Comments on: The Non-resident Indian's India

By: R Balakrishnan

R Balakrishnan — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:41:17 +0000

Rupa, what I find amusing and annoying is that the foreigners of Indian origin seem to be constantly surprised by India. Once they leave, most tend to forget (want to??) India and the way things were. Nothing has changed. Intensity has gone up. Population explosion in the urban cities, with Infrastructure unable to cope up (due to lack of political will). At the same time, everyone wants to ‘me for myself’ and screw the system.
I have cousins in the US who are clear that they will never return to India.
I tell my children to get out of this country only because opportunity is never equal. You need a political godfather or a pile of wealth to succeed. Or you have to be a law breaker to emerge. Behind every Ambani or a Narayanmurthy, there will be enough dirt to clog up any sewage. US gives you the breaks, if you have the talent.

By: Rupa Bose

Rupa Bose — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 05:02:08 +0000

It’s true NYC has traffic jams, as does almost every large city in the world… it was somehow the combination of far-flung destinations and unpredictable traffic that made it so difficult. But you’re right – that isn’t a reason to leave India (it wasn’t mine).

By: Renu

Renu — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 03:50:10 +0000

Even I feel that higher education should not be subsidised, let the people pay if they want to study, and then even if they go outside we don’t have to worry. There should be financial assistance for those who can’t afford and they should have certain responsibilities towards the country after completing.

For traffic jams, aren’t they there in NYC?..They are the bye product of over populated cities, but we Indians always follow the rules, wait there indefinitely without cribbing, but the same people when they are in India, want everything to happen in a jiffy, have scant regard for any rules, and still crib about everything.
Does anyone leave his/ her mother if she is not well qualified or beautiful or resourceful? then why this attitude for our country? why not stay and try to make it better?

First we must do something for our country and then ask it what it has given us or crib…

By: Venky Venkatraman

Venky Venkatraman — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:43:21 +0000

If memory serves me right, I recollect Mahatma Gandhi referring to some book about India in his time as “the gutter inspector’s report”. Some of the comments made by this IIM graduate makes it appear that all is lost in India.

In my opinion, India is like the proverbial elephant and depending on which part you touch, you come back with a different conclusion as to what you encountered.

I visited India just a about a week ago and I can tell you that the airports in New Delhi, Bombay and Bangalore were top class and were better than Chicago, Newark and DFW that we passed through on the same trip. The service on the Jet airways flight far exceeded that on the American Airlines flight that we took on one of the legs. And while driving on the road from Poona to Bombay, I felt like we were driving from Dallas to San Antonio.

Sure there are lot of problems and poverty but it appears to me that these islands of excellence are expanding rather than contracting and I saw way more optimism among the people in Bangalore than I see in Dallas.

In my opinion, to the careless observer, on the surface things may seem hopeless but those of us who grew up there should be able to recognize that the trajectory is clearly upward and there is no cause for despair about the future of India.