:I am Shilpa Shetty!
by mayur gondhalekar on Aug 18, 2009 11:15 AM Permalink
I guess the point is, who ever is suggesting the ways for improvement, please consider them anda apply in ur own life, dont worry about who is suggesting those ways..does not matter if its NRI or RI or an allien.. 1) Stop spitting on roads, ask ur kids & friends and family to do so as well) 2) stop throwing wrapers and platic bags on road and in water bodies) Atleast these two things can be done by us right. Take what matters to us from any article. why worry abt where the person is and what he does?
First of all I applaud your dignity in response to the "racist" comments made on you. When I read your article my first reaction was that your take was too soft. India according to me not only needs a heart it also needs a conscience. I shuttle between Mumbai and abroad , and every time I come back I just shake my head in amazement.While other countries move forward not only in the visible aspects but also their attitudes we take two steps back.
And I will not go into economical figures here,but I simply refer to what I experience in my life. Whenever I mention what is wrong in the country , fingers are pointed at me "what have you done about it ?" is the question asked. Well I could stop at the next intersection and tell off the man spitting in the middle of the road , and risk being mauled .And the examples are innumerable.
All I want to say is that acknowledgement of a problem is a step away from the solution. So all you people who want to scream at me or Ravi or the others who are realistic , take a look at yourselves.You cant make a Shanghai out of Mumbai if you sont know what Shanghai looks like.
RE:RE:I am Shilpa Shetty!
by Raja Ivaturi on Feb 04, 2007 03:27 PM Permalink
Hi, Above all of what you said, We must love our country irrespective of how is it. That it when we start working for betterment. If I see someone criticise India, as if all other countries are doing well, I call them as anti-nationals. People are human everywhere and basic natures dont change. I went to UK, US, Canada and many countries. I see people saying sorry, excuse me, Thanks in each of their sentenses, all people religiously follow traffic rules and maintain cleanliness. However I explored further and all I understand is they are no different from us. They follow rules because rules are very strong and violation has strong implications. I also see negative points like violent children, Perversions, Single mothers and psychopaths. Once again these are results of country laws. In UK you cant control children beyond a point. Your kid demands and threatens you if you say something they dont like. So what is the fun of criticizng our country? Whatever it is we must love India and our fellow Indians. If certain things are wrong we must work for how to resolve them. From myside, I started educating my kids of showing concern to others in shared places. For example, I told my kinds that if you want to go somewhere early, start 15 minutes early instead of crossing red lights. Dont block free left riders. Dont drive in wrong ways. Dont overtake others for a race (Do racing in big grounds). For all this, I explained them that road is a shared resource and we cant get just what we want at the cost of others. My approach was to make people within my control understand and show concern to others. From the Govt side, it may be approach to make law strong to make us show concern by force.
RE:I am Shilpa Shetty!
by shamsheer musthafa on Jan 23, 2007 01:44 PM Permalink
well..i appreciate ur reply then ur article, being an NRI i have faced some prejudice from the society, they just think we r here living in luxury.. infact the living standard of the majority of the NRI's who live in middle east r far below then any average person who lives in india , they enjoy the privilege of the booming economy mostly provided by NRI's and they point the gun at us and blame us , in the end most of us go back to india with HIgh BP , heart attack and diabetes are few among the major health issues, this society is full of hypocrites they wont change most of them will pack thier bags and leave India if they get any chance , stop blaming NRIS
RE:RE:I am Shilpa Shetty!
by natraj tanjore on Jan 23, 2007 05:39 PM Permalink
Mr. Mustafa, The money you send to india is to your family and not to any prime minister's relief Fund. You left india by your own choice and hence you are responsible for your actions! Dont blame the residents for it! Dont forget when thousands of indians were stranded in kuwait, it was the indian government which made the largest air evacuation in history! What we are saying is that we are aware of the ills / shortcomings of the country! But then India is a complex place with over 5000 years history and deep rooted beliefs and customs embedded in every indian gene! The solutions and the methods of west are not necessarily the panacea for india! India has definitely improved over the years and give it time!
RE:RE:RE:I am Shilpa Shetty!
by A S on Jan 23, 2007 11:14 PM Permalink
This is to natraj and surya. Your comments are well taken but please remove the thought that we left india because we detested it. Don't people leave their home cities to work in larger cities for a better future ? Don't you want to take the good ideas you see in the larger cities to the small towns ?
Its the same logic. Experience and the ability to learn from different cultures and leave out the bad parts is essential.
And again its not the history that we should be blaming but our thought process. Stop asking your children to follow something just because its based in history. Dowry and Sati would have been still aroudn if that were the case.
anyway.. I think we all know the true picture but when it comes to personal sacrifice everyone backs of. Agreed its easier for nris to chat away when even the basic necessities are not met for many people but gandhiji himself said that poverty is not an excuse for not being clean !
RE:RE:RE:RE:I am Shilpa Shetty!
by natraj tanjore on Jan 24, 2007 02:53 PM Permalink
Dear Sir World is a free place and everybody is entitled to write what he feels like! Life will go on! What my objection was that good and bad things prevail in all societies, whether developed or not! But we all see to highlight the good points of west, behave as if it is the utopian model to be adopted, conveniently close eyes to the plenty of negative aspects in that society - at the same time ignore all the positive happenings in india, and highlight negative stuff, howsoever insignificant it may be in the context of the totality of the nation! Why blame alone the NRI's. So is the indian media!
As far as casteism, dowry problems, goes they exists in each society in different forms! For every dowry death you see in papers, there are scores of unreported good acts such as mother in law giving her kidney to the daughter in law! For every casteist riots, many successfull intercast marriage! Since you are in Canada you can easily verify this news! A family of four people of negro origin were torched alive, in Vancouver during the week 12-19th May, 2006. This was not the isolated case. Also wife beating and family abuse was a daily news item! Yes we all agree that there is an inherent need to improve sanitation, education, health and civic amenities. But then it is happening and when you have to address a population of 1.30 billion, it takes time! Take heart, you have left your motherland in good hands, though the progress may be slow, like the proverbial tortoise it will reach the goal!
I too would like to convey to you that we have no animosity or anger towards any of our brethern who have left the shores of india! We appreciate their good work they may be doing for the country! All we ask is dont feel ashamed or become cynical! Give this country twenty more years and see where it reaches! with warmth and best wishes natarajan
RE:RE:RE:I am Shilpa Shetty!
by shamsheer musthafa on Jan 24, 2007 02:08 PM Permalink
its really sad that u doesnt have any idea how economy works.. my family is not keeping that money inside the locker they r spending it, consumer spending is another factor that helps the growth of economy.. btw people wont get benifited if i send money to prime ministers relief fund.. it will directly go to the greedy politicians and party funds. any ways am not going to post any reply for this.. thanx keep smiling bro...
RE:RE:RE:RE:I am Shilpa Shetty!
by natraj tanjore on Jan 24, 2007 02:43 PM Permalink
Mr Mustafa, you may choose not to reply! but the fact that prompted me to write was that you accused the resident indians of enjoying your money! The disagreement was on that point! If you get high BP, diabetes working in great clean organized country outside india, imagine the plight of the residents! Everyone is contributing to the economy and no one is being a parasite! As far as understanding economy goes, i have over twentyfive years of experience in economics and finance and we can start a separate forum to discuss that if you would prefer!
RE:RE:I am Shilpa Shetty!
by Raja Ivaturi on Feb 04, 2007 03:30 PM Permalink
Hi, Above all of what you said, We must love our country irrespective of how is it. That it when we start working for betterment. If I see someone criticise India, as if all other countries are doing well, I call them as anti-nationals. People are human everywhere and basic natures dont change. I went to UK, US, Canada and many countries. I see people saying sorry, excuse me, Thanks in each of their sentenses, all people religiously follow traffic rules and maintain cleanliness. However I explored further and all I understand is they are no different from us. They follow rules because rules are very strong and violation has strong implications. I also see negative points like violent children, Perversions, Single mothers and psychopaths. Once again these are results of country laws. In UK you cant control children beyond a point. Your kid demands and threatens you if you say something they dont like. So what is the fun of criticizng our country? Whatever it is we must love India and our fellow Indians. If certain things are wrong we must work for how to resolve them. From myside, I started educating my kids of showing concern to others in shared places. For example, I told my kinds that if you want to go somewhere early, start 15 minutes early instead of crossing red lights. Dont block free left riders. Dont drive in wrong ways. Dont overtake others for a race (Do racing in big grounds). For all this, I explained them that road is a shared resource and we cant get just what we want at the cost of others. My approach was to make people within my control understand and show concern to others. From the Govt side, it may be approach to make law strong to make us show concern by force.
RE:I am Shilpa Shetty!
by bala l on Jan 24, 2007 03:53 PM Permalink
Dear Ravi
You say it has unjustly triggered a NRI vs RI. Sorry to say. Yes, it is not unjust. If it was written by an Indian who shuttles between India and a coreign country then this would not have happened. If you talk of consumer spending, sorry no comparisions to hurt you even the corrupt politicians spend the money they earn in other means that in no way is going to benefit the economy. The economy will be benefited when the per capita earnings will increase and not just one person's spending crores of rupees and all other not spending will make a good average statistics but not the actual development. In the same feature there is a mention about Mr. Ramakrishnan & Vidyakar...Pls read them. Yes we do have shortcomings, but let us fight it together and not be too critical about it comparing us to a well developed economy. we are just shaping as a developed economy.
