10 months into the glorious land of opportunities (aka US of A) and how do I feel? Well, a mixed bag of emotions really. Pleased to see Indians all around, I never really felt out of place here. With my colleagues around me always, it was a cake-walk and needed no amount of "adjustment" into the foreign land.
All was going well, till we started interacting with the supposedly "American" boss and his colleagues. We have these small "know-your-team" kind of meetings from time to time which are more or less restricted to drawing comparisons between Indian ways and American ways. A round table conversation goes something like this:
Participants : T, J, Ty,Ru, Boss and I (*)
* - Names have been changed to protect identity.
Boss (on a telecon to some female) : So, where do u sit, xyz? (I dont remember her name :-))
xyz : Oh, its a beautiful cubicle, you know, kind of overlooking the river. It's very peaceful.
Boss: Ah, that's awesome!!!! Ashwini, do you have rivers in India, do you know how a river is like?
Me : Ofcourse! Haven't you heard of the Ganges?
T : I believe 'that' river is very polluted. Studies have shown that...(followed by some factual gibberish)
Ty : Whoa, that's unbelievable!!!
Ashwini : Well, we believe that Ganges is the most pious river and we worship her.
J : That's weird. How can you guys believe in that sort of thing?
Ru - (He's a GCH - Green Card Holder) - Well, we do. (followed by I-cant-help-that kind of look)
One of my friends faced a similar situation.Once a guy on Virginia beach asked her, “You are from India? Have you seen a beach before? Do you have beaches in India?”
Her response - "Go and get some GK. Ask any child in India and he will tell you the names of 7 oceans, and also the names of continents they cover."
So, this is it. There are immense differences between the two cultures but what irkes me is that the way these people make you realise of the fallacies of your culture.Now, I have been brought up in a pretty un-orthodox environment where the focus was more on studies but not on following the religion as such. But I am still very proud of my culture and will always be. Every culture has some idiosyncracies which fade away with time. Why? Because society evolves and culture is nothing but the norms created by the society. Atleast we have a culture, a history - they dont!
But then, do culture and history play so much of an important part for any country is my argument? I see things out here and notice the remarkable difference between Us and Them. A few examples which have stood out for me are:
1. Cleanliness - We folks have a long way to go in this aspect. This is the first thing that strikes you when you land here. The Cleanliness.
2. Protecting the historic monuments - This is something that I have always felt strongly about. India has had a rich history and can easily bank on the foreigners coming in. Although efforts are now being made to promote Brand India, but still, we need to protect these monuments too. Not only the TajMahal but we need to take care of all of them equally.
I can site many more examples about "Us and Them" but ....nevermind!
These folks have carved a niche for themselves here and the resultant cockiness is quite justifiable. We clearly have a long way to go before we can meet upto them. So, many a times, the arguments that these folks put forward are valid ones.
Like, while I was on a flight recently, my neighbour asked me - "Are you an Indian?"I replied affirmative and she said, "Oh, I have been to India too!!"I asked her how she found India and her answer amused me.
She said - "India is like an organzied chaos". I didnt know how to react, so she explained me saying that - "You know, everyone knows in India that it is a chaotic situation, in every field, but you guys find way out of everything, its like - like..." she couldnt explain it to me.
So I added "Like being trapped in a 'known' maze"????
And then it dawned upon me. We are indeed trapped in a 'known' maze - blinded by our faiths and angered by helplessness we face at the hands of innumerable factors which we have labeled as "beyond control". That's the magic called India.
Always defending by saying that we have a rich history and culture is not going to help. Its time we checked our premises again.
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