Identities and Globalization
In his profile, TIME Magazine’s International Newsmaker of the Year, Shri L N Mittal is quoted as saying,
“Whether I’m Indian or the citizen of another country is irrelevant in this global environment”.
I do not know the context in which Shri Mittal said these words but I have mixed feelings about the remark.
While globalization (and L N Mittal’s ability to adapt to it is second to none) is of course a fact of our lives today, I do not think it needs to come at the cost of letting go of your national identity.
I believe that a debate on this issue is just developing and the challenge of maintaining, preserving and strengthening national identities is likely to intensify in the years to come (see a related post on this topic: “Of Bangalore, Bengaluru and Fractured Identities…“)
dear sir iam agree but somewhere we feal that we are the citizen of india
Why is it that many a times Indians staying outside the country fail to feel proud of being an Indian? It may have something to do with individual complexes and individual infatuation with the foreign society and culture, but it is also true that the government has its large share in such feeling. Let me give an instance of a time when I feel ashamed of my Indianhood.
I had run out of pages in my passport and I had gone to the Indian High Commission in London to get extra booklet for the passport. Normally it is the simplest and least complicated of the services that the consular services can offer. But, this is not the case with the Indian high commission in London. The commission has tried its best to make is faily complicated so that all the people who may have forgotten the long arms of all-pervasive Indian bureaucracy get a good feel of itself.
One has to get in the queue at around 6.30 in the morning although the office starts at 8.30 AM. I arrived at around 8 an I saw a queue of 100 people standing outside the embassy which was supposed to issue the token number at 8.30 AM. Everyone – small children, old men and women, boys, girls, young – kept standing in the queue for around 2 hours. The queue extended beyond the walkway and spilled on the sides of the busy road. People walking on the walkway had great difficulty in crossing the packed queue. A young couple having their morning jog made a sarcastic comment – ‘What will they do, they are too many people all over’
The office started at 8.30 and token numbers were distributed to all. When my time arrived I was not allowed to go in as I was carrying a bad and the bag contained a laptop. I told them that there was no information on the website that laptop was not allowed. When I contested strongly, one of the persons at the gate took me to the corner and told me to contact the shop nearby. When I went there, I was surprised to find that the shop had blatantly advertised a banner saying – ‘Contact for Indian Visa’ as if the Visa was on sale. I went inside and the guy welcomed me with warm heart and told me that I could keep the bag with him at a cost of 7 pounds.
Alas !
Our bureaucracy, the babu, the chaprasi has found its way of making money in London.
Why will a Britisher respect an Indian when he can see that the country does not respect its own countrymen. The High commissioner should know that his office is the touch point for all the citizens who have come to UK for work and earn their liverlihood or even other wise. This is the place which is being seen by the people from the other nationality. They observe day in and day out how our own country treats us. I do not blame them for condescending attitude. I blame our own countrymen and the governments who treat their own people like pigs. Other’s attitude just reflect the same behaviour.
My job involves a lot of travel and I have had experience with at least 8 other embassies. In no other embassy that I have visitted for getting Visa I had ever had such a shoddy experience. US embassies are crowded all over, but there are processes and systems in place and one needs to follow them. The information on the website clearly explains the list of do’s and don’ts so that one goes well prepared. For us, these things are alien because this will remove the chances of earning the share of those 7 GBP.
Poor treatment reciprocates. The same people when go back, they care for nothing. Neither the laws, nor the sentiments. The moment one lands at the airport in any of the Indian cities, the same attitude starts haunting them starting from the custom checks, extended security check on landing, the police checks. The person outside the airport is pissed off and has only one weapon to take his revenge – money and he starts breaking the same laws using his money power.
Just to add to the earlier post few minutes back, I would also like to add a fact that there is no way I can send a complaint to the High Commissioner about the ill treatment meted out to me by the staff and also about the fact the website is so inadequate in terms of the relevant information so that the people do not have to face problems when they land there.
There is a feedback section, but that seeks feedback on the website and not on the services rendered by the counsulate. If someone can pass my grievance to the High commissioner and request him to take proper measures to make the process transparent so that the people do not face problem, it would be a great service to the people and the country.
Jai Hind !
@ Mod Prakash: I will try and alert a few people I know on your predicament…I hope something comes out of it.
In the meantime, you may find this post and the comments interesting.
Shantanu,
The Indian High Commission made a mistake in the PIO card issued to me – they forgot to put a date. I am planning to go next week and get them to fix their mistake – for the first time I will be going without a ‘contact’. At least I will get a good story out of it. Will keep you posted.