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Reflections of an Indian business traveler in the United States
By Sameer Kumar
I
am not an immigrant to your great country. But I have
been visiting the US both on business and on vacation
since last more than a decade. I would like to share with
your viewers some of my experiences there and the observations
thereof. I also take some liberty here of making comparative
analysis between your country (United States) and mine
(India).
At the outset, let me admit, that while my own experiences
do not vouch that the US is a totally free country, the
individual there is the least enslaved citizen in the
world. A decade ago, I thought there was a difference
of KIND between the politics of the two largest democracies
of the world. Now I have increasingly come to accept that
the difference is only of DEGREE - but of course, a very
high degree indeed. Ever since the "libertarian politics"
lost its momentum, the US lawmakers, whether Democratic
or Republican, have taken for granted that they can enact
or persist with restrictive laws.
This is not a place or platform to write an analytical
thesis in support of the above contentions. But, in particular,
so long as your politicians continue to steamroll your
productive entrepreneurs by using the outdated and irrational
Anti-trust laws, the continued persecution of your best
brains illustrates the above view. It all began with the
mindless prosecution of the Standard Oil in the beginning
of the twentieth century. The destructive trend ruthlessly
continued with prolonged suits against IBM, Bell Labs,
AT&T, and currently against Microsoft.
Thus, if the Indian democracy is being ruled and ruined
by its unscrupulous politicians and its corrupt bureaucrats,
the US democracy continues to be handicapped by its (in)
Justice department and by its self-seeking lawyers. Indeed,
there is a great deal of realism in what Akio Morita,
the founder and the former CEO of SONY, once wrote to
the effect that the most native product of America is
its "Lawyer"!
Hence I say that there is only a difference of degree
and not of kind between our two democracies. I hasten
to add, however, that a private individual can still make
an honest living and can prosper as per his/her potential
in your country, whereas in India, there is just no way
to advance beyond a point without dishonestly conniving
with the politicians and bribing the bureaucrats. The
situation obtaining in the other third world countries
is perhaps worse.
That is why I strongly advocate that any honest, young
person, say of less than thirty years of age, who has
still not grown deeper roots in his third world native
country, should immigrate to your country. Is your "immigration
portal" geared to guide and help him out? Can you seriously
influence your senators and congressmen to increase the
immigration quotas? |
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I
repeat and reiterate that an individual in the US is
the freest person in the world. But even there, he is
afraid of two things: the American Lawyer and the sophisticated
database of the US government. A perpetual fear and
threat of a legal suit rules the world of the American
business. It is not unusual to find an advertisement
on TV or even in the subway train of some lawyer or
the other who encourages litigations with promises of
millions by way of judicial awards. It looks that the
Indian Judiciary never feels guilty to delay or defer
its pronouncements for years and years, and the US judiciary
never hesitates to award substantial damages!
Similarly, no individual with a social security number
is free from the fear as to how and when the government
database may be used against him. He dares not take
a public stand on a burning social or political issue
as a matter of principle for fear of revengeful use
of the database.
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Yet,
none of the above fear psychosis can be seen in the streets
of your cities. An ordinary person in the street is "a
happy go lucky" free individual. He/she can be what he/she
wants to be in terms of his/her dress and behaviour. When
I had read that New York City is the fashion capital of
the world, I had a vision of handsome men and women beautifully
dressed. But what I saw were the ill fitting and tight
fitting dresses of all kinds of imaginative styles, more
often enhancing the ugliness of human bodies than their
beauty! I am still old fashioned enough to admire the
handsomeness of "a suited, and booted" New Englander of
earlier times. Similarly, I cannot help thinking of the
Indian Sari, which is described by a cynic as the dress,
which enhances the curves and hides the angles of a fragile,
female form!
But what is relevant to me in the present context is the
freedom of an ordinary New Yorker not only for his/her
dress but even for his/her public behaviour. They do not
have to worry about any socio-cultural restrictions. There
are no oppressive dress codes for women, similar to those
prescribed for Indian women in some public institutions
or in Pakistan and in some Middle Eastern countries for
women to appear in public. Similarly, it is a common sight
in your streets of young couples or not so young couples,
heartily hugging or passionately kissing, without any
sense of guilt, shame or fear. They are absorbed in their
own dream world and no one else cares one way or the other.
No police officer would interrupt or apprehend them. Whereas
in India, with the recent political ascent of the Hindu
Fundamentalist political parties, a necking couple in
the relative privacy of a public garden can be arrested
and charged with "indecent behaviour."
Pornographic materials can be openly exhibited and sold
in your big stores, whereas in India, an artistic movie
based on lesbianism is banned on the name of the Indian
culture. |
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Yet,
and yet, your country is so much obsessed with the concept
of political and social Equality, both racial and sexual,
that one is expected to ignore the obvious. Any where
in the world, in a city or in a jungle, if one were to
meet a stranger for the first time, there are three attributes
of the stranger which are immediately noticeable, even
before one exchanges a word, namely, the stranger's skin
colour, the gender and the age. But in the US, it is explicitly
prohibited to mention or consider these attributes.
The phrases like " white American" and "black American"
are a taboo. In the days of Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain,
the word "Negro" was considered civilised, but "Nigger"
was regarded derogatory. Nowadays, you cannot call him
"Negro"; he is referred as "black" or even better, "coloured".
A brown or yellow person cannot be called brown or yellow.
He is "ethnic"!
Similarly, it is bad manners to treat a woman as a woman.
She is equal and therefore has to be granted or allowed
Equality. Age of a woman - or that of a man - is generally
obvious. But heaven forbid if you address a young woman
as a "young lady". How dare you insult her youth or gender!
You can inquire about "career experience" of a prospective
employee, but cannot ask his or her age. It is a moot
point as to how one gains experience without aging! And
for heaven's sake don't ever talk about a person's "I.Q.".
I never understood why.
But what is ignored and forgotten behind such idiosyncrasies
is that Equality cannot be granted or allowed. "Allowed
Equality" is hypocrisy and contradiction in terms. A demanded
Equality hides a subconscious inferiority complex. Equality
is essentially a matter of self-confidence and of achievement
while facing and fighting the harsh realities of the external
world.
It also needs to be understood that certain cultural phrases
of daily usage or of personal habit do not mean what their
words may literally imply. " How are you" or "How do you
do" is a form of polite greeting and not an inquiry into
your health, action or behaviour. But when I heard for
the first time in the US, the often-repeated phrase "take
care", I was indeed bothered. Was I being threatened or
warned? But in the same manner, certain persons do use
mechanically phrases like "my dear" or "young lady" out
of sheer personal habit. But they certainly do not imply
unsolicited endearment nor mean an insult or reflection
on some body's age or sex.
Similarly, I was initially confused about meaning of phrases
like "figure out" or "it would take a while". But it took
me a while to understand what "a while" meant and to figure
out what "figure out" implied!
But the lighter vein of the above episodes apart, the
lesson I learnt was "ignore the obvious and the apparent".
An American is an American is an American. He is neither
white, nor coloured; neither man nor woman, neither young
nor old!
A modern American, I was taught, does not have racial
or sexual prejudices. I could not agree with the concept
more. But every where, in places like huge departmental
stores, postal and FedEx offices, Security staff etc.,
I noticed a conscious effort made for equal representation
of persons of different races and sexes. It seemed that
in the process of recognising equality, the employers
were in fact governed by their employees' colour and sex
and not the merits alone. To my mind the comparison was
inevitable. We have in India scheduled castes and scheduled
tribes. They are supposed to have been denied opportunities
of advancement since generations. Hence the laws provide
for special reservations in employment for their members.
The result: the endless politicking in their interests,
bureaucratic graft and wide spread inefficiency, indifference
and high handedness.
And, finally, I found many first generation immigrants
more American than the born American citizens. They appear
to have developed a sense of identity, a feeling of patriotism,
deep down in their subconscious. They could very naturally
refer to Canada and Mexico as "our neighbours". Their
eyes may sparkle with pleasure and patriotism while visiting
historically significant places like Fort Henry near Baltimore
or Washington farms at the Mount Vernon.
I certainly do not oppose such loyalty. Millions of troubled
and disheartened souls from the third world countries
have found in US a solace, a relief, a haven to fulfil
their ambitions and aspirations. For them, the present
day America is the best destination, precisely because
of want of a better alternative. But it is NOT the best
and the freest country of the immigrants' dreams. When
the initial euphoria is over, not only the immigrant,
but even a frequent visitor like me also gets disillusioned
about some of the restrictive realities in the USA. The
past and the present America was substantially built by
the several generations of the "first generation" immigrants.
May be it requires the next set of the first generation
immigrants to reconstruct the truly "freest country" -
a nation of their dreams. Meanwhile, a total freedom-seeking
citizen of the utopian world would remain a non-entity
everywhere, namely, a Resident non-American in America
or a "resident non-Indian" in India. RNI and not an NRI!
Tell
your story...
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