Scrutiny is distasteful- as to you, is to me too. It evokes a response, that becomes a blog.
America saw elections recently. I followed politics like I never did before. Or maybe I did once. This was back in India...all started around 1996. Congress got uprooted after years of reign. This change was one of the most crucial ones India was facing after a long, usual, dull tenure after another with same national government. However, it was a short lived government- which better still, prepared and made aware the blind-to-politics India that it was time for a change. I am glad my parents involved us in their awareness of a change and excitement of unknown future with BJP leading the nation. Coming to 1998, everyone (almost, or at least from where I saw), cheered for and adored Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji as the new leader of our nation. I was only 15 when this happened. My parents and I, wanted me to vote for next elections. I wanted to show my support to BJP because I had never been more inspired or in awe of our Ministers like I was in those 4 years. My favorites were Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji of course, Jaswant Singh, Sushma Swaraj, George Fernandes,Yahwant Singh, Murli Manohar Joshi, Pramod Mahajan and PR Kumarmangalam. More so, a new government needs more than mere 5 years to show what change they are bringing upon its nation. They had planted seeds of change with Gurgaon-Delhi Expressway, Delhi Metro, Nuclear tests at Pokharan, road connectivity to the farthest of villages and winning Kargil war to tame Parvez Musharraf a bit in first tenure itself. At 19, my voter documents were still not ready, I couldn't vote. That was disappointing. Congress won and got credited for most of BJP initiated work. The new government made sure BJP's scandals came to light to seal their fate to be power-less for some years. Not that BJP was innocent either but they were just reaping from taste of corruption, the spectrum that Congress always had covered up quite skillfully. Some of my thoughts and opinions could be debatable and invite sharp criticism but give me a breather as this is coming from a teen's mind and how I perceived things and people then. Don't get me wrong, I don't support any single party. Ideally, I feel people should change the government every 10 years. Why I think so, calls for a a separate blog altogether.
Anyways, come 2008, I came to US and congress had by now again monopolized the whole game.
Since then, I have not been able to vote in India. Worth mentioning here is that my 4 year younger sister does exercise her right which I find very cool. Anyways, till date when I call my dad in the nights, that is, his early mornings when he is sitting with chai and newspaper (US-India time difference), he gives me feeds on local and national politics. I think he looks forward to my question- "So, what's new?" and I know what's coming- sports news followed by political feeds with his crisp and to-the-point opinions.
These conversations through last 5 years got me motivated to follow politics and current affairs in US. I enjoyed my dad listening to me intently on my opinions about world affairs and especially in these recent US elections.
Having said all that, I would come to the reason/need of writing all that I did above. I saw my Indian peers criticizing on facebook about Indians living in America for their interest in US politics. How sad was that? Even sadder when my Desi friends here liked these status messages that claimed that we were never this politically aware in India and taunted us with if only.... clauses.
I had to write down my piece of mind on these perceptions:
1. I am interested in US politics. Yes, I guess you should be too. It's the most powerful country and elections here are a game changer for world affairs and relationship dynamics amongst all countries across continents. Which party gets elected, what international reforms and treaties they bring along effects growth scale of mostly all countries, including India. Why shouldn't I be interested when my Brazilian or Chinese roommates and international friends are equally interested and attentive. We shouldn't even be discussing this further if you don't already agree. No point.
2. One simple question- On what basis did you merit your theory to be factual that I haven't been paying attention to Indian politics? Sorry, let me rephrase my question. How does one know we (Indians living in US/abroad) haven't been paying attention to Indian politics? I am sure you aren't even in touch with most of your facebook friends. At least I have not spoken to you personally in years. That makes me question the validity of your opinion. Kindly hash and surmise. Not too much to ask for.
3. Ok, another question that boggles me. What do I know if people updating these statuses on social media have themselves been paying attention to Indian local politics? I didn't learn about what was on your mind during last Indian national elections.Then why do I need to see your sarcastic yet useless posts? Picking faults, are we? Well then, personally, I would respect and like you more if you can share your constructive opinions.
4. The Indian in me is not dead. On the contrary, this 29 year old Desi brain of mine is more aware and attentive. I am struggling with everyday challenges unlike most of you leading a pampered life with family. I am learning from vast exposure and through lens of a first world, never on a single day, forgetting to compare things to the third world I come from and amidst all this, developing some aspects in my personality that I am proud of. I can not unfortunately say the same for some of my Desi peers. You must know, however, it is saddening that I don't get to exercise my voting right. It's not something I take pride in. It's totally my loss. I get to have zero say today in Indian or American political changes. That still doesn't make me indifferent. That does make me yearn for awareness and participation.
Don't let out that whip as yet. On a humbler note to myself and to give you a pick on my life, I came to US by choice. My parents or family didn't want me to. I did not have any relatives here. It was my choice to explore the unexplored and step out of my comfort zone. Thanks to my parents and friends who eventually supported me. Today I contribute to my family's growth in India in my very own small ways. Having said that, living an unstable life here for past 5 years with an unknown future keeps me interested in panoramic view of anything that may alter it. The most significant lesson I have learnt while weaving this new world for me is to stay happy. No matter what's thrown at me, I got to thrive for happiness. That's one reason I celebrate. I celebrate India as well as America. I feel fortunate to celebrate Christmas with same ardour as Diwali. I celebrate 4th of July with an equal vigour as 15th of August. Where I stand on compass today, I am everyday attempting to erase the dense line I have had marked between two countries. I am trying to move beyond partiality, division and comparison between these nations. If India gave me my golden childhood, America is evolving my adulthood. I love both the countries passionately and equally today.
I am telling you all this so you get a better perspective. Not about me but about most of your friends who are living abroad. The disconnect from one's nation is quite too much to take initially. Eventually, some of us learn to live with it and most of us do as much as we can to stay and feel connected. In short, we try. If this still doesn't dart the point across, there's nothing more I can say.
America saw elections recently. I followed politics like I never did before. Or maybe I did once. This was back in India...all started around 1996. Congress got uprooted after years of reign. This change was one of the most crucial ones India was facing after a long, usual, dull tenure after another with same national government. However, it was a short lived government- which better still, prepared and made aware the blind-to-politics India that it was time for a change. I am glad my parents involved us in their awareness of a change and excitement of unknown future with BJP leading the nation. Coming to 1998, everyone (almost, or at least from where I saw), cheered for and adored Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji as the new leader of our nation. I was only 15 when this happened. My parents and I, wanted me to vote for next elections. I wanted to show my support to BJP because I had never been more inspired or in awe of our Ministers like I was in those 4 years. My favorites were Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji of course, Jaswant Singh, Sushma Swaraj, George Fernandes,Yahwant Singh, Murli Manohar Joshi, Pramod Mahajan and PR Kumarmangalam. More so, a new government needs more than mere 5 years to show what change they are bringing upon its nation. They had planted seeds of change with Gurgaon-Delhi Expressway, Delhi Metro, Nuclear tests at Pokharan, road connectivity to the farthest of villages and winning Kargil war to tame Parvez Musharraf a bit in first tenure itself. At 19, my voter documents were still not ready, I couldn't vote. That was disappointing. Congress won and got credited for most of BJP initiated work. The new government made sure BJP's scandals came to light to seal their fate to be power-less for some years. Not that BJP was innocent either but they were just reaping from taste of corruption, the spectrum that Congress always had covered up quite skillfully. Some of my thoughts and opinions could be debatable and invite sharp criticism but give me a breather as this is coming from a teen's mind and how I perceived things and people then. Don't get me wrong, I don't support any single party. Ideally, I feel people should change the government every 10 years. Why I think so, calls for a a separate blog altogether.
Anyways, come 2008, I came to US and congress had by now again monopolized the whole game.
Since then, I have not been able to vote in India. Worth mentioning here is that my 4 year younger sister does exercise her right which I find very cool. Anyways, till date when I call my dad in the nights, that is, his early mornings when he is sitting with chai and newspaper (US-India time difference), he gives me feeds on local and national politics. I think he looks forward to my question- "So, what's new?" and I know what's coming- sports news followed by political feeds with his crisp and to-the-point opinions.
These conversations through last 5 years got me motivated to follow politics and current affairs in US. I enjoyed my dad listening to me intently on my opinions about world affairs and especially in these recent US elections.
Having said all that, I would come to the reason/need of writing all that I did above. I saw my Indian peers criticizing on facebook about Indians living in America for their interest in US politics. How sad was that? Even sadder when my Desi friends here liked these status messages that claimed that we were never this politically aware in India and taunted us with if only.... clauses.
I had to write down my piece of mind on these perceptions:
1. I am interested in US politics. Yes, I guess you should be too. It's the most powerful country and elections here are a game changer for world affairs and relationship dynamics amongst all countries across continents. Which party gets elected, what international reforms and treaties they bring along effects growth scale of mostly all countries, including India. Why shouldn't I be interested when my Brazilian or Chinese roommates and international friends are equally interested and attentive. We shouldn't even be discussing this further if you don't already agree. No point.
2. One simple question- On what basis did you merit your theory to be factual that I haven't been paying attention to Indian politics? Sorry, let me rephrase my question. How does one know we (Indians living in US/abroad) haven't been paying attention to Indian politics? I am sure you aren't even in touch with most of your facebook friends. At least I have not spoken to you personally in years. That makes me question the validity of your opinion. Kindly hash and surmise. Not too much to ask for.
3. Ok, another question that boggles me. What do I know if people updating these statuses on social media have themselves been paying attention to Indian local politics? I didn't learn about what was on your mind during last Indian national elections.Then why do I need to see your sarcastic yet useless posts? Picking faults, are we? Well then, personally, I would respect and like you more if you can share your constructive opinions.
4. The Indian in me is not dead. On the contrary, this 29 year old Desi brain of mine is more aware and attentive. I am struggling with everyday challenges unlike most of you leading a pampered life with family. I am learning from vast exposure and through lens of a first world, never on a single day, forgetting to compare things to the third world I come from and amidst all this, developing some aspects in my personality that I am proud of. I can not unfortunately say the same for some of my Desi peers. You must know, however, it is saddening that I don't get to exercise my voting right. It's not something I take pride in. It's totally my loss. I get to have zero say today in Indian or American political changes. That still doesn't make me indifferent. That does make me yearn for awareness and participation.
Don't let out that whip as yet. On a humbler note to myself and to give you a pick on my life, I came to US by choice. My parents or family didn't want me to. I did not have any relatives here. It was my choice to explore the unexplored and step out of my comfort zone. Thanks to my parents and friends who eventually supported me. Today I contribute to my family's growth in India in my very own small ways. Having said that, living an unstable life here for past 5 years with an unknown future keeps me interested in panoramic view of anything that may alter it. The most significant lesson I have learnt while weaving this new world for me is to stay happy. No matter what's thrown at me, I got to thrive for happiness. That's one reason I celebrate. I celebrate India as well as America. I feel fortunate to celebrate Christmas with same ardour as Diwali. I celebrate 4th of July with an equal vigour as 15th of August. Where I stand on compass today, I am everyday attempting to erase the dense line I have had marked between two countries. I am trying to move beyond partiality, division and comparison between these nations. If India gave me my golden childhood, America is evolving my adulthood. I love both the countries passionately and equally today.
I am telling you all this so you get a better perspective. Not about me but about most of your friends who are living abroad. The disconnect from one's nation is quite too much to take initially. Eventually, some of us learn to live with it and most of us do as much as we can to stay and feel connected. In short, we try. If this still doesn't dart the point across, there's nothing more I can say.
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