Global uplinking

There is a great deal of hooplah about the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas festivities. And not a little hype too. Once again it was time to showcase the great successes among Mother India8217;s wandering progeny, beribbon them and hand them their certificates of belonging. Once again it was time to trade in the steak-and-kidney pie and burger-and-cola for some good old bajra roti and ghar ki sabzi. Once again it was time for speeches about the eternal call of hearth and home and of dadas and dadis.

But if India is to discover the commonwealth within its diaspora it would do well to look, not just to the diasporic dignatories of the present, the presidents and prime ministers of far-flung islands or the lords and ladies of the British realm, but to young adults of Indian origin who are making their first exploratory moves along the learning curve in the various universities, or their first forays into the job markets of the world, because they are going to be the force multiplier for this country over the next 30-year span. And here lies the real challenge. This emerging generation, unlike their parents or grandparents, is not linked to this country in terms of memories, emotions, family ties and customs. They have as yet no sense of feeling Indian, no stake in being Indian. Indeed, their view of the nation their folks had emerged from originally would be mediated by the images of this country that play out in the local media.

Yet there is a great deal India can offer them, not just in terms of ethnic experiences but in terms of education and skill enhancement and there is a great deal India can glean from them in its drive to emerge as a modernising economy and society. To some extent, this global uplinking with the young, third generation adult of Indian origin has already happened in the fields of education, information technology, culture and literature 8212; the inevitable outcome of a globalising world. But there is scope for providing direction and momentum to this effort of discovering the Indian in the world so that he/she can discover the Indian in themselves.