Category Archives: india
Goodbye, India. And Thank You!
“Promise me you’ll never forget me because if I thought you would, I’d never leave.”
― A.A. Milne
What on earth just happened??!
My head is still spinning.
Before I could say “boo”, my time here is up. Done. Gone. Finis.
Here’s the twist – with a couple of months still remaining on my commitment, I received a sweet offer (very sweet) to head back home and do my thing there instead.
Carpe diem (Sorry, I just watched that wonderful movie, Dead Poet’s Society).
Sieze the day! What else could I do? What would you do? When the choice is heading home or not, and it’s presented with a flourish of new incentives? Exactly.
It’s just that it was totally unexpected and sudden, and I was quite unprepared. In fact, I was under pressure to extend my commitment to stay on in Bombay (by a few years!), making me grapple with all that it means to do so. I had finally come to terms with this, ready to compromise and lengthen my stay for the right ‘fine print’.
But as I went in to discuss the details, lo and behold, the situation got turned all upside down and topsy turvy!
Could I take on a totally different (and exciting, blah, blah, blah) assignment for the company… based over there?
Huh.
And, before I knew it, just like that, it was over.
Things are happening so rapidly that I will be packing up and saying my goodbyes over the next couple of weeks. And then, it’ll be off and away for me. So quickly!
India
The time’s right to reflect a bit on my stay in India. Sadness is setting in. Because whatever good, bad or ugly I experienced here – only the good stands out for me now. [Aah, the mysterious workings of the human brain!]
I feel so lucky to have spent this time living and experiencing India – very different from a visit every now and then.
I feel so fortunate to have met all those wonderful people, many who have now turned into life long friends.
And I know that while I will still be racking up tons of frequent flier miles flying back and forth, it will never be quite the same as living here.
Mum-bai
And of the city that became my home for almost two years…whatever can I say?
A view of Mumbai at night, “clean” and shining bright!
I love this city in all its smelly and chaotic glory. I love its vibrance. I love the warmth – not of the weather so much as of its people. I love the shopping. I love the theater. I love the yoga I pursued here. I love the best pani puri in the world. I love…so many things here.
[But I do hate the sight of all that roadside garbage nor will I miss the traffic and crazy commutes].
The sweet and sour experience of living in India is looking mostly sweet – in retrospect and when it’s getting time to say goodbye. Isn’t that always the case?
Home Again
So, I head back to the US with all the eagerness of going home, but it’s mixed in with the sadness of leaving the new nest that I had created for myself in my native land.
Aaah, the yin and yang.
My time here has flown by! Almost two years that feel like the blink of an eye.
I am heading to a place where the news I will be reading is not about Sonia Gandhi, Kejriwal or corruption and scams. Instead it will be about Obama (yes!), Boehner, job creation and the fiscal cliff.
As I get ready to return home, I’m glad to say that I’m not alone. Nor will I ever be. Because accompanying me will be big buckets full of memories that will never go anywhere.
Yep. I consider myself very lucky indeed.
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“Memories, even your most precious ones, fade surprisingly quickly. But I don’t go along with that. The memories I value most, I don’t ever see them fading.”
― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
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Heading towards a different skyline on the other side of the world
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P.S. And what of my blog??! I haven’t had the time to figure that out yet. I have loved every minute of creating it, even when the number of readers was at zero because it was never about how many would read it, rather about what thoughts were pouring through my head that just had to get written somewhere.
Now, what? Perhaps I just morph it to The Yin and Yang of Life…whaddya think?
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Go Kejriwal, Go!
“Every time we turn our heads the other way when we see the law flouted, when we tolerate what we know to be wrong, when we close our eyes and ears to the corrupt because we are too busy or too frightened, when we fail to speak up and speak out, we strike a blow against freedom and decency and justice.”
― Robert F. Kennedy
This old quote from a different country far way somehow seems to perfectly fit this country now. Like a glove.
In this nation of 1.2 billion+ people, one man has had the guts to stand up and fight the scourge of corruption in a very visible and all-encompassing way. He is doing this in spite of all the criticisms that he’s up against, criticisms that sometimes verge on demonizing him. He started the battle with Anna Hazare, and even after parting ways is not giving up. Anything but.
You go, Kejriwal!
Clearly, he doesn’t have all the answers on the right way to proceed. Who can, in this nation of corrupt underbellies? So, he is relentlessly trying anything and everything to get the word out and to rouse the nation –
Fasting, check.
Protesting – loud, non-violent, civil disobedience and in-your-face, check.
Media-blitzing, check.
Politics, check. [His party home page has this apt slogan – We the people of India are the change we seek.]
He is stepping up his revelations about the corrupt – be they high ranking politicians or prolific business people, all very powerful people. And he is creating fear and anxiety (also enemies) as the guilty begin to dread each week and each disclosure.
Yes!
From an article in Outlook; click on picture to read article “Aam Army”
Thankfully the media is paying close attention to what he is saying, and therefore spreading the word so that the whole country hears about the looters. Not just Indian media, but now more global publications such as The Washington Post, Forbes and The Wall Street Journal (check out this wonderful satire) are starting to pay attention.
[The flip side of this is that the media has a super-short memory – only until the next big story erupts or is manufactured. So, Kejriwal’s revelations seem to appear and disappear like lightening bolts].
Who is Kejriwal going after?
On the one hand, you have corrupt politicians (irrespective of political party or affiliation) stealing from the government coffers. And on the other hand you have the uber wealthy Indian industrialists hiding their black money in Swiss banks, not paying taxes that they owe to the country – on the wealth that they accumulate from her.
Just last week, I had published a post about the fall from grace of Rajat Gupta. Compare his crime to that of these thieves, blatantly stealing from the country and its people! He’s been punished.
But will these looters ever get their due?
Still, Arvind Kejriwal toils on, against all odds and all critics – one stalwart and his circle of supporters in this vast country, doing all he can to expose them – the rich and the famous – “leaders” who are also turning out to be the ultimate corrupt rogues of India. Along the way, he is slowly but surely picking up more steam and supporters.
I found a recent opinion piece about the man that will probably interest you as much as it did me with this intriguing title, Six reasons why Arvind Kejriwal makes a bad politician. It showcased his character in a way that made me root for him even more. He has all the refreshing qualities of an “anti-politician”.
Let’s give the man his due, and for the good of the country, we need to hope that he never backs off of his agenda for the country. Now that he has a political party, there’s a pragmatic way for people to make a real difference by supporting him. And if there was anything India needed at this time, she needs that. His party even coming out as a strong, honest opposition to whoever ends up ruling would truly be counted as progress.
Only the people can make him a real force in the the next election and therefore, in the country.
The question remains, however – will they?
Photo from The Hindu; Click on photo to read the article
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The Yin and Yang of Life Anywhere 