NRIs

I met a NRI (Non resident Indian) a couple of weeks ago & had a fairly long discussion with him on quite a few things. The discussion just pissed me off. Let me explain.

The view that this guy had was that we Indians are not doing much to retain our culture, that we are getting westernized & that we have become very money oriented. Well, to a certain extent, he is correct. We have come to like our McDonald's & our Pizza Huts, we are doing business with a lot of companies in the US & we have bowed our heads to capitalist tendencies. But I certainly dont think we have forgotten our culture.

Here is this guy who, ironically, left this culture & this country to make money in the US & now is talking about how the people here are not doing much about the culture. It's people like him who are causing all the damage in the first place.

When I travel outside of India, I am on my absolute best behaviour. Mainly because I carry the image of India along with me. And it is very important to me that the world has a good, and justifiably so, opinion of my country.

There are people in this wonderous country who have done things that no one has before. The challanges that this country faces are faced by none other. And it is still the country whose more-than-5000-year culture can be seen every single day in every single part of the country. That's what makes this country so different & so brilliant.

And then along comes this man who has the same opinion of his country as the rest of the world. Snippets that he has seen in some period movie like Gandhi or photos that were taken by his grand parents. He still thinks that there are cows running amok on the streets of our sities, that we are all used to sidestepping cowdung on the streets, that people of this country still exclusively work towards agriculture.

And that is a bull-shit view of this country. And that's why I am pissed. People here have very normal lives. And I think the world should realise that it's difficult for most of the software & BPO companies coming up in India to work with bad roads, cowdung on the streets & people riding cows to work.

I think Indians are the ones who are responsible for this perception that the world has of us. And nobody can change it but us.

So here is a humble plea for all Indians. Please project the right image of this country. India deserves a lot more than what you ungrateful lowlives make it out to be.

And to all people who are not Indian, firstly my deepest sympathies. Secondly, please understand that India is the only country in it's history to NEVER invade another country. We welcome people with open arms. So please try and look beyond the regular symptoms of a growing country. You will see a country which will dazzle you & leave you with memories you will cherish your whole life.

For Indians who dont agree with me on this one, you are, as far as I am conserned, NRIs. Not Required Indians!