The bustling streets of New York. The decadence of Los Angeles. The allure of Las Vegas. Yes, most Indians have a mini emotional drama when thinking about the United States of America. This deep rooted obsession with the land of the whites raises yet another question, ‘why are we in such a hurry to live the American dream’, ‘why is it so important to replace New Delhi with New York?’
Since the dawn of mankind, every decade, one Homo Sapien has done something innovative and the others have followed suit. And so, many years ago, one smart ass decided to ditch the Indian soils for the virgin land overseas and ever since then every Indian has been fishing for his golden ticket to the wonderland of America.
Is it the cleaner roads, the so called better infrastructure or just the thrill of rolling your ‘R’s to infinity? Whatever be the reason, India can’t get enough of America. Our directors run off to America every chance they get, just to make a love story that would have been just as pathetic if it was shot in Nehru Park as it did in Central Park. The rich Indian ‘elite’ can’t bear the thought of having their children study in mediocre Indian colleges but they have no qualms with packing them off to down trodden American ‘schools’. The superstars who’ll throw the biggest tantrum if asked to arrive at an inauguration on time don’t mind waiting in line with the other junior artists for the most insignificant role in the Hollywood biggies. And, most importantly, we can’t wait to flaunt the six packs and the bikinis on the beaches of Miami when we haven’t even seen the breath taking backwaters of Kerala!
India has seen the most phenomenal growth in the past few years and true, we have our ups and downs but all said and done, an Indian can never feel more at home than India. Even though America is a gold mine, there are somethings that an Indian cannot experience in on any other continent- getting wet in the rain and then getting stuck for hours in traffic with your closest friends because of water logging, eating bhel puri (not the packed one, but the roadside one), bargaining at Janpath to buy things you don’t really need and countless experiences such as these! But again, not to sound one dimensional and maintaining the tempo, India has its credentials too. The economy, which is kind of brackish at the moment, is bubbling with opportunities. Anyone who wants to start afresh, this is the place. We have the most beautiful women in the world (and no, I don’t just mean Aishwarya Rai). We have some amazing colleges (the top ones, that is)-actually that’s the thing, we have a certain amount of good colleges and twenty students vying for one seat, so if you make it, kudos! And most importantly, we are young (no, not the statistics that state India has a huge workforce on the younger side). I mean, we’ve just started. We can devote the next fifty years to doing things our way! We have a value system, some moral standards and if something is disagreeable, change it. You don’t like unpunctuality-great, be ten minutes early. You don’t like the littered roads, then stop throwing those wrappers on the streets!
After over six decades of throwing away the tag of being a colonial state and after three decades of realizing that the politicians are useless, it is, perhaps, time to be the change instead of asking for it. It is the era of Indian dreams!
