Nowadays it has become a passion for most young Indians -- and also their elderly parents - to "settle" abroad, as if India is not enough for them and they need special facilities abroad. They are happy there for a while and even take pride in saying they are "living abroad" and consider themselves superior to the ordinary Indians living in India.
Until a jolt jars their lives. They discover that they are not eternal and immortal and will not live "forever" even abroad. In fact when they die they will be buried or cremated in foreign lands and their ashes brought back to India to be immersed in the Ganges.
The jolt can also come in other ways. They may think they have become "anglicized" and adapt fancy foreign accents-- but to the foreigners in whose country they are living, they will always be foreigners, no matter how much they try to amalgamate themselves into the foreign society.
A recent incident in the US has jolted the Indian Community there to the fact that they are all "foreigners" in a foreign land and not "Americans" as they thought they were, despite their citizenship and green cards.
Let the Indians living abroad not forget that they will always be "colored men" living in foreign countries no matter how white their complexion and no matter which whitening creams they apply.
Some well settled Indian young man may have asked his parents to come and live with him in the US, especially to serve as nanny to his children, since baby sitters are expensive to get in the US.
This elderly Indian gentleman, in keeping with his Indian habits, went for a walk strolling outside on the pavement.
Some paranoid American woman in the neighborhood called the police, and complained of a "suspicious character " loitering outside.
He was a "colored man".
And so the police cornered this innocent elderly Indian and asked him who he was and where he came from and what he was doing loitering in front of houses. The elderly gentleman knew very little English and could not answer their questions.
The next instant the policemen pounced upon him and threw him to the ground on his face, while handcuffing his hands at the back.
The Indian began to bleed. His neck was broken and he was half paralysed, and it is doubtful if he will ever regain full normalcy.
So much for a trip abroad, so much for "settling abroad". This could happen to people in any country of the world where they are looked upon suspiciously merely for being foreigners.
My advice to the young Indians is to be content with what you get in India, which is a fairly prosperous country these days. Dont run after too many dollars or you will come to grief one day. Dont make Foreign Countries your pilgrimage centre in life and dont forget your spiritual values in life, one of which is contentment.
People who are not content inside their hearts, will never be content anywhere in the world.
And please let your parents live in peace in their motherland and dont call them to yourselves abroad to act as "nannys" to your progeny there, and to live in an alien land.
Until a jolt jars their lives. They discover that they are not eternal and immortal and will not live "forever" even abroad. In fact when they die they will be buried or cremated in foreign lands and their ashes brought back to India to be immersed in the Ganges.
The jolt can also come in other ways. They may think they have become "anglicized" and adapt fancy foreign accents-- but to the foreigners in whose country they are living, they will always be foreigners, no matter how much they try to amalgamate themselves into the foreign society.
A recent incident in the US has jolted the Indian Community there to the fact that they are all "foreigners" in a foreign land and not "Americans" as they thought they were, despite their citizenship and green cards.
Let the Indians living abroad not forget that they will always be "colored men" living in foreign countries no matter how white their complexion and no matter which whitening creams they apply.
Some well settled Indian young man may have asked his parents to come and live with him in the US, especially to serve as nanny to his children, since baby sitters are expensive to get in the US.
This elderly Indian gentleman, in keeping with his Indian habits, went for a walk strolling outside on the pavement.
Some paranoid American woman in the neighborhood called the police, and complained of a "suspicious character " loitering outside.
He was a "colored man".
And so the police cornered this innocent elderly Indian and asked him who he was and where he came from and what he was doing loitering in front of houses. The elderly gentleman knew very little English and could not answer their questions.
The next instant the policemen pounced upon him and threw him to the ground on his face, while handcuffing his hands at the back.
The Indian began to bleed. His neck was broken and he was half paralysed, and it is doubtful if he will ever regain full normalcy.
So much for a trip abroad, so much for "settling abroad". This could happen to people in any country of the world where they are looked upon suspiciously merely for being foreigners.
My advice to the young Indians is to be content with what you get in India, which is a fairly prosperous country these days. Dont run after too many dollars or you will come to grief one day. Dont make Foreign Countries your pilgrimage centre in life and dont forget your spiritual values in life, one of which is contentment.
People who are not content inside their hearts, will never be content anywhere in the world.
And please let your parents live in peace in their motherland and dont call them to yourselves abroad to act as "nannys" to your progeny there, and to live in an alien land.
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