Interesting op-ed from Pioneer, 5 July 2007
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Slavish about American desis
.....
All this happened five years ago. Memories of that dubious enterprise came flooding back when I saw the Indian media going gaga over the achievements of Sunita Williams, providing them with more than "appropriate coverage". For some strange reason, media insisted that we must celebrate Ms Williams's exploits in outer space as if she were an Indian and the glory was ours. She is a second generation American by birth (born of mixed parentage) and her decision to carry a copy of the Bagavad Gita and a statuette of Ganesh with her during her foray into space merely reflect her personal faith, not her Indian identity. But the Indian media's obsession with the feats of people of Indian origin who are now citizens of other countries is not limited to dramatic exploits like spending the longest time in space or taking more than one space walk. For instance, every time an 'Indian American' becomes the CEO of a multinational company, joins the league of millionaires after selling a start-up company, becomes the youngest med school graduate, writes a trashy pulp novel about the 'immigrant experience' of an American born confused desi and then is found to have plagiarised someone else's work, or is elevated to a district court as the "first woman judge of Indian origin", our newspaper journalists and news channel anchors start doing cartwheels. Not to be outdone, the Government of India honours some of them with medals from the Padma series that are now mass-minted.
Similarly, a big show is made of the annual jamboree known as the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas where politicians trip over each other to woo potential investors who can trace their origin to this land of ours but are loath to return to the land of their ancestors. Usually the lot from the US are the most sought after at such events, as they are perceived to be the most loaded. And while our US-based desis (Oh how they hate this term and would love to be known as Americans!) hold forth on the wondrous things they could do for India provided numerous exemptions are made, we grovel at their feet and offer them the moon.
<b>In all this, we lose sight of two simple facts. First, while the majority of accomplished Indians make a conscious decision to stay back because they believe their matribhoomi is also their karmabhoomi, only a minority travels abroad and, on the first available opportunity, swaps nationality and acquires a phoney accent. There's nothing wrong with exercising this choice just as there's nothing wrong about placing personal comfort over national interest; but having exercised the choice, there's everything wrong with being preachy to the people who chose not to migrate and tell them how to manage their country's affairs.</b> Second, there's no reason to fall for the claptrap about desis abroad wanting to serve the country of their origin.<b> A minuscule minority is possibly motivated by altruistic reasons and its contribution is praiseworthy.</b> But the vast majority of 'do gooders', including those who have managed to establish themselves as lobbyists for American firms and the US Administration, as also those who have made enough money from selling chicken tikka to contribute to the election funds of presidential hopefuls, are motivated by reasons that are not altogether bereft of financial gains. That's fine, so long as they are upfront about it and we treat them as no different from Americans who can trace their ancestry to Anglo-Saxon roots.
The problem is we don't. We look at them in wide-eyed wonder and make them feel important enough to tell us how to run our lives.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Slavish about American desis
.....
All this happened five years ago. Memories of that dubious enterprise came flooding back when I saw the Indian media going gaga over the achievements of Sunita Williams, providing them with more than "appropriate coverage". For some strange reason, media insisted that we must celebrate Ms Williams's exploits in outer space as if she were an Indian and the glory was ours. She is a second generation American by birth (born of mixed parentage) and her decision to carry a copy of the Bagavad Gita and a statuette of Ganesh with her during her foray into space merely reflect her personal faith, not her Indian identity. But the Indian media's obsession with the feats of people of Indian origin who are now citizens of other countries is not limited to dramatic exploits like spending the longest time in space or taking more than one space walk. For instance, every time an 'Indian American' becomes the CEO of a multinational company, joins the league of millionaires after selling a start-up company, becomes the youngest med school graduate, writes a trashy pulp novel about the 'immigrant experience' of an American born confused desi and then is found to have plagiarised someone else's work, or is elevated to a district court as the "first woman judge of Indian origin", our newspaper journalists and news channel anchors start doing cartwheels. Not to be outdone, the Government of India honours some of them with medals from the Padma series that are now mass-minted.
Similarly, a big show is made of the annual jamboree known as the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas where politicians trip over each other to woo potential investors who can trace their origin to this land of ours but are loath to return to the land of their ancestors. Usually the lot from the US are the most sought after at such events, as they are perceived to be the most loaded. And while our US-based desis (Oh how they hate this term and would love to be known as Americans!) hold forth on the wondrous things they could do for India provided numerous exemptions are made, we grovel at their feet and offer them the moon.
<b>In all this, we lose sight of two simple facts. First, while the majority of accomplished Indians make a conscious decision to stay back because they believe their matribhoomi is also their karmabhoomi, only a minority travels abroad and, on the first available opportunity, swaps nationality and acquires a phoney accent. There's nothing wrong with exercising this choice just as there's nothing wrong about placing personal comfort over national interest; but having exercised the choice, there's everything wrong with being preachy to the people who chose not to migrate and tell them how to manage their country's affairs.</b> Second, there's no reason to fall for the claptrap about desis abroad wanting to serve the country of their origin.<b> A minuscule minority is possibly motivated by altruistic reasons and its contribution is praiseworthy.</b> But the vast majority of 'do gooders', including those who have managed to establish themselves as lobbyists for American firms and the US Administration, as also those who have made enough money from selling chicken tikka to contribute to the election funds of presidential hopefuls, are motivated by reasons that are not altogether bereft of financial gains. That's fine, so long as they are upfront about it and we treat them as no different from Americans who can trace their ancestry to Anglo-Saxon roots.
The problem is we don't. We look at them in wide-eyed wonder and make them feel important enough to tell us how to run our lives.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->