I came across this article about the Indian diaspora which also includes some comments about the current state of affairs within India.
Karma, fate or whatever, has a role to play in the lives of nations as much as individuals. Many of the fore-runners of the “educated” Indians that emigrated, belong to my generation. This post is to give a picture of those days as seen from inside the country.
The sixties were the time when the IITs and other higher education institutions were churning out engineers, scientists and doctors but the infrastructure could not provide opportunities for either advanced education or employment within a rigid socialist pattern of governance.
Even the young people coming out of these institutions of higher education were products of the privileged political or bureaucratic class which had a strangle hold on good quality primary education compared to the facilities available for the ordinary citizens. Special schools were set up for children of government/defense employees on the pretext that the parents were subject to transfers and the children needed to be provided with consistent education. These parents also had special allowances to educate the children, denied to the tax paying ordinary citizens.
The other kind of education available was mostly through religious missionary institutions, of one of which, I am a product. Here the cost of education was quite high and few non government employees could afford such education for their children. Despite that, many did succeed in India and they stayed behind and are part of the back bone of today’s India’s strengths. We now see a reversal of brain drain taking place with diaspora beginning to return to India.
Today’s India is a very different one to that of my generation. There is however much more to be done and the media, industry and various think tanks are pressurising our government to speed up the completion of our reform process. There are encouraging signals coming from Delhi and the next tranche of measures are expected shortly.
If that goes through, the trickle of returning diaspora is likely to become a flood and some very interesting things are likely to happen. To start with, I expect to see some drop in local remunerations for technology employees. Some impact on real estate prices can also take place mostly upward.
What I dread most is the increase in the number of vehicles on our roads! And dare I say, some confusion on the roads as we drive on the left side of our roads.
Ramana, it will be 50 years in 2012 since I came to Scotland and my returns to the motherland has shown an upward trend in the standard of living in India. I have watched this from afar and there are things to admire like the increased tendency to provide good roads and overhead passes to accommodate the huge number of vehicles, the affluence of the middle class, the availability of every kind of goods etc. The average Indian is also showing great signs of inventiveness and self confidence (even the cricket team, despite the thrashing by the English now looks upon being a respected team as a given whereas in my day, India were glad just to draw a game of cricket) but there are downside which I regret. The family togetherness that used to be the hallmark of India is now rapidly disappearing, more and more of the younger generation are now living away from their parents, and there is much talk of sending father or mother to an old person’s home. Now, much as this is in line with the western way, I wish we could marry the two cultures in a more caring way, but that is progress and I guess that I will alwys remain a troglodyte when it comes to family closeness. Having missed that for 50 years, you can imagine why that is special to me.
Rummuser Reply:
August 5th, 2011 at 09:22
Yes, but compromises are being made and family togetherness in some respects is made closer with modern communication methods. Not as good as the old days, but better than what it was say twenty years ago.
I’d like to see some the respect for elders and the vulnerable, float this way. We westerners are fast losing it and the modern age of technology is turning us into loners.
Rummuser Reply:
August 5th, 2011 at 09:19
What goes around comes around GM and it will all return. Perhaps not in our life time, but return it will eventually.
Barath makes an excellent point about marrying two cultures but frankly I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for that to happen.
Rummuser Reply:
August 5th, 2011 at 09:18
SM, I hope that you and our mutual friend will find the opportunities to get Barath and me more in person. You will find it that it is possible.
My question is, is the so called progress and modernity worth all this? Can it be justified? It is fine that educated youngsters as I can see with my friends and cousins in India are doing fairly well but at the cost of giving their children a childhood of isolation and superficiality; not being able to care for old parents; not being able to add any amount of social value…the list goes on! The result is disastrous, and will be more as years go by. I like most Indians am usually quite an optimistic person but I feel we must also become pragmatic and accept the reality and try to anticipate the future that’s coming our way. Is this what our ancestors wanted for us? Is this what we would want for our future generations? A life of consumerism, materialism, thoughtless selfishness?
The west is now recovering from this and increasingly adopting a lifestyle which was once a cornerstone of our culture…its sad now that the trends are reversing so drastically. Good luck to those who are sane not to fall for it, but frankly the indifference to preserving our way of life, which does in fact happen to be quite near perfection is disheartening.
I don’t know what’s this to do with Indians Abroad, but I suppose being one myself, this is what I can see from the other side of the fence.
Rummuser Reply:
August 5th, 2011 at 09:12
Rohit, I am not fully aware of your background to give you an answer that will make sense to you. In my personal life I have tried to achieve a balance and think that I have succeeded within and without my family. You can see from your side of the fence, through the eyes of my brother Barath who has left a comment in this post.
Rohit Reply:
August 6th, 2011 at 05:02
@ Sir Ramana: My comment was in fact inspired by reading that post you mention. It is a strange feeling being an observer to what once was the life I had. Anyhow, I am glad you managed to achieve that fine balance, not all are capable of such feats and those who do indeed deserve the greatest accolade in today’s age!
As for my background, well I was born in a small town of southern Maharashtra, raised in Mumbai until the age of 15 when I moved to London with my parents. Since then I’ve been out here finding my way through this maze but still longing to return back to India as soon as I can. That’s where my heart is…over here it is just trying to make a living
Rummuser Reply:
August 7th, 2011 at 13:13
I doubt that capability is the problem. Attitude and carelessness could be. Trying to make a living, don’t loose track of your life.
Isn’t it the same everywhere? Financial success rarely accommodates extended family intimacy ( I see this in my own family and we are two generations removed from tenant dirt farmers). Most can’t see what we’ve lost. I do. But the pendulum is swinging….
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