On Monday, India’s President Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam presided over the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards:
The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards have been instituted to recognize and reward the meritorious contributions made by NRIs [Non-Resident Indians] and PIOs [Persons of Indian Origin] to further India’s interests and causes. [Link]
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p>Among the 15 recipients was Newsweek editor Fareed Zakaria. What interested me however was Kalam’s speech at the awards, and the types of things that he hoped NRIs and PIOs could accomplish for India, or to bring pride to Indians. Here are some choice words, but the whole speech was quite good:
Today, the 9th day of January, marks the return of Gandhiji from South Africa to India 91 years ago. His work in South Africa and reasons of his return are well known. The point I would like to make is that when Gandhiji returned, he travelled from one colony to another of an Empire on whose territory; the sun would never set at that time. It would not be an exaggeration, if I say that today the sun truly cannot set on the empire of the Indian Mind. Some children of Mother India are always working wherever the sun is shining on this planet be it Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, the Americas and, indeed, on the icy reaches of Antarctica. Twenty million children of India live in various parts of the planet and every year it is increasing, because they are needed…
People of Indian Origin worldwide represent four waves of migration in the past. The first, and probably the longest wave, was of Indians going forth in search of knowledge and opportunity as travellers, as teachers and as traders. Indians went to China and around Indo-China. The second wave was one of enforced migration of indentured labour, a legacy of colonialism. Indians were taken to Africa, West Indies and England. The third wave was a product of partition. The fourth and the most recent wave has been that of Indians empowered with skill and knowledge seeking various type of opportunities and challenges. The destination is the United States, Canada and English speaking European countries and West Asia. Will there be a fifth wave? In the fifth wave, towards the end of 21st century, Indians may participate in the planetary civilization that may result [in] many resourceful Indians [inhabiting] Mars and entering the space industrial establishment on Moon…
I am sure that after living in foreign societies you would have realized that each one of us is a member of the extended human family. We have the same hopes and aspirations, fears and longings, desires and dreams. Our station in life is dictated by a random draw that was made by forces beyond our imagination even, leave alone our control. [Link]
Reading our comment boards every day I can’t help but notice that many people are finding ways to give back to “their countries” in South Asia, even if they weren’t born there. As Kalam concludes, “our station in life is dictated by a random draw…” The sentiments in the speech reminded me just a little bit of the philosophy in the Bodhicharyavatara written by 8th century Indian scholar Shantideva. The Bodhicharyavatara was meant to promote a philosophy of life in which those beings who had achieved success and enlightenment would nevertheless renounce the peace of individual salvation and vow to work for the deliverance of all beings. I hope Kalam gets his fifth wave and that NRIs/PIOs and their equivalents will help in strengthening the fortunes of the poorest in India and its neighboring countries.
It makes me cringe to see Indians bowing down to NRIs/PIOs as if they are gods. Dont waste time and money on silly village melas like this Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.
Only Indians can take care of India.Dont expect charity from anybody.You will get none – save a few hundred souls who like to play ‘Mother Teresa’ and feel good (and superior) about themselves.Create such an environment that everybody will want to do business with you.
What has held India back is faulty economic policy. Socialism is a flop. But inspite of the reforms of 1991 , still persists. If India liberalises its economy completely , privatises its massive public sector , implements labor flexibility and integrates with the global economy , everybody will want to invest in India. Whether they are white or brown , does not matter. ‘$$$’ is color blind.
And slowly that is happening. MS , GE , IBM have set up massive software parks in Bangalore. GM, Ford have set up multi-billion $ plants in Chennai. Dell , Intel have set up shop in Hyderabad. But a lot more needs to be done. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
Here is a report on the event at Yahoo from AFP: Hundreds of overseas Indians eager to reconnect with their ancestral home, many for the first time, found to their annoyance at the weekend that India views them mainly as sacred cash cows.
The sentiments in the speech reminded me just a little bit of the philosophy in the Bodhicharyavatara written by 8th century Indian scholar Shantideva. The Bodhicharyavatara was meant to promote a philosophy of life in which those beings who had achieved success and enlightenment would nevertheless renounce the peace of individual salvation and vow to work for the deliverance of all beings.
Bring on down that Mahayana love, Abhi. Nice.
Yup yup! Abhi, you are going to be riding that 5th wave like Patrick Swayze, aka Bodhi, in Point Break. The rest of us NRIs/PIOs/hyphenated beings will hopefully remain undaunted by insecurity and hostility (perfectly demonstrated by comment #1) to continue to rep the land we reap from.
Some of them might actually be nice people, you know.
“You will get none – save a few hundred souls who like to play ‘Mother Teresa’ and feel good (and superior) about themselves.”
If anyone (Indian/of Indian origin/not Indian) does grass-roots work in India, and helps ordinary people empower themselves, I doubt they do this work to “feel good (and superior) about themselves”. The people I know are very committed to the communities they work with. It’s an injustice to these people and their efforts, to dismiss them so.
When a Chinese American goes back to china, they feel welcomed. Mexican Americans regularly go back to their ancestral land because they are treated like gods. When I go back to india, Iam made to feel like an Alien. I am viewed with a combination of contempt, disguest and jealousy. The only thing i would like to tell Raj is that he is true, dollar is color blind. But it only flows to places it knows is secure. If not for NRI’s, India will be viewed as unsecure.
Most of the award winners were Hindutva supporters from US/UK like Abdul Kalam. Thanks to a few activists who protested against these bast**** fundamentalists and Abdul Kalam had to leave his speech mid way.
Eddie said:
The world needs more Mahayana love.
Neha said:
Neha, just between us I have always known that I would either end up like Patrick Swayze in Point Break or like Patrick Swayze in Donnie Darko. I walk a fine line. 🙂
DDIA said:
I tried to ignore that part in my post and focus on the speech but you are quite correct that there was controversy. Then again, in India there is always controversy when it comes to politics.
When I go back to india, Iam made to feel like an Alien. I am viewed with a combination of contempt, disguest and jealousy
Dude, can you blame them? if you go with your I am better than you attitude, western lingo.. that is exactly what you will get. Blend, internalize, be like how you were before you left… your problems will vanish. However, I do understand sometimes it is difficult to make a stand. It is like.. People are the same wherever you go… there is good and bad..( Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder)
I live in India and in the US, some months in each place. Always felt welcome there. Begin by treating the customs/immig as human, greet them. Treat the cop/bankofficer respectfully: rather hard for the children or children of the colonially educated. One wonders what they would say if India went on adventures like Vietnam, Iraq. Sorry, I am an admirer of many Indian achievements: especially the 300 mill middleclass. No other country has managed to do that in 50 years, democratically, in spite of democracy’s slow, cumbersome pace and without treating an underclass badly, deliberately and as state policy as happens here. Delhi is flooded with refugees from Iraq, Iran, Tibet, etc. and none are pushed around as state policy. Yes, there used to be a mostly reasonable country called the US, I don’t know where it has gone.
Trust the Indian elite and the NRIs to mostly bleat rather than be constructive. Trust the NRI to mostly worry about his money so unlike the Jew or the Chinese who gives and gives to his homeland, knowing well that some corruption is bound to happen. But we the English educated were trained by the Brits to criticize and feel clever and removed from it all.
I was born in India, I grew up in the Middle East where I recieved a ‘colonial’ education, I’ve spent massive amounts of time in Porbandar where half of my family still lives. I passed my CBSE board exams like oodles of other kids in India and abroad (from all walks of life). Unfortunately, this experience did not make me want to stop bitching about the things that are just plain wrong with Indian society. Are you trying to say that the State-board education might be better at keeping children nodding dumbly? The last I checked India hadn’t turned into China, so ease up on the sensitivity to criticism.
You’re implying the rest of us are jackasses without a clue?
Also, the dudes in customs at Chhatrapati Shivaji are BASTARDS. Not because I treat them as such, I don’t, I say (in perfect Hindi, thank you) “uncle this” “uncle that” smile smile smile in my modest salwar but they are STILL PERVY BASTARDS.
A very Happy New Year to all Sepia denizens from your favourite Kashmiri.
I fail to understand, what the argument is about. In India or in Kashmir or in any other place it is the same. As comfortable desi pointed out – there are good and there are bad.
To wit: An Israeli [Jewish] friend of mine relates that two Jews will have three different opinions. Punjabi friends of mine warn me against the prevalent and at times consuming interncine jealousy within their culture. I have heard similar anecdotes about pretty much all the different cultures I have come across in my thirty years on this planet. I guess the adage – Grass is greener in the neighbours yard – will always be true.
p.s. May I suggest a discussion for this [compelling and refreshing] blog. the pros and cons of India under a Presidential system. If such a system ever comes to pass. It would go a long way in alleviating her problems. And to adress the inequities between the States.
Yes I agree here, and think i would also agree with Raj also. There are several things going on simultaneously. Only Indians in india will create success or failure for themselves. There is a minority amongst NRIs who want to be treated as bada sahabs, some NRI’s are patting themselves on the back over their achievements. But thats not the complete picture. his post does not acknowledge the fact that there is probably an equal or greater number of NRI’s who have been working on NGO related issues in india, as well as in the economic sector by starting or working with private companies. Many of them dont get any recognition b/c they were not seeking it in the first place. Their goals are modest, and they dont claim that they will solve all of indias problem. Their aims in india are to make good returns on their investments weather it be for profit or non profit(PS those who dont think non profits are investments(social investments) can still keep giving money to mo teresa’s org, and sink money into some ones delusion about religion and poverty as christopher hitchens pointed out few yrs ago).
This comment has nothing to do with the post. I just want to let Sepia Mutiny know that I’m deeply dissapointed in their biased showcase of stories that affect the “South Asian” community. Apparently South Asian only qualifies Indians who are Hindus. Mentions of Muslims only come in the form of honor killings and such. There should at least be some post talking about Eid-al-Adha and Hajj. Shame on you!!!! And guess what? I’m only a 16 year old Pakistani girl in New England! ugghh…
Haha…There is a large number of folks who never applied the SA moniker to themselves. SA wont be much of a social identity in US. It might make it as a business moniker that some pakistani/bangladeshi businessmen dealing in ethnic wares will stick on their stores to get some indian business like ‘Indo-pak sweets’.
Angrydesi:
Why do you allude to yourself as – “I’m only a 16 year old Pakistani girl in New England! ugghh…”
And not as a 16 year old South Asian girl…….
I am sure a lot of indian americans are aware of this. But just in case. This makes a few things easier if you want to consider activities in india.
Chill AngryDesi – I for one do not consider myself South Asian. I am Indian and that’s how I will always refer to myself. Not Indian-American, or South Asian or any other crap. If no-one wants to talk about Pakistan, tough. Get used to it. Here in the US it’s barely been a few years since they heard of India and that too I have my doubts they know exactly where it is. It would be deluded to imagine Pakistan get equal time on a blog such as this. It gets more than its share of coddling by the Bushies so stop whining. Can’t have it all.
Abhi said,
Nope, it wasn’t me. I have a deadline biting my ass. So I am only lurking these days. Besides, the commenter was considerate enough to avoid misinterpretation. Note the NOT.
Mentions of Muslims only come in the form of honor killings and such. There should at least be some post talking about Eid-al-Adha and Hajj. Shame on you!!!! And guess what? I’m only a 16 year old Pakistani girl in New England! ugghh…
WTF is Eid-Al-Adha anyway. No self respecting desi calls it ‘Eid-Al-Adha’ with extra emphasis on fake Arabic accent while pronoucing the ‘dh’ in ‘adha’, a sound which does not exist in any Desi language. (This arabic dh is different from the dh as in dharmendar) Desis call this ‘Eid’ either ‘Qurbaani’ or ‘Bakra-Eid’. Only fake wannabe Arab desis call it ‘Eid-Al-Adha’ 😉 Happy Eid! anyway 🙂
DDIA – I thought that you might be traveling 🙂
not sure not that i care about correct spellings or the posters country of origin, but am some what interested in script to phone matching and had seen that as the romanized spelling like that on pakistani sites. eg http://www.renaissance.com.pk/mjurefl98.html http://www.brain.com.pk/~azeemweb/Menu/Islam/Corner/5pillars.htm
AMfD, though I agree with you that a majority of desis refer to it as Bakra-Eid, but your comment discounts quite a significant percentage of people who do use that Arabic term and can even pronounce it properly (not to mention innumerable moulvis who spend years doing Qira’at – but we are talking abt the ordinary desi on street), and I think you’ll agree with me that they are not fake wannabes. Another example that comes to mind. Most Gulfees who stay there for long do acquire the correct pronounciations and tend to use it. The fake wannabes can be easily spotted with their poor taste in cheap jhubbas and hesitant cheek2cheek kisses 🙂
I’ve also noticed the 2nd or 3rd gen desis here in US tend to use more of the native Arabic words in their conversations(even if they can’t pronounce it perfectly) than their parents. I don’t know if it’s just a small sample I’ve come across or a trend for sure.
And, Eid Mubarak to everyone on SM.
Angry desi,
If you google “sepiamutiny pakistan”, you will come across stories that are not critical of Pakistan. One of the more interesting ones awhile back concerned a rather chic party in Lahore.
Suhail, You stated: I’ve also noticed the 2nd or 3rd gen desis here in US tend to use more of the native Arabic words in their conversations(even if they can’t pronounce it perfectly) than their parents. I don’t know if it’s just a small sample I’ve come across or a trend for sure. You are absolutely correct in your analysis. I was referring to 2nd gen desi muslim americans (and especially muslim indian americans) who have adopted Arab mannerisms and lingo as their own. Ramadan for Ramzan, Zabihah for Halal, Salat for Namaz, the list goes on and on……
I like your mutinous tone. I’ll make you a deal. Start a blog and write on it pretty often. Write about topics that you are passionate about and affect you and your peers. Get A’s in English class and strive to be a good writer. Then leave substantive comments on here linking back to your blog. If you do those things then we will invite you as a guest blogger on SM and you can blog on here about whatever you think we are missing. The best way to beat a system you don’t believe in is to infiltrate and change it from within.
So THAT’s how you get to be a guest blogger and just when I was gonna ask who do I have to sleep with … oh never mind. Happy New Year SM’ers! And Id Mubaarak to our Muslim brethren.
“I like your mutinous tone. I’ll make you a deal. Start a blog and write on it pretty often. Write about topics that you are passionate about and affect you and your peers. Get A’s in English class and strive to be a good writer. Then leave substantive comments on here linking back to your blog. If you do those things then we will invite you as a guest blogger on SM and you can blog on here about whatever you think we are missing. The best way to beat a system you don’t believe in is to infiltrate and change it from within.”
Excellent comment, Abhi. I nominate this for Indibloggieee…
Too late…the Mutiny has already been nominated for Indibloggie 2005 awards. Congratulations, Mutineers!
Translation: “Yeah baby ..come to daddy…”
This is the first time I am posting a comment on SM. I agree completely with the first comment made by Raj (except for maybe the comment about “few hundred souls who play Mother Teresa”). I am a Harvard trained opthalmologist who returned to India after 18 years abroad. It has been a year for me in Bangalore and the Indian Government still has not given me permission to practice medicine here or at least let me take a qualifying exam to get the required medical license. This Pravasi Bharatiya thing is all a sham and the lofty claims made by the Politicians are just that, a farce; in reality corruption and red tape prevails. They are looking for your dollars. In retrospect, my altruistic motives to do something for India and a desire to raise children away from the culture of violence and greed seem to be utterly stupid.
But, I am not so short sighted as to completely dismiss India as a land of no hope. The government here is as much out of touch with the needs of the people as the government in the U.S. is out of touch with the needs of the rest of the world. But I do feel, a bloody revolution is needed here where the masses can rise up and take what rightfully belongs to them. If not just for taking what belongs to them rightfully, but to shed their slave mentality. I never understood the concept of slave mentality until I understood the entitlement mentality of the Americans.
I am caught like many Desis, in my futile attempt to search for the utopia of my dreams, where opportunities abound but we can raise our children in the traditions that make us Indian. I am a regular SM visitor and heartened by the depth of Intellect, understanding, vision, humor of the bloggers here. Hats of to you all!
contact nazir he’ll set you up with some thing for a bloody revolution.
Not stupid — slightly naive and idealistic, perhaps; I’d best describe it as “out of the frying pan and into the fire”.
Indian society isn’t exactly brimming with nonviolence and lack of materialism/status-driven greed…..