Times Magazine article on Indian – Americans: Face the Truth

“We assumed all Indians were geniuses”. This is an extract from Joel Stein’s article in Times Magazine which comments on the presence of Indians in Edison, a flourishing American Town. Then why is the article so criticized?? The reason is that the writer says “in the 1980s, the Indian doctors and engineers brought over their merchant cousins, and we were no longer so sure about the genius thing”. I am of the view that Joel Stein’s observation is not fully wrong and that we Indians have made people like him think about us in such a manner.

I am of the strong view that if one goes to some other country; he or she should not make the hosts feel uncomfortable. It’s similar to what we feel when we drop in someone’s home as guests. The behavior of a few people from a community is enough to set up a good or bad image of that community in the world. Unfortunately, the writer has met typical Indians who never improved their ways and standards of living even when in the most developed nation. We are still loud, careless and irresponsible as far as the civic sense is concerned.

“In the 1990s, the not-as-brilliant merchants brought their even-less-bright cousins, and we started to understand why India is so damn poor”. We can easily make out what impression the chain of relatives, of the well settled Indian- Americans, had on the natives. We try to make a little country of ours wherever we go. Most of us are too stubborn to adopt the new ways and culture and mingle up with the hosts and so we try to make “little India(s)” wherever we go. Communicating with Indians abroad and grouping them all in a host country is not at all wrong unless it makes the host feel outnumbered by us. Everyone has a sense of security and if that is threatened then the results would be devastating as we have seen in Australia.

There’s no doubt India has talent and brilliance. But if we are so stubborn in adopting cultures and are so easily offended with the statements like “group of people whose gods have multiple arms and an elephant nose”, then we better be at home and use our talent in India itself. I hope rather than transforming places in world as “Little India”, people, who really want to settle down abroad, adopt the new culture of natives and present a good image, of millions of Indians back home, in front of the world.

Thanks!!

Photo Courtesy: time.com