Scrolling down the numerous fb posts of my relatives, friends, foes (to quite an extent), I always seem to be discovering something or the other. While most of the times, it is to find how these guys and gals are progressing in their lives, though it is obvious that nobody would post their share of displeasure, regret or anything like personal/professional failure on the site, the absence of good news on their part signs the deal. Well now, things might start giving an impression that I am one sadistic little stalker who enjoys finding people suffering from destiny’s wrath, but it isn’t this way. The point I dig up these posts is to get enthused by the mere sight of these people having a myriad of photographs taken overseas and having them pasted over the net. The curse of the modern times for those who seek to explore, I wanted to explore these places myself in person and not by observing somebody standing up there with a Selfie . Fact of the matter is, no matter what you achieve in life, a tinge/masala/special condiment of foreign ingredients (education/job/girlfriend/kids whoa!)is highly sought after amongst the youth of India.
What is this that keeps the minds of the youth in India enchanted towards anything outside our national borders towards the west? Everything ranging from an advanced master’s degree in sustainable environmental engineering to a more than humble diploma certificate in intensive pomegranate porridge processing, anything which has been branded from abroad will have its own shine and sheen. It is logical, that the shine is due to the massive opportunities of an incorporation of knowledge, culture and ideas but this very “glitter” shines so bright that many are blinded by its sheer intensity and follow haplessly in this domain. Through the course of my heated and utterly stupid discussions with my supremely intellectual friends, most of them being brutally honest, I have come to the conclusion that the temptation has to do more with culture. “Well, it’s all bang-bang there dude…live in relationships, shared dorms, frat parties, one night battlefields, life’s worth a living over there” It’s too naïve to believe that, people actually living abroad present a different version, rather one much more related to the popular NAT geo series “banged up abroad”. No matter which side of the coin you are likely to stumble upon, with regard to the prospect of living a life abroad, whether you might detest the very idea or might have an extreme fondness for the same; one thing is for sure that you can’t ignore it. Generally speaking, there are certain heavy weight criteria which myself and people across the world share for having an obvious preference for things abroad.
If you were supposed to broadly classify this criterion, they may be segregated immaculately into buckets (huge ones) as enlisted below:
1. Opportunity: Despite a recession prone western economy with tons of visa regulations and immigration norms, the promise of a good (heavily paying, branded, globally recognized, reputed, envied) job and a quality (Harvard, Stanford, Yale, MIT) education remains the topmost priority amongst the youth. Though majority of these people are ready to compromise both decent and quality terms just to be abroad for the sake of it, that’s an altogether different story. The English speaking crowd present to alleviate you to the levels of refined intellectuals, provision of a global master-card of educational prowess and a heavier resume with an international stamp does help an individual tremendously. These individuals seek to leverage every single drop of blood for something good and something big.
2. Snob bobs: “My neighbor’s son went to kannadaaa (Canada in Punjabi slang) to do studies, he is very intelligent and rich” is a common phrase you would hear in Delhi. Getting anything from outside shall suffice to uphold the social standing of the heavily Indianized version of sophisticated middle class families of New Delhi. Big fat ladies gossiping around advertising their sons and daughters prospective marriage profile, glamourizing the enviably powerful concoction with the chemical X of “foreign education”. It is like an expensive piece of privileged jewelry, “mera beta foreign return hai” a dialogue commonly heard in urban as well as suburban town halls of India.
3. Explorers: Rarest of them all, true to their passion to go outside of the box just for the sake of it. To enjoy new food, cherish world heritage sites and conduct a deep study of the diverse cultures of the world. The “tourists” is a very lame grouping of these people; they are in true sense walking philosophers, in love with the phenom called life and humanity.
4. The condemned: those who are persecuted, seeking refuge. It’s commonly seen these days and is becoming a serious concern for the world. Thousands seek foreign lands not just to earn a living but to save their lives. Religious persecution at hands of terrorists, political persecution by depots and millions of people who are just caught in middle of nowhere in pursuit of global capitalist cum imperialist desires. An entire generation’s lives are marred and scorned heavily by the immense hardships they have to undergo. This, though not seen in India, is very common in middle-east. Let there be peace for them.
Thus, one may say that different people have varied reasons for their proclivity towards an overseas migration. Though in India, the snob bobs pathway is becoming a serious concern as most of the youth today are very well strolling along this path, forgetting the true goal of quality education or better opportunity. It is sad to note that foreign education though being highly popular amongst the proactive career oriented youth these days, it still remains to a large extent, merely an object of profound display of financial might and an elite social standing. The students should at least realize that one shall truly succeed in life provided his overseas ventures into the new world are in line with his personal and professional goals of both short and long term in nature.
No comments:
Post a Comment