What brings you back and other questions…
As long-time readers of this blog know, I (usually) avoid talking about personal matters in my posts. I am however going to make an exception in the next 2-3 posts, starting with this one*. The trigger for this was a question that I get asked fairly frequently: “What brings you back to India?” (and the related question about “What made you leave?”). A few weeks back, Nilesh asked this question in a private email to me. I asked his permission to reproduce his question on the blog – along with my response. Nilesh was gracious enough to agree. Read on (emphasis added):
Email from Nilesh:
I know, you might be very busy, but I was not able to stop myself from (asking this)…
…You are back in India after leaving your job in London and I am thinking about to leave this country somehow.
It’s not like that I don’t love our motherland, but I can’t see it dying everyday. We are powerless (and) We need hell lot of money to fight, otherwise it will be easy…to eliminate each patriotic Indian.
I really would like to know from you .. what brings you back to India?
My response (slightly revised):
To come to your question: “…what brings you back to India?” The answer is: “The belief that we can make a difference”...this is more complex than possible to explain in a short email…and I understand your dilemma too…
My simple advice/suggestion to you is: Before you do anything (in the field of political activism and/or active politics), please make sure that your (family) responsibilities are taken care of AND that they are fully behind you in this effort. This is going to be a long and hard battle. You will need to prepare well and the support of your loved ones will be CRUCIAL.
If going abroad will help you progress in your career/profession and helps you fulfil your responsibilities better, by all means do it…just ensure that you do not get disconnected from Bharat (well knowing you, I am sure that will not happen)…
So there you are..
The “What made you leave?” is a long and complicated story…suffice to say that a series of unfortunate happenings starting mid-1996 and culminating in 1997 led to the the realisation – and the decision – that it was time for me to start looking elsewhere, outside of the Foreign Service.
The realisation was not a shock to me (my mother remembers me telling her the day I received my appointment letter in1991 that I will probably last no more than 10 years in the service) but the decision was not an easy one to follow through. For one, I had spent almost all my working life until then (1997) in a highly specialised role – and although I had picked up some useful skills along the way (e.g. Japanese), I was not entirely sure how transferable they were to a job in the private sector. It was clear to me that I needed to learn the “tools of the trade” – so an MBA was a no-brainer – but the cost (and my prior work experience) seemed to be hard barriers to surmount.
In the end, I got lucky (once more). I left for London in August 1998 to pursue a full-time MBA at London Business School on a full-tuition scholarship graciously offered by the Chevening Trust and supported by the London Business School. That was the second turning point in my life.
Related Posts:
Coming Out of the Closet – Who is B Shantanu?
Eight little known facts about me
* Pl do share your thoughts/feedback on whether you would like to see more or less of such posts. Depending on your feedback, I may decide to write less/more about these things – although I need to write at least one more to keep my promise to Sukhvinder!
For Shantanu who left the Indian Foreigh Service and still connects with India, I left India as a child in 1959. I lost my connection to India never as much as visiting it. My awakening to Hinduism started with the Festival of India in the 1980s. It was India that sought connections with the economic crises of 1991 and then challenge to Indian rule of Kashmir in 1997. India now enjoys a safety zone on both matters, and there has been a corresponding disengagement with the Indian establishment. Yet, I do not feel I can sit back as a silent by-stander because what brought about these crises in India has not really changed India. India still peddles the homilies and platitudes of Ganhianism which has done so much to damage Indian interests. The party in power swears by it and nothing else. Thw only way to win India is by the power of ideas. They have to more than match Gandhi’s. If anyone thinks that the powers that be will give up even then knows nothing about the nature of power. The stealing of votes by EVMs shows that India is under a tyranny worse than any it has endured in the last 5,000 thousands years of its history. Reading English papers estolling India as the worlds largest democracy, that is hard to believe. In a measure true for all countries, democracy expresses the hope that the people are fit to appoint rulers. But when they have made mistakes in appointmenting them, removing them at the ballot box is only one of the many ways of removing them. That has required leaders who have had to stake everything on making revolutionary change possible. That was not true of Gandhi, Nehru and Patel but it was true of Jinnah. No one doubts that Gandhi et al made great sacrifices but it was also the case that many others died for the cause people who were immeasurably greater than them. Yet they have barely earned a footnote in Indian history while India professes to honour false gods. As matters stand, India is not a cause for which I would be willing to die for, so I hardly expect Shanatanu or anyone to make the ultimate sacrifice. This is really sad, because the greatest love for which anyone can lay down their lives is their own country. Although, I left India more than half a century ago, I perphaps feel more disillusioned by its politics than most of you. Those of you in India are able to make the difference that I cannot. That is that India is worth fighting and to die for but make sure it is the right India not one contrived for you by the supposed inheritors of Indian rule.
@Khandu: Thanks for a thought-provoking comment. I will respond later.
Shantanu,
Very thought-provoking. People like me always want to reminisce over India’s past, blame everybody else for the present state and assume that I have done my part. Very few actually emabrk on a journey of correcting the past mistakes and pave a way for good future (not sure how long it takes). You are one such optimistic person. It is not easy, but the goal is reachable. God bless you! Our support is always there!
AADARNIYA SHANTANUJI
AAPKA VICHAR BADA HI PRERNADAYI HAI.
Personally, I come back to India because I love our way of life. I love not having to drive a car to the Kirana store. I love the dust and the noise and the grime of the cities – some towns in the US are so clean it drives me crazy 😀
Plus I’m an outsider in the US. I can be asked to show my passport. In India no one has the right to ask me for my papers.
Also, there are no cows on the roads either 🙂 – no fun!
What brings me back? I do not need an incentive to claim what is mine. This country is mine, I am born to it. Good or bad, it is still my own to love, to protect, to improve, to feel proud about. Sorry, but it is a very weak question.
@Shantanu,
I’m (and many other like me are) wish that people like you to come and join the battle without worrying about the outcome. Because the materialistic approach of finding output from every action and activity has led this great nation to such a sorrow state.
We are always here and be there till the breath. We need guidance and support. Come and lets grow the leadership in our own culture and school otherwise the ruling class will always impose the outsiders on us.
@Sid
I agree the question is weak. But that was a pretty good question from a materialistic point of view.
I share your views about Bharat and its culture.
Jai Bharat!
Good Post Shantanu. Looking forward to more such posts. Would be interested to know why you quit IFS, please don’t feel compelled only if you want to and have time.
Although you had never heard of me before last year, I first heard about you in 1991 when you received the appointment letter mentioned above. One of my best friends happens to be your cousin and his parents made sure that we found out about this. We were like, whatever, good for him, we got to go play cricket.
I heard about you again when you got posted in Japan and when you joined LSE. Then all this came back to me when I joined FTI and saw your post and I was so damn sure I knew the name. That’s when I started following your blog as well.
I would say that my admiration for you and your effort would be no less even if I had never heard about you before. This is a great initiative and keep it going.
Sorry for the long post.
Anupam
@Khandu: I completely agree with you that “The only way to win India is by the power of ideas. They have to more than match Gandhi’s. If anyone thinks that the powers that be will give up even then knows nothing about the nature of power.”
So true – which is why the task is daunting..Sadly few people are willing to confront the challenge – and fewer still recognise the enormity of it.
While I realise you may not be able to directly join us in whatever we are trying to do, I hope we will continue to have your support and encouragement in this initiative.
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@Uma: Thank you for your kind words…we need more of us though…Many more of us…but I remain optimistic that we will find them…and as you say, “It is not easy, but the goal is reachable”
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@Vijay: Dhanyawaad.
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@Bhagwad: Very good reasons for coming back! 🙂
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@Sid: Well said…”I do not need an incentive to claim what is mine.”
I think most of us don’t need any incentives…In my own case, it was the over-riding sense that things are not as they should be and the belief that it can be changed – which brought about this change of direction.
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@संदीप: “wish that people like you to come and join the battle without worrying about the outcome.”
The battle has been joined but the war has not yet begun…we need to prepare well for we cannot afford to loose…
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@Anupam: re “why you quit IFS“, I will write about it – some day (if nothing else, then to just get it out of my system) but dont know when.
This was funny: “We were like, whatever, good for him, we got to go play cricket.” I dont blame you! but our paths were meant to cross…
It is the one news I was hoping (but not expecting) to read about India. It is the headline today. India thinking of legalising sports gambling. If it happens soon, half of India’s political problems will get solved without anyone trying to solve them. Finally, India seems to be making fast progress towards being a developed country.