Posted on: 08-09-09 11:21:44
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Originally posted by morning_rain
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Originally posted by gopalpai
next time you try this. Tell them the younger generation abroad are rude to their parents,leave them at old age, and back answer them etc and tell them in India, we slap such children and put them in boarding and you know how expensive boardings are.
In India, we don't change wives/husband's as they change socks everyday, so children are safe and secured and they repsect their parent anyday more than abroad children.The divorce rate is low.
Tell yes, population is more, that is why, all car manufactures etc are making money because of huge market in India.
last but least, tell them, since we asians have money and good saving that is why we enjoy coming abroad and they don't have savings so, they are not visiting beautiful India. That will get you his attention. He/she will scorn at you but you have given him something to mull over for next few days/weeks.
In my opinion, you cant generalize about the "younger generation abroad". Children as they grow are learning to assert their independance, and part of that is testing one's boundaries. It is the parents job to guide them into a balance - to learn to be independant and take care of one self as well as respect to others. A generation ago in North America it was considered appropriate punishment to slap a child on the face or behind but today its not considered appropriate. I cant answer to this because I dont have children, but I have seen people in both countries (here and when I visited India) taking slapping too far.
Is it only "younger generations abroad" that leave their parents? What about those that move abroad? Many leave their parents too.
India still does have divorces, so I dont agree with your second paragraph. How do you know that children abroad dont respect their parents? Respect doesnt always equal blind obedience. Your values are valid, but they are because of the culture you grew up in. The culture your children (or any 2nd generation) grow up in will naturally differ.
I also dont agree with your last paragraph either - how can one generalize that people living abroad dont have savings? please cite your sources if you have verified this information through statistics.
Being South asian does not make us better than anyone else. I have encountered people too who have only the image of india as poverty. What is your image of countries like Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Ethiopia etc? Just continue to educate people - there is a lot of ignorance in the world unfortunately.
Well said!!
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Originally posted by jonav
My husband said I should have left the conversation but I could not and till end tried to make him understand that MY home is not what he thinks. My mood and day went off yesterday, have you come across such people, how do you handle them, ignore them, try to explain (like I did but of no use)....or leave the conversation politely?
Jona
I would have left the conversation ...
But he was not totally off-topic. There is Population/Pollution/Corruption with so much of other good stuff.
Download pictures - pictures of Positive India. This does not mean just Taj-Mahal or newly constructed Sea Link. Picture of people earning less than $1 a day - those people are still happy and enjoying unlike here who are misreable on 401. You have Indian Tourist visiting 'Times Square' (obiviously they are not $1 a day).
And not just download - put them as your Screen Saver.
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Mumbai Maazi Ladki ...
I could write pages and pages on this topic - a subject very close to my heart. However, in short, I could say that people have views of other countries based on what is portrayed by that country/countrymen itself.
A glaring example is films like Water and Heaven on Earth where intelligent directors/producers pick up topics which will make them known amongst the western world - not caring at all that while a lot of it could be true, it could only portray a negative image of India. Why can't Deepa Mehta, who is an able director/producer and moves in important circles of the western world, choose a topic which shows India's best and let the others feel that India is a great country too.
We watch western movies too, but do we come across the 'art' movies which shows the slums of Manhattan or the way immigrants are treated in Canada? No. And what we see is the greatness of US and the rest of the western world. These countries go way ahead in showing the best of their countries, while not denying that the bad also exists. However, Indian opportunists only want to show the worse of India to prove that even out of such drastic living conditions, they were the ones who stood up, came out and can now be equal to the westerners. In trying to prove how great they are, they portray the pathetic Indian conditions.
Similarly, our tourism department does a lousy job of not promoting India as other countries do. We have a lot of things equivalent to the beauty of other countries and some of ours are better, but we do not sell the goodness.
So an outsider gets an impression of what is shown to him - not what he imagines it to be.
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Chandresh
Advice is free – lessons I charge for!!
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Originally posted by jonav
Hi,
Many of you may find it a strange question but in my job (working with UN), I come across many foreigners (from various nationalities) and discuss India. Most of the people I meet especially the one who have never been closer to Asia cannot discuss anything beyond, India's poverty, population and all the negatives. Yesterday I came across a guy who was highly critical and kept repeating that most of our population earns less than $1 a day. He wanted to know from all the metropolitans, Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, which one has more slums and poverty. I tried explaining him a lot of good points of India, our young generation, education standards, world class professionals, creativity and the artists (Satyajit Ray, Tagore what Calcutta has given us...because he was highly after Calcutta and its poor) but I think he was paranoid and kept repeating the trains full of people sitting on top of them.
My husband said I should have left the conversation but I could not and till end tried to make him understand that MY home is not what he thinks. My mood and day went off yesterday, have you come across such people, how do you handle them, ignore them, try to explain (like I did but of no use)....or leave the conversation politely?
Jona
For me leaving the conversation wouldn't have been an option. And I don't carry with me the burden of being politically right all the time, so I would have found something negative about his country and rubbed it back on his face. You point to the filth in my home, I'll find some in your home and rub your face in it.
Trying to educate ignorant people like this is just a waste of time and energy. If they had the ability to learn, they wouldn't just be pointing out the negatives of one country. Instead, they would be inquisitive and would have inquired or asked in a way more appropriate.
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Originally posted by chandresh
Why can't Deepa Mehta, who is an able director/producer and moves in important circles of the western world, choose a topic which shows India's best and let the others feel that India is a great country too.
And you still call her Able Director/Producer?
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Originally posted by chandresh
Similarly, our tourism department does a lousy job of not promoting India as other countries do. We have a lot of things equivalent to the beauty of other countries and some of ours are better, but we do not sell the goodness.
Thats true.
Consulate office does its part as well. They make you feel in India the moment you step in the office
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Mumbai Maazi Ladki ...
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Originally posted by Maharaj
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Originally posted by chandresh
Similarly, our tourism department does a lousy job of not promoting India as other countries do. We have a lot of things equivalent to the beauty of other countries and some of ours are better, but we do not sell the goodness.
Thats true.
Consulate office does its part as well. They make you feel in India the moment you step in the office
I beg to differ........India is much better than its toronto consulate office.
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Chandresh
Advice is free – lessons I charge for!!
This afternoon the same guy came in my room and while talking work, excitedly told me that Obama has given a very good speech to school going kids, on the value of education, hard work and how they are the future of US, I told him "Ohhh really my grandfather got this same speech from Nehru in 1948, Obama is very late!" You should have seen his face.....that's truly against my personal nature but I couldn't control as he was so pushy the day before.
Jona
