And why is it that an NRI complaining about the roads or the school system become such a grave social sin – I have both appreciated my school as well as complained about it when I was a student in India and I don’t see anything wrong with that. And now if I do that as an NRI – I am suddenly branded as the one with the wrong attitude.
Further, just as you know “these people” that you have such an issue with, I am sure if you make an effort to seek out NRIs who have returned to India and made a positive difference to the society there – I am sure you will find many.

I must admit I was offended by your write-up but that said it is not my intention to offend you in return. But I believe in letting people know why I think they are wrong and being absolutely straightforward about it.

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I’m impressed! At 18, I barely knew how to use a pencil-sharpener. You already understand sarcasm! I’d say the next generation is in great shape (one of the reasons I returned to India).

Of course there are NRIs who stereotype India – it’s not like you’re imagining things. However (and I only say this because you asked), it’s perhaps more educational to study their stereotypes from a sociological perspective rather than an emotional one, because of the following rule:

Neo’s rule of stereotyping: “Often stereotypes reveal more about the stereotyper (stereotypist?) than the stereotypee.”

I’ve had a draft post forever on stereotyping, but I didn’t post it because I thought I was stereotyping the stereotypers, which of course (by applying the rule above) would reveal more about me than about the stereotypers. :-)

-Neo

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So what exactly did you find offensive?
I apologize if I sounded “stereotypical”. But I guess you know which section of the diaspora I’m referring to. Obviously I’m not talking about the Indian taxi-drivers,labourers,cooks, nurses. I’m not describing the labourers and menials living(?) in the middle-east.
I know there are many “NRIs” trying to make things better in India, and I don’t say coming back to live here is a must. I personally don’t see anything wrong in living abroad for a good career.
What I don’t like is this refugee attitude among many of these people, and I find some of them here. The way they speak suggests that they’ve just escaped a war-zone. The things they complain about are understandable if they are from an African or a Serbian. But when I see Indians whining like that, I take umbrage. Simply because they are also a part of the problem.(Mujhe aisa lagta hai, period. You are elder but I don’t see why I should rationalize or justify that to anyone. Even my own parents argue with me on this many times.)
Please don’t forget that it is India where you got such an opportunity to live in America.This is where the educational-institutes thing really galls me .And I think I’ve described well enough why you should not talk about things like poverty when you have never experienced it yourselves.
Thanks, and again I apologize if I it sounded offensive to anyone. Maybe I’m not old enough to talk about these things. If you think so, just dismiss this as the ravings of a bored Indian schoolboy with an irrational(?) sense of patriotism. I guess many of you would have done that already.

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Just wanted to thank you for addressing all of “us” NRIs in the same comment – after all, “people like us” are all the same – all 30 million of us.

-Neo

PS: We tried all living in the same gated community but we couldn’t agree on the correct shade of beige for the walls.

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According to me, the biggest trait of a “Global Indian” is:
Acceptance of the fact that every society has drawbacks. You talk about bad roads, dirt,poverty,etc. Are you saying America is Paradise?

Wherever you’ve lived, you’ve been cloistered in affluent neighbourhoods. So you can never understand poverty, nor can you connect with the masses anywhere.

You can never understand the hardships faced by the inner-city woman struggling to get foodstamps for her children, you can never understand the hassles an average Brooklyner has to tolerate everyday, you can never understand the plight of the victims of America’s (sometimes)atrocious criminal justice system.(www.wardandfontenot.com) Have you ever bothered to do something about the skyrocketing number of homeless in DC?You are aloof,closed in your Indian communities there.

I’d been to America when I was 14, and I loved it. There is respect for talent and the people are hardworking(You claim to know them, but I doubt you’d ever meet them. They are the taxi-drivers,restaurant waiters,students working in ice-cream parlours parttime. You won’t find such people in your gated communities. Even if you do,I guess you’d consider it below your dignity to interact with them.)

India is home to millions of such people. Struggling against odds to live a better life. Right from the child selling bananas on the road to the urban houswife starting a tree-plantation programme in her society(different from gated communities.People know each other here. And worse, they are INDIANS,filthy Indians.)

You claim to have had the “best of both worlds”. I think you have only inherited the worst in both cultures. From here, you have inherited a superiority complex, having origins dating back to the Vedic period, when the caste-system was introduced. As for America , all you seem to know about her is Starbucks,lavish parties,six-figure-salaries,and a cossetted existence.

I met a lot of wonderful people in America. Really nice people. I made many friends. I have friends in Pennsylvania,Georgia,Ohio, and Boston. I’m grateful to them for having enlightened me on the finer aspects of America and I suppose they are grateful to me since I told them many interesting things about India, good and bad. Compare this camaraderie of a normal American or a Jamaican to the disgusting stare of an Indian-American Telugu fellow who refused to talk to me because “We hate Tamils”(No, I’m serious.) Or just as you admitted,an American of Indian origin asking me “sheevaaji choke kidhaar haaay” thinking I’m a “slumdog” who can only understand Hindi.

So judging by these experiences, I can say I’m much more of an American than you guys are.
I’m also a lot more Indian.

I can interact more freely with an average Joe in DC than you, I can interact with American students to mutually solve our problems. At the same time, I can return to live here in India, argue with the rickshawallahs, get jostled in Mumbai locals and maybe try to do something about the pollution and traffic jams rather than moaning about it on some stupid blog.

Well all I can say in conclusion is people don’t care about “NRIs” anymore. All I have noticed is a general indifference and sometimes even annoyance. It is very irritating when you complain about bad roads yet don’t do anything about it, or when you complain about racism in the US without making an effort to talk to an American.(trying not to ask how many doctorates he has)

It is now cool to be Indian. I eat pizza, listen to eminem, love McDonald’s,wear the latest branded clothes.
Yet I’ve attended a middle-class “pathetic Indian school” and live in a housing colony with fellow filthy Indians whom you abhor. I am going to attend a typical “pathetic Indian” college and all I can say is,
India is cool \m/* and if you’re so bloody unhappy here, go back. People like you and the Mitra Kalita types are probably not needed here at all.

*\m/(It’s the hippie symbol for world peace, I think. I find it cool. You must have come across it in the States.)
Peace.

PS: It is funny you people make such a noise about schools and colleges when you yourself studied in such institutions. Well I can understand if you don’t want your kids to become CCLDs(Confused Condescending Lethargic Desis) like you :P.

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Let me know how it goes! Good luck!

-Neo

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Sorry, no clue. Doesn’t Yahoo messenger have a free SMS thingy ?

-Neo

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Sort of off topic..what is the best way to send SMS messages to India? Folks are with BSNL.

Thanks!
-Mallika

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Which one? The Chhatrapati Shivaji University, The Chhatrapati Shivaji University or The Chhatrapati Shivaji University? Oh and there’s The Chhatrapati Shivaji University too!

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Well “newly returned Indian” was supposed to be a play on “NRI”, like I’m no longer an NRI, but I’m still an “NRI”. Like some Schroedinger’s cat thing. It seemed really witty at 2am. :-P
Oh darn. I think I need a new tagline. There goes the next month.

-Neo

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Wow has it already been 2 years ? When are you moving ?

-Neo

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http://bit.ly/18Gjb9

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