Miscellanea/Farzana Versey
Big Apple gone rotten
It was an evening of discontent. I was watching every move from
the corner of my eyes and, lined up on one side, were the samosas,
discreetly waiting to be eaten.
Even more discreet hands stretched out to pick them up. Here,
mind you, were people who were not just educated, but educated
abroad. I was there by default.
It is most amusing when I get called up to participate in panel
discussions or whatever on subjects as diverse as 'How Does It
Feel To Have Lived Abroad?' or 'The American University Experience'.
The fact is, I have neither. My education in Bombay, even though
it came close to leaving me illiterate, did not leave me ignorant.
The human spirit doth rise to the occasion!
It could be easy to say that I am being defensive, that it is
a case of sour grapes. It could be, but it is not.
I am a firm believer that experience makes you, not education.
Your world view will ultimately depend on whether you are looking
down from a skyscraper in Manhattan or a low-lying house overlooking
a field in Madurai - both will relate to Subramaniam Bharati and
Stephen Spender differently.
It is true that Indians do well abroad but, we forget to ask,
which Indians. It is the professionals - the rest become cab drivers,
waiters and vendors while, here in their hometowns, they could
have been farmers, clerks or even small-scale entrepreneurs.
As for why they do better there, they have to ask themselves.
Oh yes, the system here is rotten, but the Americans aren't exactly
waiting to get into a clinch with them. The Indians want to be
accepted so they themselves put in great effort, they accept the
rules, they toe the line. Because they know they have to.
These same people, whatever be their position, will behave like
feudal lords in India. They'll order the peons around, will depend
heavily on hierarchy to move one file from the table, will try
for promotions by currying favours.
What brings about the difference? Can a system really change people?
Western arrogance is so ingrained that an Indian at the wine counter
at a supermarket in London, when asked to show a particular brand
of brandy, promptly replied, "Oh, that's too expensive."
Indians do not respect themselves and, therefore, each other.
There are some, though, who take pains to show that, once these
top-shot kids come back from the US, they have a conducive atmosphere
to work in. The selling bait is always consumerism - there are
so many bikes and so many washing machines being sold. And you,
the American returnee genius, can add and modify it all. You are
the god that can give everything a kick-start.
But guess what happens? This little god has become so used to
toeing the line (the so-called openness allows you to ask questions,
aw yeah, but very subtly provides its own answers) that what these
dear Indians are doing is not questioning Western superiority
but deriding Eastern inferiority. And, of course, the American
system is geared for that. It displays its wares in eye-catching
colours to hide the vacuum it thrives on.
And the Indian quietly stands in the queue to buy it all. So,
when he comes home, he carries with him the paraphernalia of psychological
dependence. He does not find the gizmos here, but he finds the
slaves. And he does not change the system. This chap may call
himself Jack or Bill and let the world call him so too but, inside,
he's just the same.
When he is abroad he is a bit of a laugh but, when he returns,
he becomes touchy. Then why do we want him back at all? So that
Citibank and Grindlay's can say they have an American-returned
on their staff?
Does a foreign education really equip you to deal with life? Does
it teach you courtesy and respect for lesser people?
Does it teach you how to make glass houses and stay in them? Or
does it only equip you to throw stones at others?
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