Should I keep rowing or should I abandon ship and swim for that glittering island?

A few days back, a friend told me about his plans to head for a foreign country because he has had enough of India. He isn’t one of the ‘crazy about US’ kinds who think that all things American are cool or who only talks about English music and Hollywood. He is as connected to India as most of us. Yet he is convinced that he has to move out of India.

That discussion has got me thinking about the topic of young Indians migrating from India. This article is my attempt to put down the various factors that are at work in this matter.

I will discuss the history of Indian migrations and then look at why people migrate and why they don’t. If you are expecting a yes or no answer about migrating, I unfortunately can’t provide that.

Although I am taking an Indian perspective, I think most points would be relevant to all developing nations.

Also please note that I am trying to take an objective view on the subject and not a patriotic or emotional one.

Email Is Dead – Long Live The Phone Call

I have never enjoyed using the phone and I have a particular dislike for the mobile phone. I find it a very intrusive form of communication. I don’t like the fact that the calling party decides when, where and if I should be talking to them. Not taking calls and calling back later is also not my cup of tea.

Is resignation to circumstances inherent to Indian culture?

One of the most striking things about Indian culture is that we rarely resist. For hundreds of years we have been ruled by the Mughals and the British, but apart from the independence struggle early in the last century and in 1857, there’s not much record of resistance from the masses. A few rulers did resist foreign rule but those weren’t people’s movements.

Pune Power Cuts

My letter published in the newspaper Sakal Herald dated 29th Sep 2006.
——
“MSEB or whatever it is known as these days issues these expensive ads every week announcing that it will switch off power for several hours every Thursday for so called “maintenance activities”. Puneites also
seem to have accepted these Thursday cuts as a fact of life. No resistance either from the people or the people’s representatives.