While I was in India last month, I made it a point to read the local papers and watch the local news broadcasts. The purpose of this was to get a sense of the issues and concerns that were on the minds of the people and the press. Bush’s impending visit, the H5N1 (bird) flu, globalization, and the negative impact of the “MTV Generation” on the youth were frequent topics in the news and editorial pages.
Of greater interest to me were the numerous stories of NRI’s attempting to improve their villages. For example:
For a long time non-resident Indians have been donating for causes associated with their native villages or hometowns for schools, dispensaries or roads. In what is a rare example of donation targeted specifically for carrying out the battle against AIDS, cancer and TB in Punjab, a New York-based NRI today told the Punjab Government that he would spend $1 million (Rs 4.5 crore) on the project…. Mr [Surinder Singh] Dhall said: “If I am satisfied, I will donate even more than $1 million. It was my wish to donate for a larger cause and not restrict myself to building roads or schools in my native village.” [Link]
One reason I was in India was to attend a three-day conference sponsored by the alumni association of my father’s medical school, the Amritsar Medical College. The conference was organized in part to display the deteriorating condition of the college’s hospital and to generate interest in NRI investment into the campus. The response from the alumni was overwhelming; some graduates felt as though it was their duty to “give back” to the institution that had provided them with a living and with fond memories.
After Amritsar, I stopped by the Guru Nanak Mission Hospital, where I met a family friend from America who has committed himself towards improving this hospital and expanding its current capabilities. Again, I encountered an NRI who was devoting his time and money to a charitable cause in India.
And, even on the flight back to America (of all places), I ran into a friend who had spent three months in India managing the India-branch of his technology company. His interest seemed purely business-oriented, but in a larger sense he is still investing in the country.
The experience in India left me thinking: as an Indian individual who was born and raised in the United States, what is my moral obligation to providing anything to India or resident Indians, whether it be financial support, investment capital, professional expertise, or simple seva, or selfless service. The easy answer is, it depends. To be sure, it does depend on a lot of different factors, including one’s resources and availability. And, of course, each person will have their own sense of obligation towards India, if any at all.
Further complicating matters is the question of whether NRI’s are even welcome or entitled to improve India, a question that is currently being explored on The Great Indian Anomie blog:
It’s interesting how often people try to shut me up by calling me an NRI (Non Resident Indian). What does she know? She’s an NRI. How can she talk about issues in India? She’s an NRI. What right does an NRI have to talk about development in India when she sits in London choking over her Starbucks Mocha?… So what if she’s spent 97.57% of her life in India, the minute she finds herself in an non-Indian postcode – she’s an NRI. What is an NRI anyway? Someone who will never return? Someone who may return? Someone who sends remittances? Someone with a family name that sounds Desi? So India is off-bounds to an NRI, because she doesn’t live there anymore (even if temporarily). UK should be out-of-bounds to me because I’m not “from” here. I shouldn’t comment on the rest of the world – because well I haven’t seen it.
Another problematic factor is the rampant corruption in India, which NRI’s may not be accustomed to or comfortable with. For example, an NRI, Lajpat Rai Munger, built an engineering and IT college, but then simply gave it to Punjab University. Why?
Although the institute cost him Rs 210 million ($4.7 million), he would have none of it any more. The NRI from California says he was disillusioned with the Indian system. “Corruption and nepotism at every step have irritated me the most,” Munger told the agency…. “I gave up after finding that even after investing so much money in my country of origin, I had to grease palms at every governmental level – be it for getting approval for various courses or any day-to-day administrative matters.” [Link]
The attitudes of resident Indians and corruption aside, there remains the individual question of whether there is a moral obligation to give back in some sense. My answer? Shiet, ask me in about forty years.
Is this a serious question or an excuse not to give? It’s reasonable to be concerned about the ability of NRI’s to understand the problems facing communities in South Asia. But there is no reason that NRI’s cannot partner with grassroots and community-based organizations in India to provide services there. An example is a small organization that I grew up with — http://www.childrenshopeindia.org . All funds are filtered through grassroots organizations in India that report to donors here what their needs and the needs of their clients are. And donors in the United States get the benefit of having made a tax deductible donation without having to wonder whether they’re giving money to causes that aren’t worthy.
And, again —
is this a serious question? As someone who volunteers with an organization that gives back in India but works for an organization that serves locally, here in New York, I’d say that there’s always a moral obligation to give back. Whether you do so where you live now or where you lived five years ago or somewhere you’ve never lived is totally up to you.
Dave, this post and your last one (BBCD on marriage) have been so perceptive and thought-provoking. They touch on parts of our lives that so many of us take for granted without asking “why” or “how”. Thank you so much!
My moral obligation to give back to India is the same as my moral obligation to give back to any city or country or community that has supported me and provided me a home. However, what I’m wrestling with now…should my propensity to give back to India be more than my propensity to give back to my current home? At the heart of it, there is a trade-off to make. We are willing (or able) to invest only a certain amount of money, time, or effort. With this in mind, in a relative sense, should my cultural and ethnic ties take preference over my physical and material ones?
Perhaps one way to think about it is if you take away something from the community, you’re obliged to give something back. I’ve been an NRI for about 20 years but India still provides my family and me a home and an identity. My reliance on India to partly define my world-view and identity obliges me to have a say, participate, give something back.
As an NRI who moved to the US seven years ago, I certainly feel a moral obligation to give back.
While living in India, constant exposure to extreme poverty desensitized me, and filled me with a sense of hopelessness. Being immersed in stories of coerced begging, drug/alcohol addiction, and child kidnapping rings even made paying a beggar on the street seem wrong.
With the objectivity of distance (paradoxically), feelings for oneÂ’s less fortunate brethren became stronger. I give more thought, time, money, and effort to India-focused charity now than I ever did in my whole life.
IÂ’m probably not the only one who feels this way, as evinced by the large number of grad students who join India-centric charity and development organizations like AID, Vibha, CRY and so on. Many of these students were not involved with any charity when they were in India.
The question becomes even more complicated in some sense when your family has been out of the region for generations(“India” didn’t even exist when my ancestors left).
I think in many ways it has a lot to do with identity politics, and how we identify and view ourselves as well as how others view us.
“I’ve been an NRI for about 20 years but India still provides my family and me a home and an identity. My reliance on India to partly define my world-view and identity obliges me to have a say, participate, give something back.”
that’s how i feel. having lived a nomadic life, i’ve always felt like how nehru described himself:
“I have become a queer mixture of the East and the West, out of place everywhere, at home nowhere.”
i will always be grateful to my parents for allowing me to return to india and spend a significant part of my youth there. so i derive much happiness from trying to give something back to the one thing that helps me feel rooted no matter where i go. however, i am also a product of other places so i try to give back to them as well, even places to which i go on vacation. in the end, just giving time or money or both and expecting no reward is the most fulfilling experience, no matter to whom or what.
I think the bottom line is this. “Obligation” implies that one has to do something whether one wants to or not. So in this particular situation, it is indeed better if one does do something to help out the “old country”, but that choice should be left up to the individual concerned. Encourage them, absolutely; give them an incentive as to why it would be a beneficial, constructive thing to do, definitely. Resort to the old desi tactic of emotional blackmail or general bullying, No.
If you decide to lend a helping hand in some way — Great, and do it sincerely and without it being motivated by any ego-driven ussues (eg. “Hey look everyone, look how altruistic and benevolent I am.”)
Just my five cents.
VBSF asks
and Kenyandesi posits that
To call it identity politics is an oversimplication. It’s natural that in our day jobs and side jobs and charitable giving that we seek to create for others the sorts of opportunities from which we ourselves have benefited. If you’re an educated desi here in the States with the luck and resources to be wondering how to give back, chances are you’ve benefited from opportunities in South Asia as well as certain opportunities that are, by design or chance, targeted to immigrants here.
Apologies, that should say issues.
The way you frame and discuss the question of “giving back” embeds a bunch of assumptions worth considering more explicitly.
To begin with, for “an Indian individual who was born and raised in the United States,” in what sense do any of these activities involve giving “back” any more than contributing somewhere else in the world? I should emphasize that I agree with Anika that it doesn’t matter, necessarily — but to frame it as giving “back” is a bit peculiar, at least as you use it, without more explanation to justify that.
In some ways, that way of framing the question could facilitiate a particular kind of nationalism that I should think that the author of DNSI would view more critically. I wonder if that assumption is what permits you to pose the question of “whether NRIÂ’s are even welcome or entitled to improve India.” Why shouldn’t they be? Why shouldn’t anyone else, from anywhere else, also be at least as “welcome or entitled to improve India” as a second generation Indian American? The important question, it seems to me, isn’t who is welcome or entitled, but what is the process by which non-Indians are engaged with those efforts at improvement (as Anika notes) and whether what’s being done is, in fact, an improvement in any real sense.
And for that matter, if that second generation person defines themselves as a South Asian American, might not their definition of “giving back” necessarily be more elastic than giving to India? Might it not more approriately involve giving to Pakistan or Sri Lanka as much as it involves giving to India? That might in turn call into question the notion that this is really giving “back,” rather than simply “giving.”
Finally, you define the notion of “giving” rather narrowly:
Surely this doesn’t exhaust the range of possibilities in which meaningful contributions can be made — to the contrary, individuals and groups that are engaged in more critical endeavors that challenge what is happening in India may be making even greater contributions. I would point to the Campaign to Stop Funding Hate and Ensaaf as good examples — and for that matter, even to groups that are not Indian or South Asian like Human Rights Watch.
Perhaps you didn’t mean to limit the range of possibilities like this. But even if it was inadvertant, that is the conventional understanding of what involves “giving” back to India. And it is telling, for that conventional understanding probably does bear some relationship to the same nationalist assumptions that underlie your definition of these activities as giving “back.” There is a tendency in the discourse surrounding this business of “giving back” to equate “giving back” with being patriotic or nationalistic in some conventionally-defined sense. That discourse makes it very easy to dismiss critique as a form of disloyalty, which thereby marginalizes more critical endeavors, such as human rights activism, as being “unwelcome” in exactly the manner in which you suggest that the very involvement of NRIs at all may be “unwelcome.”
No one is under any obligation to give or do something for anyone else. To me, when I look at the world, I see that I have had a lot of good fortune thrown my way. Not because I was a better person than someone else, and not because I worked harder than that kid who weaves carpets, brings tea, cleans houses etc every day. Just because of that one realization, I feel it is only fair to give back. It is an acknowledgement that I’ve been given more than my share and I never want to forget that and become cold to the fact that not everyone has it and I didn’t earn it more than anyone else.
As far as where you help and how, I think that’s up to you. It’s not restricted to any race, culture or country. However being that I did grow up in Pakistan, I want to make extra sure to help out there, amongst other places. At the same time you do the same for your local community. As far as huge investments, yes there is a great deal of corruption, but just as you would do a ton of research before investing anywhere else, you should do the same in this case. There are many local organizations in all countries that can help with this type of large scale investment. It’s not just about throwing money at a problem. Treating people like human beings is a good start.
The whole NRI thing is kinda bull. Okay, so a few rich people think you’re a bit of an ass for not living in India. So, yeah, to hell with them all right? Sounds like a cop out to me. So, while I don’t think you’re obligated to help anyone or do anything kind for others, sometimes maybe you should, just because you’re lucky enough that you can.
That is more like politics than ‘development’ which is a prime focus at the moment.
it isnt a moral obligation. just follow the money – make them some money – keep a nickel to the dollar – everyone happy. i made the leap last year to hitch my wagon to the indian IT industry. it’s trade – no altruistic reasons here on either part – but both parties benefit.
the problem with charity in india – at least with the one off charitable institutions – is that sustainability is an issue – i dont want to sit around measuring pennies to the value-add – am following the coin to india these days – i guess i am doing my bit.
btw dave, did your dad go to Glancy ? my family’s got a history there.
Anuj – as I read it the post is about “giving,” not about “development.”
glad you pointed out the issue of sustainable charity–think its one far too overlooked in this day and age, especially with NRIs moving to india for shorter stints to work and, ultimately, leave. however, as several in the thread have underscored, that should not be an excuse for not giving back in some capacity. for the amount we american-born brownfolk actually (and proverbially?) take from the motherland, i don’t see how its right to not give back–be it by coin or hand. there is also a power intrinsic to the act of seva itself–however great or small–that can change the course of one’s life entirely. in response to:
No one is under any obligation to give or do something for anyone else.
i add that, were it not for those before us who felt so obliged, none of us would even be here. the hand that gives the rose is sweeter than that which takes it. pay it forward. be obliged.
AK, good point. But I’ll still argue that ‘giving’ through political means is inferior than grassroots organizations and volunteering. After a period of time, the diaspora forgets, carries stale memories and second hand information about their orgininal communities. Getting involved in politics of far away land can only serve a narrow purpose.
I’m not sure if the debate here is whether one ought to give. Most people would vehemently say yes, and argue that as responsible citizens one ought give all that you can – in whatever means sustainable and responsible. The underlying tension is the nationalistic one that AK highlights: giving back, not giving. Should
weI give back to India (or Pakistan, or Sri Lanka, any of the countries or regions that we may have left, but still have some ties to) in particular because of those ties? And if I choose to give back for these nationalistic and nostalgic reasons, are my contributions less legitimate than if my reasons were purely selfless and altruistic?Yes but market forces dont apply to many ideas. that is where it is upto nonprofits to take place. Education is one such area, Sure it does not help any one immidiately but it has a multiplier effect on economy years later. All fundamental research falls in this category. Hummerism is gluttony and being a showoff. In a way it shows lack of value. No one i know was inspired by the likes of chatwal and paris hilton, It is b/c people can sense value.
seema made a point
ok… i’m pretty hard nosed about things – but just wanted to share this. my folks work at a charity hospital near gurgaon – let’s just say all the new prosperity in gurgaon has passed that little village – i went over – (a chance to spend time with your parents… kids – dont let it pass you by ) – and i was just sitting when a little hand went over my eyes… “bhaiyya will you play with me”… – ok … i turn to mush pretty fast . i dont know what they got out of it – i know i came away with a smile.
i am such a cheeseball. crap
@10, Exactly my sentiments. You are incredibly lucky if you are even placed in a position to be able to donate (goes for most NRIs). It is just luck of the draw, very few earn this. Giving back is an acknowledgement of this reality.
It is not necessary you donate to India, Pakistan, or where ever you come from. But it might be something to be encouraged. Why? Because it should not leave your mind that the person you are donating to may have very well been yourself if circumstances had been a little different in the scheme of things. There is humility in realizing that.
It is also why I think second generation desis cannot wash away their hands saying “I am not Indian”, “if I donate to issues that concern ppl where I was born it is enough”, or “desi mentality to send ppl on guilt trips” etc. You can choose not to donate, but do not rationalize it saying it is wrong of people to ask you.
And it is better to pick one issue, one place and concentrate on that in my opinion. Your money goes a longer way. Personally I also like smaller organizations in place of Red Cross etc etc. Less overhead.
AK,
Why is it ‘nationalistic’ to see other Indian people as one’s own people, in ways that people from other parts of the world are not, and want to give to your own people? And what if one has no problems with the ‘conventionally-defined’ attitudes you decry above? In my opionion, these are all individual decisions each person makes. To you, if you feel you have no closer ties to people in India than to people in country A, then by all means contribute (in whatever your concept of contributing is) to anyplace you feel like, in any manner. Why criticise others’ contributions? Some 2nd genners feel very Indian; others don’t at all. Some feel very Punjab/Gujarati/Bengali/Tamil, others don’t. Who are you to judge any of those attitudes. As for the South Asian label, those who take that to heart and really consider themselves South Asian (I’m not one of them) should go ahead and donate/contribute/whatever to Sri Lanka, Pakistan, etc. just as much as India. IF THEY FEEL LIKE.
In reference to the South Asian comment I made above: yes, of course I am South Asian, since my ethnic/cultural roots are in that part of the world; but I don’t really consider myself ‘South Asian’ in some of the very strong terms that many people here feel. It’s not my over-arching identity and it’s not my political cause. But I respect people who for whom it is.
Amitabh – just to clarify, my comment was not intended to judge or criticize anyone’s choices. The post raised a question, and I simply sought to explore some of the unstated assumptions that lie behind the way that question was framed, since that framing does not necessarily encompass the full range of ways in which Indian Americans may choose to engage with and contribute to the improvement of India/South Asia (or, for that matter, any other part of the world), and may in fact be defining some of those contributions out of the picture altogether, even if inadvertantly. Though I certainly don’t sense that you are doing that in your own comment.
here’s another different take on giving – what if NRIs give because India needs it? There are strong philosophical arguments in the aid literature for giving where it is most needed, so under this premise, and notwithstanding all the other motivations/obligations to donate money/time/energy….what about giving those things as an NRI, often because you are better placed to do so financially, than say many Indians.
As an Indian who lives in Delhi, I am bit of an interloper to this issue but here are my own two bits…. You don’t have to be in the US to live a self centered life. Most upper class Indians in Delhi and Mumbai are living lives which do not involve “giving back” or “getting involved” in India in any manner. This issue was raised in Rang De Basanti…. I believe that most Indians –in India or outside-do not have a big thing for philanthropy or volunteering. Indeed I have an impression that many volunteers who work in the Indian social sector are white kids from the west. Indeed I have met many such people; however I have not met any ABCD or BBCD who are working in the non-profit sectors. Most NRIs I meet are now coming to take part in the opportunities that are arising from the Indian economic boom.This is something that is slowly changing though with the likes of Narayahmoorthy in India and some silicon valley entrepreneurs giving money to charities inIndia However I believe the only people who have an obligation to give back to India are those people who took advantage of state subsidized education in India (in IITs for example) and then have been working out of India..
“However I believe the only people who have an obligation to give back to India are those people who took advantage of state subsidized education in India (in IITs for example) and then have been working out of India..”
No Ninad, even they have no “moral obligation” (if ever there was an oxymoron this is it) to give back. I am assuming their folks paid taxes etc and it was from those taxes that the Indian government paid for an IIT/IIM grad’s education. So in fact the grad’s parents already have paid for the education and their wards are under no obligation to give back. It would be great if they do give to their alma maters but expecting them to give back is not kosher in my book.
It can be pointed out that the education is heavily subsidized in these institutions. True, but then there are tonnes of institutions/industries in India that are heavily subsidized by the Indian government. Electricity to households is subsidized by the industrial sector, the train passenger in Indian railways is subsidized by the freight division of IR so by that logic mostly everyone should be giving back. Expecting only the IIT/IIM grads to give back is not fair to them.
Peace
Further to comment #26…………….the Indian tax payer subsidizes the Indian parliamentarians’ travel, phone calls, MPLADS etc. If anyone who should give back it should be these assholes!!!!
Awesum post Dave….. Just as a side issue,I hope you had a good time back in Amritsar.Is the Guru Nanak Mission hospital the one in Jalandhar?Lol…I got tonnes of booster tetanus shots there….
Philanthropy in whatever form is such a personal issue…….you cannt find fault with someone for not practising it.Just one pertinent point from the discussion though:-
I am sorry if it seems like nit-picking but is the trend to give back to India stronger now that India appears to have ‘arrived’.Could it be that the Indian Americans dont feel embarassed to be associated with their country now but 20 years back there was this tendency to shut oneself off(consciously or subconsciously) from the ‘loser motherland’. If yes,the new found altruism might just actually be the equivalent of kissing up the ass of the colleague you know is going to be the boss one day. (and I am not the one to engage in any chest-thumping jingoism here;I actually feel sad at the mindless consumerism Indian society is in the midst of but I also think inspite of all my mis-givings,India’s emergence as an economic semi-superpower is ineveitable)
i like this thread — it raises some interesting ideas.
i work for an indian ngo — and i do a lot of our fundraising work. (shameless plug: http://www.nazindia.org) and our staff have a very keen view of many NRIs who have made it a point to have a relationship with naz, and the children who live in our care home, as a means of giving back to the place that gave so much to them (this is how many of them have articulated it to us). but at the same time, i know that there have been many conversations at work, of which i have been a part of, that spend a lot of time deriding NRIs for various incidents we experience a lot living in the capital. one of them is that the “public persona” of many NRIs is that they don’t actually like India. this can be very frustrating, and demeaning for both indians who love working and living in their country, and foreigners like myself who have made india their home by choice.
“Indeed I have an impression that many volunteers who work in the Indian social sector are white kids from the west. Indeed I have met many such people; however I have not met any ABCD or BBCD who are working in the non-profit sectors. “
i am not a volunteer — but i am a foreigner working in an indian ngo and i would actually contest this statement as i meet a lot of abcd/bbcd’s all the time working in this field — and may i say that almost all of them talk about how their families hate that they do this kind of work and don’t see the point of working in the social sector of india — another side to the coin. they are a bit of black sheep in whatever country they come from because of their choice to serve india in this way, most of their parents ask, “why bother?”
i am enjoying reading what people have to say, because again, every day at work i am in communication with NRI donors around the world who choose our organization to benefit from their choice to give of their own wealth to others. i hope that this is a trend that only grows because the indian middle and upper class is still developing that “giving spirit” and donors (NRIs or otherwise) set an excellent example to this country that there is intrisic value in choosing to give to those less fortunate.
No Fixed Address:
Your 3rd paragraph above is really profound. I think it is the underlying reason for a lot of interest in and identification with India that is going on these days. I don’t think it’s ass-kissing, but it is to some extent jumping on the bandwagon of the ever-growing hype (and reality) that is India. I’m as guilty as anyone, although in my defense I was always interested in India, even as a kid. I like to think that to some extent I was ahead of the curve in anticipating India’s ‘arrival’ but probably I wasn’t. Regardless – if the rest of the world is starting to appreciate the culture and economic presence of your ancestral country, it’s hard to avoid letting that go to your head (even though most of us including myself have absolutely nothing to do with it and can take no credit for it).
Ass kissing may be too strong to describe the new found interest among the ABCDs.
It is probably now more stylish to be Indian or of Indian origin in this country. I am fairly sure it didn’t used to be for a long time (I was a FOB in ’86). And it is still not as chic as say being from the UK or western Europe. Russell Peters (I think) had an bit about that.
Wonder what the chic value of being BBCD in the US is? hmmm
Being Indian had become quite a cool thing here in the UK over the past 7-8 years or so (well, at least until some fellow desis starting blowing up other Brits on the train and so on, but that’s a whole different issue).
That’s right, folks — you don’t have to go all the way to Malaysia to be regarded as hot stuff by the locals. No shizzle.
Although people here aren’t too thrilled about the desi call-centre phenomenon, not to mention the whole outsourcing controversy…..
Wasn’t (isn’t) the captain of the cricket team of Indian origin? I wonder if Hanif Quereshi (sp?) presaged this new ethnic “chic”ness with his movies.
The ex-captain Nasser Hussein was Indian.
I’m not sure if Hanif Kureishi had anything to do with “brown chic” although the dramatisation of his novel The Buddha of Suburbia was very successful here during the very early 90s.
South Asians becoming cool somehow just developed in the mid/late 90s; I think a lot of it was to do with music. Apache Indian laid the groundwork a few years earlier, then later on we had Bally Sagoo, followed by Talvin Singh and Nitin Sawnhey (both very different musical genres, obviously). It also coincided with Meera Syal et al doing their thing on the unexpectedly successful Goodness Gracious Me, which became a huge hit here in the UK and apparently educated the locals about quite a lot of things they had been unaware of. In more recent years we’ve had The Kumars at Number 42, Bend it Like Beckham, bhangra & bollywood influences making their way into mainstream/hip hop music including American artists, Asian hip/hop r’n’b singers achieving mainstream success, and so on. Plus the fact that apparently Indian food is now the number one choice for British people in terms of takeaways and restaurants.
At some point in the mid/late 90s, nehru collars, “khadhi”-style shirts and tops, plus bindis and other forms of Indian jewellery (for the ladies, obviously) also became very popular amongst many of the majority population for a while.
These days there is at least one desi anchor on almost every single major terrestrial news channel too.
So I guess all these developments have been factors in changing the way desis are perceived here (to some extent, anyway — there are still hurdles and misconceptions to overcome). Unlike the US, South Asians are the biggest non-white ethnic group here, so we do have a higher profile because of that too.
Dave writes: >>whether …to give back in some sense. …Shiet, ask me in about forty years.
Quite inadvertently, you’ve stumbled upon the right answer.
The traditional/ancient Indian guideline on “giving back” is tied into the four stages of life, each lasting about 25 years:
Bramhacharya: Study, learn, serve (parents/teachers etc) Grihastashrama: Work, make money, marry, procreate, have fun. Vanaprastha: Retire. Back to simple life(hence the reference to forest dwelling). Play with grandchildren. Serve society, poor and sick people. Give to charity. Disseminate knowledge/experience. Sanyaasa: Detach completely from worldly pleasures, including human association.
Not sure how old you are, but forty years is a pretty close guess.
M. Nam
-sniff- speak for yourself.
we shall walk behind or we shall walk in font, but we shall walk our walk and never be pedestrian. in that, we have been cool, are cool, shall be cool. cactus coccus capsicum.
🙂
Dhaavak,
Good point, although I was referring to the perception of us in the mainstream culture & society 😉
By the way, I should have added in my previous message that Bollywood has also gained a higher profile here in the UK in recent years.
I’m not sure why desis don’t have a more positive and (dare I say) cooler image over in the US, considering the number of South Asian anchors on CNN and (to a slightly lesser extent) Fox News too. What about Monita Rajpal etc ? Hell, there was a time when Riz Khan was one of the most famous faces on CNN.
I think most of the brown faces that you see on CNN may be reserved for the CNNi chaannel. We do have our Dr. Sanjay Gupta (in spite of Newsweek’s choice of Salman Rushdi’s wife on the cover) as poster child for brown about town.
Nowadays, there is a lot of politics associated with charities, especially the bigger ones; they take up political sides for promoting their agendas and get pitted against each other. There were quite a few ‘fights’ between different groups during the post-tsunami relief work in 04-05 for example. All this has kinda put me off. I am tending towards smaller groups to help and give back directly, though this way is more limiting in scope. I guess thats the tradeoff…
Today is St. Patrick’s Day.
I will not focus on Jewish dispora and Israel emotional ties. Let us look at Ireland and Irish diaspora. Ireland is one of the greatest success story of recent times – more than anyone else. From sick man of Europe to a celtic tiger. Everyone chiped in. Let me quote from American Heritage some of the historical context of diaspora and link to nation of origin (yours or your forefathers) [Link].
As goes one of the kitschy Irish sayings emblazoned on every possible household item, “There are two kinds of people in the world: The Irish, and those who would like to be Irish.” (Oh, and then there’s the British.) [From National Review]
Giving back is the norm not an exception. Honestly, we been on the band wagon a little late, but better late than never.
I think this ‘moral obligation’ for NRI’s to give back to India is partly due to the idea that NRI’s in general = well to do if not excess wealth which I am sure we all know is not true.
Else why doesn’t this attitude include well to do Indians within India? What exempts them from their apathy vs NRI’s ?
No its something that is there in every human being indian or otherwise. People are inspired by stories of accomplishment as well as selflessness. Ever wonder why stories of google founder get mailed to every one and not paris hilton, its b/c there is something basic that those stories touch upon The same goes to causes greater than an individual. There was a story of a taxi cab driver supporting rural education in one school in himachal that was forwareded like crazy few years ago,and was covered on ABC as well. Regarding Indians in India I am sure NR narayanamurthy will have an impact. But as long as my US$1=45 there it will have a larger impact there particularly towards things like education. For every freebie i get i donate that amount to supproting primary education in rural india. How much impact i will have is what i allways try to asses. So the questions for me is not weather to give, but how much,to whome, and for what.
IMO, the idea of giving back here as contributing a tiny drop (“Whatever little you can”) to make a ocean didn’t exist back home. Back then, one always rationalized it as – “what can my college do with my 20 rupees?”- never believing in the power of numbers. However, it must be said that its far easier to give here- I simply charge my contributions to my school straight to my credit card, while doing a similar thing for my alma mater back home requires that I make a demand draft and mail it in to the right address. That’s a trip to the bank, and another to the post office.
Its got to be made easier! Alumni assocations, NGOs -are you listening?
A very thought provoking matter you’ve discussed here. But what I am wondering is, why does/must one feel an obligation towards the ‘motherland’? In your case, for instance, having been born and brought up in the US, the argument that ‘you took so much so it’s basic decency to give back something’ really holds no water. More interesting would be the cases of people who have spent considerable amounts of time living in different countries – what of them? Do they owe something to each of the countries they lived in? Or only something to the country where they were born? Or perhaps to the one in which they lived for the most amount of time?
GGK
My point was not to touch upon who shouldn’t or should take upon themselves to act selflessly now and then but more so on why the focus is on NRI’s than the many Indians within India who do have it within their means to do so and don’t.
Kali,
Yes and No.
As Theresa pointed out that middle class Indian have just started to get into habit of philanthropy on a regular basis. However, always a common man in India has given charity for floods, natural disasters for as far I can remember. Maybe, not as well packaged. Both for Indian Ocean tsunami and Kashmir earthquake, the common man stepped in and did great things.
Rich Indian have been doing philanthropy for a long time…….Tatas, Birlas – they have open ecucational institutes (TIFR, BITS, etc.), grass roots organizations fo 100s of years. In fact the Jain Foundation (The Times of India owners) undertook rebuilding of Bhuj after the January 26th, 2001 earthqauke as their mission.
There is room for more, but it is not philanthropy has never existed in India.
Hi, I am the Guy at The Great Indian Anomie blog
1.)That conversation was NOT about charity. Any humane human being can do that.
2.)It was about whether an NRI’s can participate in India’s socio-political discourses. The answer is, an emphatic NO.
India welcomes its sons and daughters with open heart. The crux of the problem is an NRI’s concept of what constitutes “improvement” is different from an Resident Indians concept of it.
How many times do we come across NRI’s who utterly criticize,condemn,preach,caricature Indian culture and Indian politicians? Refer to the comment at #29.
This is what I have said
There is a world of difference between saying/doing something from within and without. You are not accountable or going to live with whatever you are saying/doing about India. Whereas resident indians have a stake in it. It is going to affect them.
It is your concern to prove your loyalty. Otherwise, you are as good as an alien. Giving respect or otherwise to the opinion of an alien is a resident indian’s prerogative.
My appeal to ya all: You only have the right to love India in whatever way it is now. To seek change in a way to fit your own whims and fantasies, sorry, no thanks.
Hey, I am an NRI too.
Hey.. Nice post.. Its a tough question.. Its more a question of whether whatever you wanna do is ENOUGH for the country.. or do u owe something more than that to the country… Monetary investment would be good to start with.. If you wish to do more, you can always.. But being a proper Indian, I think its the duty of all the NRIs to give back something to their motherland..
Kush I see your point and didn’t mean to imply philanthropy hasn’t existed in India.
But to counter that, on what basis is it assumed that NRI’s do not contribute?Are there some statistics? Is there some kind of research that has been done into this? Chances are I donated for the 2001 Gujarat earthquake, the tsunami etc. but didn’t feel the need to tell anyone about it because I didn’t do it for the opportunity to brag.
So isn’t there an assumption being made as to whether or not I did contribute?