I have a dilemma. Whenever the media in India talks about, say, Bobby Jindal, they never fail to mention that he is "Indian-American", or Indian-origin, or some other term which stresses the fact that Mr. Jindal's ancestors come from some part of India. Sample this, for instance ...This, though, is not just true of Mr. Jindal, but also of a lot of the successful people, who happen to be able to trace their lineage to India. Nothing at all wrong with this. However, this is restricted only to the western hemisphere. Why, for example, does the media fail to recognize India-born Pervez Musharraf, the now ex-President of Pakistan? They even missed this when they were writing about General Zia, once the President of Pakistan, or for that matter, Dr. Khan, of Nuclear Wal-Mart fame. I wonder why ... Just a fascination with all things Amreekkan?
On a serious note ... much serious, actually ... I am listening to the latest album by Rabbi, titled Aavengi ja Nahin ... some nice songs. On the whole, Rabbi has not disappointed. But, thats not what i am writing about. There is a song titled "Jinhein naaz hai Hind par wo kahaan hain ..." ... this song talks about some of the modern heroes of India ... he talks about Satyendra Dubey, and about S. Manjunath ... heroes to a nation which is too busy fighting about the looks, rather than the achievements of another hero ... the Shaheed ... Bhagat Singh!
I think it has become our second nature that we give undue importance to the West. Working in an MNC and a global atmosphere I have noticed this, that whenever, (well, almost) Indians are dealing with the guys from West - we become just too eager to oblige them, to be in their good books, to get a note or two of appreciation from them. Media is also human, and that too an Indian human - but yes, its time we get over this now.
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