Last year, on the day of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump's Presidential elections, our class was quite frantic. Most of my classmates either have a U.S. citizenship or plans to go abroad to the U.S. to study, at post-grad, graduation, or under-grad level , itself! So it made perfect sense that Trump's victory concerned them.
Maybe we want to go abroad to pursue our dreams, and it's all fine if we're set upon Oxford, or fashion designing in Paris, or Sports Management in a laid-back, rugged place like Australia, or business in Canada, or research in, say, Antarctica(!), etc. However, if we Indians are looking at the overseas for its glamour-adding quotient, we might be mistaken. Life abroad may be harder than we believe it is.
Here let me stress that there is no reason for us to be ashamed of being Indian. There are reasons, however, for us to assuage any patriotic-sensation.
1. There are over a 1000 languages that we can learn without feeling that they don't belong to us.
2. There are over 500 dishes, 500 kinds of desserts, and above 300 varieties of appetizers that share a tag with us- they too are 'Indian'!
3. Our country is scenic and the versatility of our peninsula makes it more pristine than many prettier countries that just seem to good to be true.
4. Our climate is perfect. There are barely any extremes, and it isn't extremely bare, either! (implies, there are quite some variations in climate)
5. We are a peaceful nation. We don't mean harm to any other country, and hence are at no risk from anybody.
6. We are democratic. We don't have a Hitler at our head. (Let's be grateful!)
There are so many other reasons that they outnumber my patience in listing them down. India is a wonderful country.
A couple of years ago, my family and I had made a trip to Hong Kong. The last day of the package included a sightseeing tour. The guide was extremely energetic and cheerful, and she kept the spirits of the two families she was in charge of, quite high. However, at the commencement of our tour, when she told us that she had ensured there were two Indian families together so that we could mingle and feel at ease, I felt ashamed, embarrassed and disappointed. I knew that we would not be able to converse well because of regional and linguistic gaps (in spite of both knowing English and Hindi!). This is because, India is so diverse that we associate our identity not with our country, but with our state or city. Let's change this together.
We cannot stop at India being wonderful. We need to make her better. So if you look at the overseas solely for glamour, remember that trying to make India a better place, has a fair share of glitz to it, too! ( a far more grounded, humble glitz)
However, if you have dreams that are broken by the barrier that the seas pose, do not hesitate to go beyond our little world to fulfill them!
Maybe we want to go abroad to pursue our dreams, and it's all fine if we're set upon Oxford, or fashion designing in Paris, or Sports Management in a laid-back, rugged place like Australia, or business in Canada, or research in, say, Antarctica(!), etc. However, if we Indians are looking at the overseas for its glamour-adding quotient, we might be mistaken. Life abroad may be harder than we believe it is.
Here let me stress that there is no reason for us to be ashamed of being Indian. There are reasons, however, for us to assuage any patriotic-sensation.
1. There are over a 1000 languages that we can learn without feeling that they don't belong to us.
2. There are over 500 dishes, 500 kinds of desserts, and above 300 varieties of appetizers that share a tag with us- they too are 'Indian'!
3. Our country is scenic and the versatility of our peninsula makes it more pristine than many prettier countries that just seem to good to be true.
4. Our climate is perfect. There are barely any extremes, and it isn't extremely bare, either! (implies, there are quite some variations in climate)
5. We are a peaceful nation. We don't mean harm to any other country, and hence are at no risk from anybody.
6. We are democratic. We don't have a Hitler at our head. (Let's be grateful!)
There are so many other reasons that they outnumber my patience in listing them down. India is a wonderful country.
A couple of years ago, my family and I had made a trip to Hong Kong. The last day of the package included a sightseeing tour. The guide was extremely energetic and cheerful, and she kept the spirits of the two families she was in charge of, quite high. However, at the commencement of our tour, when she told us that she had ensured there were two Indian families together so that we could mingle and feel at ease, I felt ashamed, embarrassed and disappointed. I knew that we would not be able to converse well because of regional and linguistic gaps (in spite of both knowing English and Hindi!). This is because, India is so diverse that we associate our identity not with our country, but with our state or city. Let's change this together.
We cannot stop at India being wonderful. We need to make her better. So if you look at the overseas solely for glamour, remember that trying to make India a better place, has a fair share of glitz to it, too! ( a far more grounded, humble glitz)
However, if you have dreams that are broken by the barrier that the seas pose, do not hesitate to go beyond our little world to fulfill them!
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