A lot has been written about the cultural shock that people face when they immigrate or live for an extended period of time especially in the western countries from India. A lot has also been written about the emotions or circumstances that lead people to come back to India. However, I haven't seen much written on the process of readjustment in India.
Yes, readjustment to India is a process and it does take a while to feel at home in India again.
Recently, during a conversation with an interesting person named Prashanth (who now happens to me my boss in the company I work :)), I came across some interesting facts. Prashanth asked m e if I realised how my expectations had changed after I had spent considerable time in the US. He then asked me that how to I plan to manage this changed expectations?
Yes, I went to the US as a student and after finishing my Masters degree, I set foot into the corporate world. Tech companies specially the ones in the Silicon Valley are known to pay well, and unknowingly I got used to a life of comfort and ' material luxury' (by Indian standards).
When I came back to India I never realised that my expectations had changed and a life or material comfort became the norm for me. Yes, I did face trouble, but I never realised that it was due to the conflict in expectations.
Add to that, I had changed a lot as a person. I refuse to accept fate or destiny unlike most people in India. My 'go-getter' attitude was in conflict with the society here.
Last but not the least, I had almost all of my close friends back in the US and though I have the family around me, the level of bonding and topics of conversation that I share with my friends, was hard to recreate in India. I think, forming a social circle with like minded people is the hardest. Prashanth found that by attending Indian School of Business, he found like-minded people (and his would-be wife) and from that point onwards the process of adjusting in India was easy. All of us may not go to the ISB, but yes there are several avenues to build a social life in India, some of them are : Joining clubs (Bombay has lots of them), social-organizations (there are a lot of them to choose from - Akanksha, CRY etc).
Once you have a good set of friends in India, a good home, a good job or your own company - it is every bit worth living in India.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Honda FCX Clarity
Finally, the impossible has manifested - Honda has rolled out the first edition of hydrogen fuel cell powered cars! Wow! What an achievement. These cells use oxygen and hydrogen from the atmosphere and release water and heat as the by-product. Heat is definitely not good in the context of global warming, but I am sure heat will be dealt with in due course. What a remarkable day for the environment and what a feat by Honda!
Read the complete article on New York Times :
Honda releases FCX Clarity
Read the complete article on New York Times :
Honda releases FCX Clarity
Monday, May 05, 2008
Mission Accomplished
I came to India almost five months back, fuzzy-headed, confused, looking for direction and a welcome break from the six-and-half years of mechanical existence in the US. I did not know what to expect from India. India had changed in many ways from the time I left for US in 2001.
The India I left was struggling in many areas even though software and IT sectors were doing good. Life was starting to get better for the people employed in the IT industry but others went about their lives the usual way with the familiar attitude.
The India I returned to is full of energy and enthusiasm and is bubbling with hope. I witnessed the launch of the Tata Nano, world's cheapest car. The self-confidence and the can-do-never-give-up attitude of the people is contagious and amazing. People it seems are itching to change the system and the way of doing things, and they are now courageous enough to be the starting point for the change they want to bring about. New ideas are welcome in India and a lot of young people are taking the entrepreneurship route to success and change.
What has touched me most is the blend of old-world charm and the new-found desire for change. The ancient Indian tradition laid emphasis on honoring the guest 'Athithi Devo Bhava' - your guest is like God. Most people are very warm, helpful and friendly and maintain the ancient tradition of honoring the guest . Ofcourse, we all come across and read about nasty incidents, but overall the majority of people are nice and are willing to extend a helping hand sometimes without you asking. I have had wonderful experience while travelling in trains and buses.
I don't know how many people feel this way but I feel there lies a sense of peace beneath the chaos of external material life in India. People are in general happy and content with life here. In the US, I always felt a sense of chaos and fear beneath the perfection of the external material life. There everyone seems to be in a rush to head somewhere.
Now once again, I find myself at the crossroads :). I have found what I was looking for in India. I feel a sense of completion to my trip to India. I now want to move forward from here, but don't know where. As always, I believe with time I will have all the answers and life will lead me to my next destination.
The India I left was struggling in many areas even though software and IT sectors were doing good. Life was starting to get better for the people employed in the IT industry but others went about their lives the usual way with the familiar attitude.
The India I returned to is full of energy and enthusiasm and is bubbling with hope. I witnessed the launch of the Tata Nano, world's cheapest car. The self-confidence and the can-do-never-give-up attitude of the people is contagious and amazing. People it seems are itching to change the system and the way of doing things, and they are now courageous enough to be the starting point for the change they want to bring about. New ideas are welcome in India and a lot of young people are taking the entrepreneurship route to success and change.
What has touched me most is the blend of old-world charm and the new-found desire for change. The ancient Indian tradition laid emphasis on honoring the guest 'Athithi Devo Bhava' - your guest is like God. Most people are very warm, helpful and friendly and maintain the ancient tradition of honoring the guest . Ofcourse, we all come across and read about nasty incidents, but overall the majority of people are nice and are willing to extend a helping hand sometimes without you asking. I have had wonderful experience while travelling in trains and buses.
I don't know how many people feel this way but I feel there lies a sense of peace beneath the chaos of external material life in India. People are in general happy and content with life here. In the US, I always felt a sense of chaos and fear beneath the perfection of the external material life. There everyone seems to be in a rush to head somewhere.
Now once again, I find myself at the crossroads :). I have found what I was looking for in India. I feel a sense of completion to my trip to India. I now want to move forward from here, but don't know where. As always, I believe with time I will have all the answers and life will lead me to my next destination.
IPL Rocks - Now lets extend it to other sports!
IPL is a great idea. Eight cricket leagues (teams), comprising established and well-known Indian and international cricketers and new comers, are scheduled to play 59 T20 format games among themselves. Thanks to IPL, there is something exciting to look forward to on TV that is full of repetitive reality shows and boring soaps. IPL is a great way to boost cricket in India. It provides an avenue to lesser known cricketers to show their talent, to earn good money and to mingle with the senior players. IPL seems like a win-win situation for all, though some people argue that IPL is destroying the essence of cricket. Like everything, cricket needs to evolve with time, and T20 format is a welcome change. After all, who has the patience to keep track of a 5-day test-match or spend a day tracking a 50 over match. We definitely need to preserve tradition, so test-matches and one -day international matches must stay. But blaming T20 for destroying the spirit of cricket does not seem fair.
Going a step further, why not have IPL like leagues for other sports in the country such as track&field, hockey, swimming, badminton, lawn-tennis etc somewhat similar to NCAA in the US. Such leagues will definitely benefit the sports culture in India, give an opportunity to sportsmen to earn money, recognition and experience. Though these IPL or NCAA like leagues for other sports may not be as lucrative as cricket, but in order to boost the sports culture in our country, we need to start somewhere, and forming leagues for all sports may just be the right answer to boost the sports culture. Almost every Indian wishes for more Olympic medals coming to India, and the sports enthusiasts here go into mourning after every Olympic games.
Olympics come and go, but India's medal-tally never seems to go beyond three. And it seems unlikely if the situation would ever change.
How can the medals come when there is no active promotion of sports besides cricket in India? Forming commercial leagues for other sports and actively marketing them may be the first-step towards more Olympic medals. But would there be any takers?
Going a step further, why not have IPL like leagues for other sports in the country such as track&field, hockey, swimming, badminton, lawn-tennis etc somewhat similar to NCAA in the US. Such leagues will definitely benefit the sports culture in India, give an opportunity to sportsmen to earn money, recognition and experience. Though these IPL or NCAA like leagues for other sports may not be as lucrative as cricket, but in order to boost the sports culture in our country, we need to start somewhere, and forming leagues for all sports may just be the right answer to boost the sports culture. Almost every Indian wishes for more Olympic medals coming to India, and the sports enthusiasts here go into mourning after every Olympic games.
Olympics come and go, but India's medal-tally never seems to go beyond three. And it seems unlikely if the situation would ever change.
How can the medals come when there is no active promotion of sports besides cricket in India? Forming commercial leagues for other sports and actively marketing them may be the first-step towards more Olympic medals. But would there be any takers?
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Breaking rules -- its not funny!
I have been India for the last few months and enjoying every bit of my stay here, though at times I do get annoyed by the "irritatingly familiar" aspects of life here. Irritating why, simply because these aspects just don't make sense. And yes by these aspects, I mean the familiar everyday things, the kind I feel I have no choice but to silently endure them - as I just can't do anything about these things.
Take the example of traffic - the morning peak hours, everyone is in a rush, the trains, buses and autorickshaws are packed. If you commute by a private car, the traffic is in a big mess. I just wonder, why traffic cannot be systematized in a country with one of the highest educated work-force in the world? Why can't the government impose strict rules and penalties and why can't citizens abide by with the existing ones? Why citizens take pride in breaking or floundering rules? Why a rule or traffic-law abiding citizen looked down upon by some people in this country? Why can't we have a developed world kind of traffic organization in this country? We are rapidly progressing in all aspects of life in this country - economy is booming (unfortunately, so is inflation), incomes are rising, infrastructure is supposedly becoming better - then why not the traffic sense?
A look at the newspapers reveals the startling number of innocent lives lost everyday to road accidents. Reasons : rash driving a.k.a 'look I am breaking rules', trivial reasons e.g. a bus driver failing to notice a lady crossing the road, driver losing control of a bus filled with people to twice its designated capacity - leading to major accidents and causing loss of innocent lives. I sometimes wonder, if there were designated pedestrian crossings or a strict check on the buses to make sure the number of passengers does not exceed the designated capacity, could some lives be saved?
Sure, we cannot eliminate road accidents completely by following rules, but we can definitely reduce the number of accidents. If adhering to traffic rules can save lives, doesn't it make simple sense to just obey these rules!
Yeah, Only if wishing and seeing the wish getting fulfilled were the same. C'est la vie.
Take the example of traffic - the morning peak hours, everyone is in a rush, the trains, buses and autorickshaws are packed. If you commute by a private car, the traffic is in a big mess. I just wonder, why traffic cannot be systematized in a country with one of the highest educated work-force in the world? Why can't the government impose strict rules and penalties and why can't citizens abide by with the existing ones? Why citizens take pride in breaking or floundering rules? Why a rule or traffic-law abiding citizen looked down upon by some people in this country? Why can't we have a developed world kind of traffic organization in this country? We are rapidly progressing in all aspects of life in this country - economy is booming (unfortunately, so is inflation), incomes are rising, infrastructure is supposedly becoming better - then why not the traffic sense?
A look at the newspapers reveals the startling number of innocent lives lost everyday to road accidents. Reasons : rash driving a.k.a 'look I am breaking rules', trivial reasons e.g. a bus driver failing to notice a lady crossing the road, driver losing control of a bus filled with people to twice its designated capacity - leading to major accidents and causing loss of innocent lives. I sometimes wonder, if there were designated pedestrian crossings or a strict check on the buses to make sure the number of passengers does not exceed the designated capacity, could some lives be saved?
Sure, we cannot eliminate road accidents completely by following rules, but we can definitely reduce the number of accidents. If adhering to traffic rules can save lives, doesn't it make simple sense to just obey these rules!
Yeah, Only if wishing and seeing the wish getting fulfilled were the same. C'est la vie.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
