Ashis Nandy, facing criminal charges for a think-piece he wrote in The Times of India on Gujaratis after the victory of Narendra Modi, tears into non-resident Indians and their support for Hindu nationalist “causes” back home, in an interview with Sheela Reddy of Outlook:
“There is huge support for Modi among First World Gujaratis and that support also often translates into money for Hindu nationalist causes. It is guilt money. The more they and their kids make a beeline for McDonald’s and KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken), the more they feel that they have to donate for “Hindu” causes.
“Moreover, NRIs are defensive about the status of India in the outside world because that status impinges directly on their self-respect in their adopted country. Indians and the Hindus back in India always seem to embarrass them. They are ever ready to fight to the last Indian in India for the glory of India outside India.”
Read the full interview: ‘Democracy is now psephocracy’
Also read: ‘A disgraceful assault on media freedom’
Churumuri,
I am interested to know what your opinion on the above issue is.
We come to your site to read your views. Your site lately seems to be a new aggregator. If we just want to read news there are a lot of sites offering this.
I am interested to know what your take on these issues are. Do you support the article’s author or are you against it?
Its neither here nor there.. ‘Yeh toh.. ‘
The same token applies on both sides of the pond. When freak stories make their way into the news, it makes people cringe. If NRIs cringe at the havans and poojas for Sunita Williams’s safe return, RIs are aghast at a talentless Sanjaya Malakar making news.
I don’t think RIs had much issues making Kalpana Chawla their own and grieving for her — despite her US citizenship, nor have NRIs had issues in basking in the praise India’s IT receives….
Money does not always translate to votes. Modi’s ill doings need no introduction, but if he is the elected leader, accept it and move on. This is an insult to all Gujrathis : NRI are guilt ridden and try to BUY their way out of the so called guilt ; RI Gujrathis are DOORMATs who let their NRI counterparts dictate who gets elected back home ?
If so, how come the other states have not replicated this formula ?
True, NRIs are embarrassed… embarrassed about people like Mr. Nandy.
It’s a nice, provocative statement to make. Much as I respect Ashis Nandy’s thoughts and his freedom to air them, I find it depressing that “a political psychologist” can muster only such banal generalisations, accumulated over long “sessions” at the India International Centre, and pass them off as distilled wisdom.
There must be plenty of legitimate socio-economic, cultural and other reasons why NRIs wear the tricolour in general and the saffron in particular on their shoulder with such zeal. Or why “Western Union nationalism” seems to be on the upswing. To ignore them all and view it through Big Mac and KFC takes a particular genius.
Are all Indians who are abroad “guilty” of having left these shores or seeing their motherland as it is today? Is all the money that comes in through foreign remittances “guilt money”? Is only money that goes to the BJP “guilt money”? It is fashionable to think so, but I am afraid not.
Dr Nandy makes the same mistake as those who think Bangalore is IT—Bangalore is also garments. Likewise, not all NRIs are in the United States. Plenty more are elsewhere, the Gulf to name one. Are all those working and residing there guilty; are they sending money out of guilt?
Even if NRIs are living duplicitous lives—eating beef burgers while demanding that the cow be saved back home—as the learned don seems to suggest, the mere fact that they are inclined to take an active part in the politics back home, shows something is right with them. It may not be politics to your liking, but still, it is better than two out of three not voting in the IT paradise that no longer is.
Ashish Nady studied in University of Chicago on Christian funds and he himself like many Bengalis who converted to Christinaity to avail facilites in the developed countries as well as back home.
NRI s are embrassed by Hindus and Indians.!!
We are very embrassed by their acceptance of 2 or 3 rd grade status citizens in the US/developed countries. They dont try to enlighten the Americans/developed world country citizens about Indian realities or society. They could have improved their mindsets with the ‘education’ available and develop some dignity of labour. Most of them try to get an indentity by sticking on to labesls such as castes or class or their English education. The NRIs have relegated themselves in developed societies.
If they have a better status in developend countries aka First World (sic), the image of India will also go in the right direction. In addition, they keep cribbing India is corrupt, India is not safe etc. As if developed countries have no corruption and assures complete safety of its citizens.
I could get to watch a series of documentaries with titles “Democarcy in Action” few months back in Japan. It had selected India, Egypt, Pakistan, Bolivia, US and some more countries. i think these documentaries were funded jointly by Televison networks from all continents.
They took a case study of Gujarat as it is the land of birth of Mahatma Gandhi and wanted to show how democracy is working there. It had scenes from various parts of rural areas and interviews of people who had spent time with Mahatma Gandhi. Also contained a scene which said
“This area has many Muslim families and very few Hindus. When Gujarat was burning with communal violence, this area was peaceful. May be due to presence of more muslims here. there was no violence. Hindus were protected by Muslims”. If people dont know about India, they will end up interpreting Muslims are peaceful and Hindus are violent.
This documentary was produced by some Bengali/ Punjabi guy based in Mumbai/ New Delhi.
This kind of biased projection will hurt India’s image. It is shameful to project half truths, untruths as the truths.
I am a Hindu, and I am not violent. In our child hood we were realuarly taken to Durgas to pray for Muslim holymen.
Violent / corrupt people are there irrespective of caste / religion.
madhu rao–If so, how come the other states have not replicated this formula ?
—because gujus have a huge diaspora in first world countries, unlike say tamils in malaysia or mallus and kannadigas in gulf…
even the khalistan movement was disproportionately popular in N. america and Britain. they received big money from abroad.
maybe less so than now, but in the past these gujarati NRIs used to be big patrons in their villages and extended families. it translated into a lot of influence in setting the social and political agenda back home. they remitted a lot of money to start businesses.
unlike karnataka, there is less of a divide between home and away. its very natural to go abroad, or want to seek opportunity abroad and doesnt suggest divided loyalty. someone who’s gone abroad and made it big can be a role model. here in K’taka, i feel there is a sense that if you go abroad, you dont matter any more and “good riddance”
continued.
showing India’s democracy in bad light, interestingly the same series included a documentary on Pakistan depicting it as democratic country and
Musharaff as champion of democracy in Pakistan!!. They showed all upper class women and men discussing ‘democracy’ over dinner. :)
In case of India, poor roads, dirt and squalor were given the spot light!!
why are gujaratis on the forefront of hindutva zeal?
partially wounded pride–they don’t have much of a martial history to speak of and are overcompensating. fascist leanings are typical of an emergent bourgeoisie.
across india, islamaphobia seems to be pronounced amongst traditionally vegetarian communities. jains are amongst the staunchest supporters of the BJP.
interdining is a potent ritual of socialization. its common for vegetarians, even if they consume meat occasionally, to dehumanize meat consuming communities(unless they’re white! but thats a different topic)
India has her own basic flavours that no one could change. Let us not atempt to change it. Many time it is the right thinking, being judgemental and awareness which is lacking.
Most Indians tend to be low on self estem and self confidence. They should come out of it.
They should start believing how we could scale new heights in other countries. There is no denying that every society has certian amount of rubbish in their culture. India is not an exception.
Let us cultivate the habit of self confidence, accepting facts that they are a part of the entire generation without demographic limitations, and be careful enough not to allow self confidence to become overconfidence.
If NRIs love India so much why do they flee to a foreign country?
Obviously for personal growth and selfish goals. Many of these NRIs actually hold citizenship of the country they have migrated too. And then they profess they are patriots.
Long distance patriotism is not about sending remittances to your family back here.
Patriotism is not about leaving your country in the lurch in search of greener pastures.
The moot question is how does one measure patriotism?
Is it purely screaming in support of your cricket team whilst watching the match on TV in your swanky Manhattan apartment? Or is it lending a compassionate hand to the fellow Indian who is sick and lying unattended on the streets?
Is it jumping in joy sitting in a penthouse in New York when an Indian is crowned Ms. Universe? Or is it standing by millions of Indian women, who are victims of dowry, abuse and other forms of harassment?
Is it being delighted with Bobby Jindal who has reached dizzying political heights in America? Or is it criticizing Sonia Gandhi for her Italian genes?
Is it brimming with pride when a FEW Indian school children win international spelling competitions? Or is it taking up the cause of MILLIONS of child labourers?
Is it watching our chests swell with pride when a Lakshmi Mittal is crowned as the richest man on earth? Or is it sincerely paying taxes to our Indian govt.?
DR. Sree Reddy….
you make a good point, and that clearly reveals their bias…i will say however, with regard to why and how that bias forms, it does so for a reason.
you visit lahore and the slums are tucked away behind big walls. well-to-do families are enthusiastic about hosting oustiders(even indians) and serving an elegant meal. the elitist culture charms the outsider. people’s homes are well furnished. youre eating off of porcelain. and you WILL get such an invitation
you visit bangalore, if you get invited anywhere at all, it is likely to be out to some restaurant or hotel lounge. even if the place is somewhat impressive, there are only so many people you can interact with and its impersonal. if you do get invited to a “classic” bangalore home. some malleshwaram/jayanagar type brahmin home usually, and you get leftover morning idly on stainless steel thali, sitting under a tube light. see what non-local friends will be honest enough with you to say what they think of local hospitality. avalakki and chaha for lunch will beg the question as to why you even bothered to invite someone over in the first place.
“Studies of genocide show that when two communities are close to each other and then their relationship sours, it releases uncontrollable passions. This happened during Partition in Punjab, where Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs were remarkably close. But when that relationship collapsed, it released unimaginable furies. It was arguably the only known case of successful, large-scale ethnic cleansing in India. The non-Muslim population in West Punjab and the Muslim population in East Punjab came down from around 25 per cent to almost zero.”
C’mon man, I am on your side with that whole freedom of speech thing, but don’t insult our intelligence.. please!
The relationship didn’t so much collapse as break down under sustained assault resulting in the mass movement of people on the basis of religion alone (since Pakistan was created on the belief that Muslims weren’t safe in India and vice versa). This caused the genocide, not the other way around.
And “only example of successful large scale ethnic cleansing”? What about the Kashmiri Pandits? What about Bangladesh circa 1970? Or is it ethnic cleansing only when Hindus are NOT at the recieving end…
Even taking this fellow at face value, whats wrong with Hindus donating to Hindu causes? What does this chap want?
Regarding NRIs being defensive of India, it does look like its been a while since Mr. Nandi woke up and got out of bed.
The Gujarathi Hindu antagonisms to the minorities has not been analyzed fully well. Prior to Ram Mandir and much prior to Modi, Gujarath was touted as a laboratory for evangelical activities and islamic conversion. I have a pentecostal booklet by UPC dated 1988 where the strategy for Gujarath was clearly listed. Gujarath was termed a soft state with soft people and easy game for harvesting souls. The muslim organizations spared no efforts in demeaning the soft natured Hindus of Gujarath. On top of it the upper class Hindu, Jain, Bohra Gujrathis were successful businessmen and industrialists with a long tradition of business. So the response from the Gujarathi community both within and outside India was to put the Jehadis and evangelists in their place as they were trying to impinge on their way of life which was in many ways peaceful and constitutional. That was what resulted in the Gujarath violence. The Gujarathis did not give in to these Mullah-missionary-marxist elements so easily unlike the servile people from Kerala, Tamil Nadu or WB.
NRIs are embarassed by Indians and Hindus in India when they see that Indians stop asserting their identity and their Indianness and Hinduness and they become subservient to Mullah and Missionaries.
@rar
It is sad to know that you get invited and got only leftover Avalakki and chaha in Bengaluuru. There are many communities in Bengaluuru which are known for hospitality. It also depends on the community.
Causal visitor would get the above. But if you are invited for lunch or dinner, sure we would defintley would like provide you with a sumptuous meal.
What is true of our society is also true of our government. We dont have that training to ‘show off’ as Pakistan or China does. Many writings in East asian languages use India as an example of poverty and squalor. They equate India to dirt, poverty. It is sad.
I dont see much differences between China and India in terms of soci0-economic factors, Chinese have managed to project themselves better in international society.
Quite often I have to protest when Japanese dismiss India as not having middle-classes and middle-class is the product of economic liberlization. I tell them middle classes always existed in India and the numbers are increasing now rapidly after the economic liberalization.
Image is also different, I guess.
@dr sree reddy
of course i realize that ive made a generalization, and know that different communities have different attitudes….i’ve had some great meals here. i was pointing out what seems to be the typical experience of outsiders, particularly foreigners. if they come here for IT, or through certain other channels, their guides often show them a predictably bland face of the city that does not necessarily reflect the true culture. lets put it this way, they leave the city with the impression that all hindus are supposed to be vegetarian, and that idly vada and dosa sums up all that is to be known about south indian cuisine..
@Vikram
admittedly there was a lot of evidence of aggressive protestant chistian evangelism in gujarat, and you have an anecdote of coming across one of their pamphlets. was there really such aggressive islamic forced conversion? that is an allegation that even hardline hindutvadis have not expressed typically. they usually emphasize the higher fertility rate of the muslim community to spread fear of future demographic disadvantages.
Enough of Hindu bashing, Modi bashing. Please draw the line somewhere.
@ rar…ultimately u get what u deserve …stop the inane generalization
rar… troll alert. do not feed the trolls.
Well said Vinay!
Ashis Nandy seems to be more important for Churumuri than for anyone else.
Churumuri, relax! This is not the first time a Bengali “intellectual” failed to hide his contempt for Hindus.
churumuri,
in the portal where this was posted, right next to this scholarly discourse was another article by another academic. that one did not pass your editorial screen i see. if it helps, studies at ghent university on related issues are manned by a fellow bangalorean who has produced some heavy duty all academic analysis vonly.
http://www.hindu.com/mag/2007/12/09/stories/2007120950090400.htm
rest of it you can google for.
i will post another comment bcause more than one link one comment attracts churumuri mod q.
anyways, nandy saar would do well to compile all these insights into a paper and publish it in an academic journal. it should not be a big deal at all – considering that he can pull rank of being one of the top 100 intellectuals of current time. atleast a few of his reviewers will find pedigree an important criteria.
but once it is on a journal, atleast 50 years from now, somebody can pull it up and rend saarguLa thesis and make that rend his own thesis.
The Churmuri is getting tasteless……
Churumuri is being funded by UPA and Left parties. This is absolute bullshit.
Naxalites seem to have infiltrated into Churumuri.
Divide and rule again. NRI and RI. Then they also talk about pseudo-secularism.
Nonsense. If the civil society has to be equal then it should have equal laws for every secular society. The bedrock laid by the Congress party bloating about secularism has resulted in this blunder.
This guy is as good a joker as our own ananta mootri who can not stop embarassing himself everytime he opens his mouth these days. It is clear that senility has set in on these free whisky imbibers because they clearly do not exercise their body nor their brain enough to keep them sharp; but they are growing larger at the midrim and smaller above the neck. They clearly lack the mental and physical ability to ‘counter’ likes of Modi who lead a disciplined life.
Let us hear more from the local inhabitants about their brothers and sisters who “fled” to the West, seeking money and ease.
Let us also hear from the NRIs who tell their tale of shame, suffering, and pain in Sharif Vilaayath.
Honestly, I don’t know many Indian NRIs. I only know a few Kannada ones who seem to be doing quite well and who arrange circuses like the biennial Akka Conference. From what I read in our vanis, prabhas, and thatskannada, they seem quite well adjusted to the loss of their original habitats and to the life they lead in the U. S.
I see some Gujju bashing here. Remember British Gujarathis were successful in reversing the decision of the British Government not to grant a visa to Modi. Money is power.
In any case, let us look homeward and see what we can do to contain the mischief of the BJP, the Congress, and the JDS if not entirely eliminate it.
Of course, we all can watch “America, America” on dvd and feel good about our land and its cultural pull as opposed to the soullessness of America. I do want to see a sequel in which we will learn what happens to Surya and Bhoomi after they set foot in Bengaluru.
I think we are more embarrassed by writers like Ashis Nandy who look and write like a******s!
One reason for RIs to be embarrassed by NRIs
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/06/26/sabhnani.sentence.ap/index.html
A lot of ‘intellectuals’ are hung up on middle class India not showing remorse for Godhra and the like.
Teesta Seetalvad was angry that Gujrat put Modi back in power in 2007, instead of punishing him. Nandy thinks NRIs also ought to be embarrassed by the ‘communal’ forces back home.
Maybe Middle Class India and NRIs take in the riots as a fact of life – no more worth being embarrassed over than anguishing over the life lost to Islamic invaders.
Karihaida navare
It is very shameful. Because we dont respect labour. We want someone to do our jobs. We lack dignity of labour. I remember when my father was teaching us how to clean the toilets on the weekends, some visitors to our house laughed at us saying ‘such things should be done by servants’. My father retorted ‘dont you use toilets and what is so funny’. No answer came.
Sometimes at airports I watch Indian families taking their servants along with them. (Because of their dresses are pretty faded and not so good condition, if not rags and they are looking after or carrying small kids or some kind of heavy hand bags and not more than 13 or 14 aged kids) The madams dont carry any heavy stuff or care for the kids except for a small vanity bag.
They make quite a spectacle at the airports.
I am pretty embarassed to identify myself with them as “Indians”.
churmuri postings now go in this order
1. Post a article by Ashis Nandy bashing India/Indians/Hindus/Modi
2. Post a article by Anantha Murthy bashing India/Indians/Hindus/Modi
3. Post a article by T J George bashing India/Indians/Hindus/Modi
4. Post a article by Ashok Mitra bashing India/Indians/Hindus/Modi
5. Post a poll bashing India/Indians/Hindus/Modi
Rinse,Lather, repeat
The new Rhetoric by these “Intellectuals” is being born as a Hindu is a shame. So be to a Atheist or convert to other religion to escape bashing. And our media potrays “Intellectuals” as self righteous…..
“Think-piece” and TOI are contradictions. Ashis Nandy’s “think-piece” would have been based on an exit-poll on desis at McDonald and KFC drive thru exits. These ‘exit poll experts’ were left without a job after their predictions predictably flopped recently. Grapevine has it that they have been sent abroad to hone their skills quickly, in time for the upcoming general elections. Grapevine also has it that they have been instructed to comment against India and Indians in order to look cool and increase newspaper circulation.
It is only the Hindu’s who have been gettting foreign money from NRI’s to promote terrorism in India and NOT the Muslims and Christians!
as they say in english yaenri nimm ragaLe. (thou doesth protest…)
dont you know that kerala’s economy is an important thesis in how the economy ought to be?
instead of writing in support of theories such as those, why are you asking these type of questions, i say? so what of if a minority remits money, that either directly or indirectly ends up in institutions that perpetuate communal minority-ism and reinforce medieval middle eastern & southern european notions of martyrdom and victimization and translate that to a vote bank that benefits a particular political party?
what are you some sort a fascist, or worse, a cheddi? go sit in a corner and write your raama koTi. wait! you must be a south indian, so as decreed by the all knowing and holier than the rest goddess of primetime, you cannot revere rama, you southie.
TS, whom are you addressing?
Why don’t they adopt this gentleman, give him some fellowship and liberate him from this ignominy of being here.
@Mayura
Well said and well analysed
BB,
Thanks buddy.
Mayura
What is wrong with these Bengalis? I just read Amartya Sen’s argumentative Indian and he talks about the “tolerance of Islam”. With all due respect to him as a Nobel Prize winner, I am appalled by the book. Just because someone wins the Nobel Prize does not mean that everything he writes is first rate– this book in particular is superficial and I was surprised when I read it because I had thought he must somehow be great to have won the Nobel Prize. He even says that he does not see why Indian should be a member or the security council or that it should have weapons to defend itself—this is the road along which pseudo-secularism leads. Why is it wrong for Hindus to have pride in their culture? I live in the States and Westerners have an inordinate amount of pride in their civilization. It is natural for the Gujratis to feel nationalistic when they have attained prosperity. I have seen some Jewish groups here who were eating pork and all suddenly turn orthodox when they are prosperous. So why is everyone bashing Gujratis? Why do not people bash the Muslims of Kashmir who made 400,000 Pandits leave and raise an uproar when recently the Government wanted some land to build lodges for Amarnath pilgrims, and the Muslims took to the streets in violent protests. That sums up Muslim tolerance. If anything, it is the pseudo-secularists who will bring Indian down. I do not agree with the excesses of the BJP like when they try to rewrite history but they are a healthy phenomenon overall. Why are Hindus not allowed to have pride in their past? Bengalis are just people with weird complexes from what I have seen here.
Nirad Chaudhuri who described India as the “Continent of Circe” is the typical complexed Bengali.
@Larissa
You know something .
Bengalis dont consider themselves Indians (at least the ones I have come across outsiede India) they call themselves Bengalis and you and me will be Indians in their eyes. Even if they do by mistake they will be few clouds above you and me!!.
Most Bengali intellectuals write nonsense including Gayatri Chakravarthy Spivak. She says in one of her book ‘In India widows are burnt’ . Who and where they are burnt? It is not in all communities and not all over India. she has given the impression to many western scholars end up thinking poor indian women, if they are widows they are burnt, so much of oppression. She equates Bengal= India. Unforgivable.
I have seen so many South Indian families who respect widows irrespective of communities. My late grand aunt (gandma’s eldest sister) had lost her husband while she was very young, used to preside in all meetings and used to controll many things. She was respected as was the eldest member in my paternal grandma’s tavaru.
I agree with you B’s have many complexes. Some Bangali brahmin female was boasting that they were modernised long ago when they came into contact with the Brits. Examples of modernity according to her was that they started eating meat long ago and started speaking English long ago!!!.
@Dr.Shree Reddy
Gayatri Spivak writes junk–postmodern, postcolonial rubbish with weird titles that no one takes seriously in America. Another writer on India who no one reads is Martha Nussbaum who writes all kind of postmodern junk on India.
I think the rest of us Indians are thankful to the Gujrati community in the United States. They open Sanskrit schools for Indian children and other cultural centers so that children who are raised in America are able to be exposed to Indian culture and are able to interact with other indian children.
Moreover, after the Kashmiri Pandits were displaced, Gujratis were the only ones who gave them seats in Universities which helped the displaced Pandits who had been expelled from Kashmir, their centuries of habitat, by Muslim terrorists and had to live in refugee camps. The Indian government, on the other hand, turned a blind eye to their plight and did not have the balls to do anything and still appeases the Muslims as is evident from their inability to even take some forest land to build lodges for the Amarnath pilgrims for their protection during their pilgrimage. The Muslims protested violently as usual and the government is scared as usual. Indians don’t realize that Kashmir is no longer a part of India–the terrorists have kicked out everyone. And people still talk of the Gujrat massacre as if there is nothing else happening in India.
When will Indians ever learn?
Larissa–
Don’t knock NC. Nehru’s autobiography should have been titled “Autobiography of a Well-known Indian.”
To my knowledge no one has spoken as well as NC to the psychic damage caused to those who live in the subcontinent by successive waves of invasion. Those waves brought us knowledge and cast us on the beach of destruction.
Naipaul and Rushdie say the same thing.
“The Continent of Circe” is no paean to Europe.
PTL,
Good one! “Autobiography of a well know Indian” now Nirad would have liked that.
Indians abroad have done reasonably well. Perhaps those who went to work in the Gulf countries during the last two decades could not gather much wealth. They were less educated and were willing to bargain their wages. Those who have chosen to settle down in Developed countries are also called NRIs in India. I do not understand how a person who had held a little “Stars and Stripes” in their hands and swore by the Constitution of the United States and took oath of allegiance to their adopted land could be termed non-resident “Indians”. The shift of loyalty was by their own free will. Sunita Williams, Kalpana Chowla, Bobby Jindal, wow what example of India’s resident ambasadors abroad. Indians make a hue and cry when someone adopts Indian citizenship, converts to Hinduism, changes name, marries an Indian and works for a political party in India. She cannot hold a constitutional post here. But the very prospect of Bobby Jindal being nominated candidate for Vice President makes Indian hearts swell with pride. He was born in America, converted to Christianity and doesn’t care much for matters Indian. What double standards of Indian pride.
We Indians will do immensely well if we worked hard as some of our so called Non Resident Indian brothers and sisters do abroad. We will do well if we make this nation a wonderful place to live in. Our Government would do well to give opportunities for people to work here and earn not only their livelihood but enough for the “pursuit of happiness”. If only we could think without categories, like Non-Resident “Indian”, “Hindu-Indians” “Muslim Indians” “Punjabi Indians” and so on. If these so called “Indians” abroad also join us in celebrating India, we must accept them. It is their freedom and our generosity. If they want to hold dual nationality and a couple of passports for every country they feel they belong to, give and Indian passport to them. In fact they do remit money to India. Wait a minute, I do not say that they remit money to the Government of India. They do so to their relatives. Good we too get a share very very remotely and indirectly.
Please do not take my surcasm too seriously. It is however fun to watch some of you guys taking an opinion so seriously that one would think Pritish Nandy insulted you personally.
I understand that due to the long decades of Left rule, Bengal and Bengalis are a little misunderstood. But shame on you Dr. Reddy for saying that Bengalis don’t consider themselves Indians…only Bengalis… Shame on you… how dare you make this generalization? I will not bash any state in return, because “your state” belongs to me (and is dear to me) just as much as you think it belongs to you.
Let me introduce myself: I am an Indian born in a Bengali speaking family that considers itself Brahmin. I am also a (currently US based… will move back to India in 3-4 yrs) NRI and professor. I am an atheist, I love beef and pork, I say so openly and I have been a lifelong BJP supporter. Modi is one of my personal heroes. No, I feel no guilt at not being in India for last several years. And yes, I love to send money back home to political and social causes because I think I have a huge stake in how my country shapes up. And no, I have no definition of “Indian” other than one who is eligible for an Indian passport. For me, there is no such thing as “real Indian”. I have always felt that thinking of Sonia as anything other than Indian is a disgrace and in fact, this is the only fault I find in Modi.
There are times when I feel hurt at the way the poverty of India is projected abroad. But, then I always sweep that feeling aside and feel proud that India is a democratic country with nothing to hide. Every Indian/foreigner is welcome to badmouth India all he wants, even sitting in India; we welcome free thought and free expression in all forms.
India has lots of things that are going well and lots of things that are going badly. This is how a massive democracy works. No, we do not need to cover anything up with a veil like the Chinese do. If we Indians speak in one voice, the sounds of India bashers like Nandy will not have any effect.
SS, you’re a typical Indiot!