Saturday, September 03, 2005

Mera Bhaarat Mahaan

Heard an interesting concept a few days back. I was talking to a COEP alumnus who is now settled in the US and currently engaged in research activities. On asked whether he planned on coming back to India etc. what he said really changed a line of thought I had before.

He said that as we shun caste-based reservations etc, gender based social inequalities or look down upon the classification of man into various small sects and classes, similarly we should learn to look beyond the national frontiers and man-made borders. He said, that we are global citizens and our first responsibility is towards humanity in general. It is wrong to ask 'Did an Indian do this ?' in the same way as it is wrong in asking if 'a woman did this?'No doubt one is proud of our background or where we come from - but looking at where we are going in the wider picture could be extremely useful at times.

Using this argument I could then go on to justify a lot of things like the prosperity of some world economies, the brain drain and so on...

On the whole, is this what separates a Mohan Bhargav from a Manoj Kumar ? I think so.

11 comments:

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BFuniv said...

I think your budy has a good grasp of the future.

If we are to survive we must be flexable.

Keep open,

Allan

Abhishek said...

damn - even i've started to get spammed!

'bfu rector' - Yes, really does makes a lot of sense, though in the short run the politicos might not agree - coz they've got only 4/5 years haven't they ?

Anand said...

He doesn't seem to have answered your question-!

I am not sure if this serving humanity bit is even understood by this chap. Ludicrous ! I would have accepted this on face value had he been pursuing research in say, Chad, or The Gambia.

Mr. Bharat had better songs :)

Abhishek said...

yes, it could be an elaborate façade to hide his plans of not returning - but somehow what he said sounded right.

Yes, Mr.B had better songs!

Ajay said...

If people ask me about returning, I say "I don't know". It is the best answer in my situation, since I genuinely have no idea. I like it a lot here, and it is financially important for me to stick around for a while more. I do hope this guy meant what he was saying, because it is a bit of a platitude

Abhishek said...

makes sense Ajay to admit that you like it a lot where you are and see what happens. . . -

However the tide will start turning once India adds other advantages to offer to it's best minds apart from the natural advantages that India offers (home feel, 'our' people, culture etc)- which no other country can match. I don't say this emotionally but just as a well balanced strategy decision . . .

Ajay said...

It has already started (albeit in very limited way). One of my batchmates in grad school accepted an offer to work for a top company's research division in Bangalore. The kind of work was a plus for him, as well as the fact that his SO was working in Bangalore. I know of someone else who is planning to go to the Indian division of the company he works with in the US. In time, this will increase too.

Abhishek said...

I wonder what position this leaves us - prospective US goers into ??

Tejaswi said...

The concept of Nation-State is much more deeper (and oft ignored) than the concept of communities which we know more intimately, but are in truth, less deeper. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, etc. built nations around communities, and the USSR was built around political philosophies, etc.

We need to be much more clear in our analysis when it comes to communities based on religion, caste, political leanings, social viewpoints, etc.

Lotta half-baked stuff from me. Will comment after I have more distilled thoughts.

Abhishek said...

I wonder what different effects that would have? people would be more reluctant to change a path based on religion than one based on 'a' particular ideology.