US Returned Indian
Last weekend,I was at home .It was late afternoon; the late hot sunshine ,filtering through my bedroom window, was sending trickles of sweat down my body,soaking the thin t-shirt that I had worn.As I lied on the bed trying to catch a wink of sleep, the doorbell rang.I got up to open the door,my mom who however reached it first,opened it.And behold!!,there stood my cousin who was recently back from the US.And,yes you heard me right US(USA -United States of America),my mother's expression changed to that of admiration-here was a person in our family who has returned from America(what an achievement!!!).My mom said "Yen paa AMERICA ka hogi bandi ?..antha yen namma na marta bitti yena?" in Kannada .It meant "You ,had been to America..so you forgot us or what ?" ,there was a special emphasis on America,it was given that special stress as if to show great importance to it.I was not shocked at my mother's bewilderment or talk .For similarly,there have been several instances of people who have returned from the US being placed on the pedestal of worship(as if they have won a war or something similar!!).For instance ,I heard my friend's mom speak to my mom saying "my son you know, is going to the US!!" ,another typical instance has been "Have you gone to the US??" -No?..then what you get is an expression of shock and disbelief!!!.Another very interesting instance that I remember,was when at a wedding(I rarely attend any, but it was good that I attended this, in the light of my thoughts on the US returned Indians),I heard the two middle aged men,besides me conversing- One said"Good for Sindhu,she is getting married into a good family",the other replied "Haa..the boy is also good..seems he had been to the US!!".I was very much bemused..and even more so when the guruji who had come to bless the couple.said that it was an honour for the people of the town as the daughter was getting married to a person who had been to the US!! man was I rolling down ?
My observation has been that ,our past generation ,considers the US to be the sky ,for the present generation though the feelings are mixed, but certainly not of honour and acheivement-for some -its a hip,for others its the heaven to earn money,for some more its the way to go!!
But have we ever thought ,is it that important to have been/visited the US, has any American considered himself great for having been in India-(bad example ,are you laughing ?!!)... lets say more developed regions like the UK,Europe etc..Certainly not ,correct me if I am wrong..but they would certainly have visited/been in these countries on a tour,business,vacation..but very remotely to earn respect and become great ,on being back to US!!.Greatness is in the deeds...we do..
I will agree that US is a great country....very superior, advanced..but it does not give me anything that can make me great..it certainly did not :)..atleast not to me in my very short visit there..I realize that it is upto us to do something that is worth being called exclusively remarkable!!Just going to the US isnt going to change you..I was still my ordinary self when I was there .. and there were no machines to change me :)
Concluding, I am pretty much sure that Americans don't consider that if a fellow American has been to India, then its an achievement.They just consider it as part of the business.
So certainly, one thing is in an onus on all of us Indians..to give each American a feeling of greatness for having been in India!!!!
posted by Amarnath Karwekar @ 9:19 PM
12 Comments:
Very well written.
The day is not very far when India will be a land of green pastures and people will come to India to make money. This is just a transition phase.
-Anoop
Its true, very common experiences!! Not just the 'US-return' status but our society considers anything that is out-of-reach to a common-man is Great!
Owning a cellphone or maruti 800 was great few years back, but not anymore. Once it becomes common, the fascination goes! Same way I am sure once every other person is a 'US-return' the tag will lose its fame :-)
Good post, keep writing!
Well written Amar...
Very much relevent to what the current society thinks. And this "US Return" tag will end very soon...
Keep writing....
Hi amar, its really nice.
Vijay B R
Very nice article.
It's not feeling gr8 about visiting U.S., It's MONEY factor which makes it that.
Also as Anoop said "the day is not far when india will become land of opportunities".
-sachin
Fantastic!!! It pinches or provokes us to think at our self.
Hi Amar,
Quite true that there is some kind of fascination involved with tag called "US return apa"....also once u come from US the next question is "mat yawag honti appa US'g"...
Sid(kyocera)
Yo man!
Good one.........Times have changed and its very much the day in India when people should contemplate beyond the word "America".....probably its hard for the previous generation....
Man..u write well
Vinod Seshan
Chai:Along with loosing it's tag , people should also become aware of being self reliant.
Sachin:We sure have enough money here too :)..but yes i agree..everyone doesnt have it
Sid :that adds to those set of funny instances related the US returned guys :)
Mantu,Vijay,Phani,and Vinod:Lets really hope India becomes a country to be..
Just to add on to your thoughts Amar .. Few days back my husband's company had chosen him for some training program to be held in "US". He had packed his bag and was ready....that morning he got a call from his manager saying the Training Program has been cancelled. And now see the fun, all at home had spoken about his visit to US, now that it is cancelled, all were trying to avoid to speak about it to others thinking what people will think!!!! I wondered, there are "N" number of such cancellation of training programs everyday in India, but no one is bothered!!! But then why only US???
Should you feel low, if the training is cancelled?????.Does this show that ur not capable.????.whoofff...Indian Society and Old people's thinking!!!!!!..And then they decided not to speak about "this" if again he gets a chance...Oh my GOD!!!...
For me its just one more addition to the places where i can't see my husband!!!!.
Keep writing...:)
Amar,I think the thought is very nicely put up and rightly said that its the good deeds that makes a person great and not anything else.I feel people in India should first feel great bcoz they belong to such a wonderful land of different cultures and values.
Absolutely!!!...I have have no clue whats the big deal about the US..I am in the US since a year and everytime I talk to mom about my intentions to get back...the reaction goes .."People die to go to USA..why do you wanna come bac"...gimme a break....i did not develop any extra sets of wings after getting here:P
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