My stomach churns when tourist types judge my life in India and try to induce guilt. As an example – A friend and I went for dinner with some visitors from DK. One of them asked how we could morally eat at that expensive place when there is so much poverty around us. He added that we were lucky to be born privileged. Many expats blog about how India makes them rethink with their own existentialism, with customary pictures of “Look! I played Holi with poor people in India”. Few are quick to judge Indians who live above the poverty line.
My dear bleeding hearts, especially the tourist kind, please remember India is a COUNTRY, not a cause.
It is a COUNTRY, as empathic as we are about the problems that ail it, we have real lives to lead here. So we work, earn and even oh! my god! accumulate wealth when we can. Most times we spend that wealth to satiate our own worldly desires. Is that a very difficult concept to understand?
Sure some are born rich. But most of us work very hard to hold jobs/run businesses in this country where opportunities are low and competition high. Should I give up restaurants, holidays, shopping? Should I be embarrassed of my indulgences when millions sleep hungry? Should I stop employing my maids and my errand boy because you tsk! tsk! their low wages. Perhaps they will be better off unemployed and hungry?
I think not. Unlike your prejudiced single trajectory view of India, India to us is a land of gazillion realities. We have the world’s poorest, there are those on Forbes richest, overpopulation, high mortality rates, a secular country with many instances of religious violence, people dying on the streets in a country where health tourism is on a boom, low levels of education and yet silicone valley would wither if all Indians quit. We accept it without apology, prejudice or pride.
Most of us exist in our alloted parallels. Few work selflessfly for the changes they want to see in the country. Most simply go to work and earn. If you have managed to feed and shelter yourself, you have already done the country a great favour.
If everyone were to be a full time bleeding heart, India would perish. It is the daily wage workers, the entrepreneurs, the middle class, the rich, the ones whom you judge so blatantly that drive the economy. An economy that will someday, hopefully divide the riches more equally and banish poverty.
My point is, I appreciate your feelings, please help if you can, but do not judge me because I am not a statistic in the sum of your ONLY preception of India. Dont judge me because I am not a cause you can pick.
Judgemental bleeding hearts annoy me even more than those suckers who come to India to seek Nirvana. ( A post on them some other time.)
And about that dinner, as you might expect, an animated discussion followed. Dont miss the irony that he was dining with us. Since he is from a developed/rich country is he more entitled to an expensive dinner than us, citizens of a poor country ?
Dear bleedin heart, spawn of a welfare society, SHUT UP! I probably earned my beer more than you earned yours.
To annoy you further, one time, I ate so much, I could not stand up.
Wow, just wow. What an asshat.
Thats a good comeback. There is so much to learn when it comes to India.
When exactly do you move to KBH? I may be there conducting some research at the end of the year. We could have coffee.
It is indeed the guy, sorry not to be presise
Ahaha! So funny that last bit
Honestly, India is just a microcosmos of the whole world. If people get their panties in a bunch because they think Indians should be sharing their wealth with the poor, maybe they themselves should be giving up their cars, houses, trips abroad et. al and donate the proceeds to third world countries. Wtf makes them so fnuggin’ holy all of a sudden?!
June, am SO blogrolling your funny ass!
You are totally on the money here. I’ve had this discussion a nauseatingly high number of times in Norway esp. about the maids and the so-called exploitation. We often employ a ridiculous number of people who (often) do awful jobs, but still keep them on because you can’t bear the thought of them having no income and nowhere to go. My mum is def. one of those who could have saved some pretty pennies if she wasn’t so invested in her maid, driver, dhobi et al. and their kids schooling, wedding, Diwali, Onam and all of that.
Yup, lady is a welfare state all on her own:-)
The other Indian at the table marks her presence. For the record June… I came, I saw, I liked
I love the line “India is a country not a cause”. While there is poverty in India, I have also seen a lot of beauty. Beauty in the traditions, beauty in the people and their attitudes. Did your dinner guest not realize that the money spent on the dinner also pays the wages of those working in the restaurant?
You crack me laugh… And you make me think! Thank you for both!
I crack myself laugh.. hahaha… What I wanted to say was:
You make me laugh, and you make me think!
Excellent! I can see that you put the fear of June in Mr. Lund and that he hastened to fix-fix:-) It looks great. Whats the difference really between org. and .com?
You wanna know the difference? YOU WANNA KNOW THE DIFFERENCE?? Well, wordpress.com is FREE! Super loaded with features. In wordpress.org I have to PAY for my own domain name and load all features by myself and do those HTML things.
My sage advice, dont ever listen to a man when it comes to wesbite stuff! stick to wordpress.com
“India is a country not a cause”, Now that’s a line to remember for my own conversations with the, as you put it, bleeding hearts, touristy types.
By the way, who is June and why do you talk like her? (Just kidding.)
Abdu
(http://abdusalaam.blogspot.com)
One of the more classic commentaries I’ve ever read!
Hey Paula, I am planning to move July or Aug. Have to do all that 4 years lease, 60 k bank security and stuff before that! And a lot will depend on how soon I can wind up my life here.
And yes, we will meet for coffee when I am there. I am looking forward to meeting the other bloggers.
Rune, I hope it;s the guy you are referring to and not me !