Over the last week or so any discerning Indian would have been upset by two pieces of news from overseas.
# 1. An Indian stowaway on an AI flight from Saudi Arabia.
# 2. An Indian student stabbed to death in Australia.
Both incidents are tragic ( and not new ), the first because the young man who fled Saudi Arabia as a stowaway on an aircraft, has a harrowing tale of maltreatment bordering on slavery and the second of a civilized country seeming to shield uncivilized behavior.
A few years ago while making port at Port Rashid, Dubai, I got into an interesting conversation with the harbor pilot, a Jordanian Arab. Jordan is home, to Petra, an amazing archaeological site of antiquity, and one of the wonders of the world.While expressing my admiration for the site, I was stopped short, when the Pilot asked me how I could have afforded the visit coming from a poor country like India...........here I was an educated, cultured Indian, holding a position of eminence ( or so I thought )and I was brought down to earth, rather abruptly by this query. I was aghast and speechless!
A few days later I ran into a South African, working for a ship repairs firm, on board my ship. He had a sad story of his own and said that we Indians had double standards because we accused South Africa of Apartheid while tolerating harassment in the Arab states. I agreed that he had a point, but was helpless since it was Government policy.
Stereotyping and racial profiling are issues that we associate with the uneducated, but that is farthest from the truth, as my above story would indicate. For most Arab's, Indian's are poor, wretched folk, who can be kicked around. ( the pilot called India a disaster area) Unfortunately our Government chooses to look the other way, which is a tragedy.
As for the Australian's, the less said the better. What started out as a penal colony for the Brit's has turned into a mineral rich nation..........with the local Aborigines, marginalized and poor.
As far as I'm concerned, the common denominator is that both countries are mineral rich & crass.A lack of culture I would say contributes to their looking at the rest of the world through a narrow key hole of prejudice.
Unfortunately the farce will continue to continue till, we continue to support these economies with cheap labor from our shores.
However coming back a full circle, do not miss out on Petra, if you have an opportunity to visit the place...............and I wish our MoS, for External Affairs would tweet a little more on these issues!
5 comments:
Sir, well i tap subtle undertones of mock and wrath directed at both the countries.. the incidents are disconsolate and our government ought to do something about it.. but then before govt comes CITIZENS and till the time we do not respect ourselves no other nation or person will respect us. A small insight regarding the epic movie Slumdog Millionaire. West wants to still portray us as a country which is all about dirt and slums and we were head over heels over the movie as it won accolades of THE OSCARS... what does that award mean for Indians anyway.. do we regard National Awards with the same euphoria?? It was just a good movie but we mock ourselves when we not just bow down in front of developed nations but rather prefer lying down for their convenience .. Hypocrisy at its helm..
AAK,
Absolutely right.
Stereotyping is major issue that one would face all over the world.
Sometimes good & many times bad.
Quite a few years ago, I visited Delhi, as a young boy, first of many visits.
Winter was in full swing & I found most of the men folk, strolling around in suits. For me, then, only the rich & educated wore suits and I would ask these guys directions in English, since my Hindi was pathetic. Ensuing results were always funny...........
I've learnt since!
its really sad to know that two more incidents add up to Indian plight saga abroad!! but i don't think that these two countries don't have rich cultures..its just that some people in these countries lack human sense!!(just like common sense this human sense is also uncommon:)and its true that we Indians don't know how to respect ourselves so how can we expect others to respect us..we have stereotyped ourselves as inferior to foreigners ..that's why they take Indians who discovered zero,surgery and lot many things for granted!
Dear Chavi,
Unfortunate but true......
Many of us still suffer from a 'Colonial Hangover' & bend over backwards, in dealing with many nationalities, while we assume ourselves to be superior to others.
Moderation is what is called for while reserving the right to call a spade a spade, should be our approach.
Some cultures ( read Australia ) are comfortable & understand only aggression. In dealing with them, a horses for the courses approach must be practised, to get our point in place.
got the point sir:) but still i don't know why we Indians are not so straightforward...may be it will take some time for many of us to call a spade a spade!
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