Recently, a lot of people around me have been talking about green cards, citizenship etc. I guess I am now at that stage of life when one thinks about that kind of stuff. However, I am not sure that I want to give up my Indian citizenship. I guess I am getting nostalgic, patriotic or may be, plain crazy. True that I have to deal with a lot of paper works, a lot of scrutiny for holding the Indian passport, yet that passport with all its three lion and slogan of “Satyameva Jayte (Truth alone triumphs)” is part of my identity. It feels weird to even think about giving that up.
There are a lot of things wrong with India but there are few things that do make me proud to be Indian. I have been making this mental list for past month or so:
1. Our national motto “Satyameva Jayate”, unlike America’s “God Bless America”, is far more representative of me as a person. The latter will never represent me. I am an agnostic-atheist. If I don’t believe in God, then how can the phrase “God bless America” will ever be representative of me? “Satyameva Jayate”, on the other hand, is above such insinuation. Despite it being a Sanskrit phrase, it doesn’t allude to any “God” but simply state the fact that Truth alone triumphs.
2. We don’t teach our children religious scriptures as a fact of science. Evolution is a scientific fact, not creationism. If someone in India ever proposed to introduce intelligent design in science curriculum, he or she would be laughed at. That school will never make any money (that’s what the school are these days: business units). It’s an unthinkable thing in India. Science and religion just don’t mix.
3. Science and religion don’t mix (I know I said that earlier). This is a very important differentiation in our society. We don’t challenge science based on religious scripture. We, as a society, are and have always been very accepting of sciences, which is very unusual for a society. I never realized this fact when I was in India.
4. Our educational system is one of the best. Okay, the public school system is not as good but still the curriculum we follow, is far better than any other system I have seen so far. I am not talking about the competitions, entrance exams etc. but the regular school education. Western education system makes kid smart: they can talk publicly, they are smart, and all that, but they lack substance. The basics, the fundamentals that are laid in our school system is way stronger than what they teach here.
5. The interest rates in India are much better than anything they are giving here. I know its matter of time and once the recession is over, the interest rates will go up in US as well but it still tempts me to keep my Indian citizenship.
To end the post:
P.S.: 1. May be I am just a bit homesick. Haven’t been to India for 3.5 years. Guess its high time I pay a visit. That will cure my craziness about not giving up Indian citizenship…
2. The song is there simply because I love Arvind Swamy and this post kind of reminded me of this song..
Hmm... 3.5 years is a long time. I think there will so many changes that you will notice on your next visit. But, even then I think the things that you seem to like about India would still remain :)
ReplyDeleteChoosing between the US and India would be a tough one for me too I guess...I don't think highly of the US because of the whole religious stuff. I'm a tad scared that Aus may go that way too...but at least at present it's still quite okay. After all, we do have an atheist as our PM. So I have hope. But yeah, in terms of my citizenship here, I had no doubts whatsoever. Good luck with making your decision... :)
ReplyDeleteAgree with some points. Disagree strongly with number 4.
ReplyDeleteWhile 'intelligent design' (what an oxymoron!) is taught as some US schools I still think that Americans are taught to think independently & creatively. They certainly do not 'lack substance'. If anything, I'd propose that their education system makes them the innovative thinkers that they are. Look at all the startups & tech companies. These are all science based, right? So in theory, our Indian education system should make us have the monopoly on this industry. But we have a monopoly on outsourced work instead.
All this is a gross generalisation, of course.
My 2c.
Even i had the same dilemma, whe i first came to UK and thought i will never give up Indian citizenship. But on the other hand, with OCI card and other benefits of taking up British Nationality ( free travel to many countries in the world - reduces paperwork n bureaucracy, easy to move job or even start your own - else got to go through all d time consuming process of getting work permit,e tc., made me to decide to go for it for now. Cos any day, when you want to settle down in India ( which is what i am intended to do) giveup British nationality and take Indian Nationality again......Though at heart, i will remain INDIAN, cos its not something that one could change or giveup.....
ReplyDeleteAnd i think, any day i am proud to be an Indian, and like any other society we do have +ves & -ves and we are eveolving and changing day by day.......
Agree with some points. Disagree strongly with number 4.
ReplyDeleteWhile 'intelligent design' (what an oxymoron!) is taught as some US schools I still think that Americans are taught to think independently & creatively. They certainly do not 'lack substance'. If anything, I'd propose that their education system makes them the innovative thinkers that they are. Look at all the startups & tech companies. These are all science based, right? So in theory, our Indian education system should make us have the monopoly on this industry. But we have a monopoly on outsourced work instead.
All this is a gross generalisation, of course.
My 2c.