Hi.
I am writing to offer a few comments on the article
wirtten in Feb, 1998 on returning to India from the USA.
As
a second generation NRI (my parents were born in India and
came to Singapore in the late 1950's/early 60's), it was
heartening to read a refreshing point of view on living in
India, and very close to my own heart. I have lived all over
the world-mainly the West and Singapore-from childhood to
adulthood , and can fully identify with the stages of
emotion/states of mind the author went through about living in
India before and after the move. Though I am not in a
situation of living in India permanently, In the last four
years, I have spent long periods there continuously ranging
from 6 months to one year. While I love India for many
reasons-the spiritual awareness/opportunity for growth, the
novelty of being an Indian among Indians, al the cons of
living in India became painfully aware over time --- very
painfully in my case, as a single female with a child (husband
working overseas). As a woman, the situation is even worse. A
woman has no status if a man- her man-is not in sight. Yes, it
is impossible to function without a network of relatives even
for the simplest of things. And if these relatives decide to
use your "plight" to bully you, woe betide you. Goods are
expensive, and schools --- the bribes for the "good" ones are
exorbitant, and then of course, here too , they want to see a
man-father/grandfather etc.
In a land that claims to revere
women, and in many family settings, does, it treates it women
dismally and accords them a very por or non-existent status
publicly.
I too had thought of leaving my child with his
grandparents to go to school there --- learn Indian cultural
values and all that, but now I am not so sure.
I have a
suggestion for the author . If he hasn't already moved back,
and wants to be out of, but close to India, he could consider
Singapore. Of course, there are drawacks here too-small place,
very stressful academically even for small kids, but
materially everything that is available in the US is here
too-albeit , a little more expensive. Also safe, crime free .
Would like to know if author finally moved back to US or
stayed in INDIA? THANKS
-- Priya
The views of this column are the author's own, and do
not necessarily represent the views of NRI
Online.
