Last month, we asked you to share opinions and thoughts on NRIs. The responses ranged from light hearted and hilarious to serious and thought provoking. Here are a few of the best:
While I was in the Gulf on brief stint, I had opportunities to mingle in the Indian crowd. It became known that most Indians in Gulf did not care much about what happens in India apart from the share and the real estate markets. Most of them were skilled spin doctors. Eventually we created three ground rules to describe the average Indian. They are:
1. If all Indians say the same story, it must necessarily be wrong
2. There are no secrets in the Gulf
3. All good Indians are still in India
My friends tell me this holds true even now.
-- Nandra Nair
I wonder how many Indians who are mocking NRIs here wish to go abroad and experience that life and take advantage of opportunities in foreign countries. Talking about accents, there are many call center employees who speak with accents but have never been abroad. So what do we have to say about them? Man is a creature of habit. If he is habituated to a certain accent, a certain way of life it takes time to adjust to a new lifestyle. I dont know what all this brooding and complaining is about? We NRIs made a choice to seek opportunities abroad. You residents didn't. Cool... we all have the freedom to make and respect each others choices. If you can't handle it simply go find yourself a non-NRI friend or relative. More than anything its the pettiness on display here that saddens me.
-- Anonymous
I lived in Hong Kong for a year. It was a very shocking and disillusioning experience. The NRI community there is caught in a time warp. They left India when there were few good opportunities here. They cannot reconcile to a India rising and the higher level of professionalism here. They contstantly put down India and Indians. They tell shocking and horrifying stories about India to the gweilos(whites) and the Hong Kong Chinese. Funny thing is that they have not integrated with the local community and so live in both physical and mental ghettos. They make snide remarks about all local communities. The locals couldn't care much about them. So they cling on like second-class citizens, taking out their frustration on newly arrived Indians whenever they can. They make statements like, "Oh these Indians.." forgetting their own nationality. What are they? The local government hasn't given them any citizenship so they remain Indians anyway. Poor sods, their skill and knowledge levels are at levels when they left India several years back. Indians have advanced considerably and are far superior to these NRIs. I think in time when they realise this they will have a rough crashlanding.
-- Ptolemy
South Asians in general and Indians in particular are the most insular people abroad. I feel this is because of 2 reasons:
1. Either they are very self-conscious and suffer from low self esteem. or
2. Are too proud about "our culture" and feel "superior" to the others.
Either way, we lose out...in the grand scheme of things we are human, no one is superior or inferior, we have to get along with everyone.
-- Uday Neeraj
I used to live in USA for almost a decade and recently moved to New Zealand.
My experience has always been that there are basically two kinds of people in any country: WINNERS that strive to get ahead and look for OPPORTUNITIES to do so; and LOSERS that throw away opportunities and look for ways to "rationalize" their fate. It is the losers that get jealous and bad-mouth the successful people.
Losers exist in EVERY country. You will always come across people that are frustrated with some aspect of their life. If they fail to understand the legitimate reasons for it, the losers hide behind "superficial factors" just to make themselves look good.
In USA the "superficial factors" might be race or religion; in India it might be caste, language or gender. But it all stems from the same root cause: Refusal to take responsibility.
The winners on the other hand THROW AWAY the superficial factors. Instead of getting jealous and bad-mouthing others, they MIX WITH and LEARN from people from other backgrounds and strive to ENHANCE their life. There are winners among Indians, among Americans and among Kiwis. It's all the same here as well.
Apart from this, we all know that corruption is rampant in India, but I've also observed that it takes place in a sophisticated manner in USA. However, I'm pleased to say that it's negligibly low in New Zealand. And by and large, the Kiwis certainly are among the friendliest people on earth.
-- Mukund
For all you NRIs in Deutschland.....
Being an NRI almost all my life, growing up in Dubai, studying in Australia and currently working in Germany, I must say I've seen my fair share of Indians across half the world. While quite a few Indians easily adapt to the culture they find themselves in, there are still those who refuse to, or are simply oblivious to the fact that things are done differently in different parts of the world. Ofcourse, we cannot forget or brush aside our culture, it is who we are and it is what makes us what we are today, but using your head once in a while, simply to remind yourself where you are, doesn't hurt.
Hints/Tips, whatever you wanna call it:
- For Guys: when going to a club......
Is it really necessary to turn up with a large crowd of 10 guys or more?? Do you really think the bouncers out front are going to let you in? It gets better. Once they block you from entering, you think it's to do with our race. Clubs always maintain a girls-to-guys ratio. Over here, the mentality is like, the more girls in a club, the better it is for the club. Why? More girls in a club, guys already in clubs, hit on girls, buy them more drinks and get drunk themselves. Clubs make their money from the drinks. The other scenario is, lots of guys already inside clubs, girls slowly but surely start to leave, not many drinks being sold, club not happy. You want to get into a club, make sure there are girls with you. And, dont turn up, 10 guys, 1 girl.
-- SK
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