Bruised psyche of a faceless Indian : Ramesh Khazanchi

The following was my follow-up,posted in the Times of India to a blog by Ramesh Khazanchi called Hard Copy.It deals with the attacks aimed at Indian students in Australia, to which several people had commented pretty rashly, I felt. Is this what India is coming to? That we snap at the heels of every isolated incident with so much sting? This zeal, probably unheeded, is against our cultural upbringing...

Varun says: July 25, 2009 at 05:08 PM IST

Firstly, I have several friends in Australia, both Australians and Indians. In fact all of them have told me that the initial attacks on Indians were only random incidents. But the media hyped up these isolated incidents so much it led us to believe that all Indians in Australia, and for that matter, the States and even Europe, were target to racialism. I'm pretty sure there are a hellotta cases in Australia where Australians get beaten up too. Accepted, as an Indian, my prime concern goes for the Indian student beaten up. And because of the hype created by the media, the community in Australia held protests and rallies. I'm not going to blame the media for doing their job - but as mediators of information to different corners of the globe, don't they also have a moral and social responsibility? I read through all the comments and it hurt me to see that inspite of all the hue and cry raised, we ourselves revert to the terminology of 'whites' and 'blacks'.
Of course, I'm not going to deny that there are several kinds of people (obvious referral to skin colors) in the world. The education system in India is so high profile, that even an average engineer is highly valued abroad. This has nothing to do with skin color - rather, his level of expertise. Moreover, because his options might include the greener pastures of other countries, he can even settle for the Dream, be it American, Australian or otherwise. Have we all forgotten the attacks on the Sikh community in the US following 9/11? this too simply because they followed their religious regimen of not cutting their hair, and because they wore turbans.
When the question comes to bringing home the bacon, Indians have proven time and again, they are the best in the business. No doubt, I'm sure even Australia and the States can produce an outstanding workforce. But the prices demanded by Indians for their services are certainly way more competitive. (To Be Continued)
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Varun says: July 25, 2009 at 05:16 PM IST

(Continuing)
A superb point raised in one of the comments above, was the average Indian call-center employee calling himself a Steve or a Michael, when he would actually be a Satyadev or a Makhanlal :). Why camouflage your nationality? It is known in the entire world that Indians are among the cheapest service providers (BPOs, etc) and among the most prolific workers in today's age. We should be proud of this and in fact let others know that we are not Jacob, from Australia, but in fact a Jaikish, from India, and how may I help you, thank you very much.
All this balderdash about outsourcing to other countries when they don't need it - I truly disagree. And even at home, when the purists cry foul over sending over talented individuals abroad, or Brain Drain, as it is tagged - I say, why not? In the end they end up raking in cash for our economy, don't they? In the process increasing the value of the Indian.