India and its diaspora

I made an optimistic observation: That India might be able to make the restrictions against its people (H1B visa fees) work for itself, just as China made the restrictions on sending advanced processor chips being sold to them to build its own tech stack.

Facebook knew how I felt and continues to recommend reels and posts, made by thousands of Indians around the world, saying similar things.

But there is an issue I did not talk about, and I think it is very relevant: How Indians see its diaspora. I don't know what it is, but it is very different from how the Chinese sees it. For the Chinese, the diaspora is a source of strength and ideas. For Indians, these are people who got away and didn't take any responsibility. 

But it is more complicated than that. I see that in the posts and counter-posts being made now. One clear trend is jealousy: Many express glee that the non-resident Indians are in trouble. There are others who see this as an affront to India and its government, and therefore, generally voicing the optimism that this would work out well for India. But even there, the evidence of a welcoming attitude is hard to find.

This should not be surprising, given how much contempt the NRIs have handed out to the Indians in India. I remember one person telling me that there are two kinds of Indians: One who lives abroad and one who never left. He made his preference for the former quite apparent. In my personal experience, one of the most disgusting moments I encountered in London was in a diaspora event - someone's marriage anniversary - where one of the family members were presenting a sketch of how the needy 'desi' relatives often turned up at their door. 

The Indians in India often wanted the money of the NRIs but not their advice; and most NRIs were ready to offer advice but no material help. Compared to the Chinese middle classes, Indians had relatively easy access to the West, because they spoke better English and (ironically) on account of their colonial heritage. But this also meant that an Indian immigrant, particularly in Anglophone countries, often assumed that they had made it - become the half-master - and those at home hated them back. 

Therefore, if Trump really manages to drive Indian talent out of the United States, it may be other countries - Canada, UK, Europe and even China and Japan - may benefit more from it than India. I know some universities which are creating strategic plans to attract talent from the United States, but would we see any Indian university doing similar stuff? I have my doubts.

There is also a deeper issue we should confront at this point. That it is not just the diaspora, but the Indian middle class may be becoming a self-hating community, trying to run away from itself. What else would explain the mad rush to outdo one another, gradual waning of community life, the desire to leave family homes and localities one grew up in and the systematic neglect of primary healthcare and education? Which affluent family would send their children to the neighbourhood vernacular school, as my grandfather insisted on doing? 

I see it everywhere. Why would we always want to 'develop' our family homes, give away our land and live in tiny flats instead? Why would we always complain about India's vast population while claiming pre-eminent position in the world just because of that? On one hand, we would gloat about being the world's largest democracy and yet complain about poor people's electoral choices without missing a beat. The mass sterilisation programme, which India's emergency years (1975-77) are infamous for, would have been quite popular today. The charade of India's middle-class life often reminds me of a comic poem written by Tagore - where he imagines Calcutta is moving to Bombay, lock, stock and barrel - and see its evidence all over social media. Except in nostalgia, neither the diaspora nor the resident middle classes, love India. 

Even the most virulent of nationalists hate the way it is. I was amazed to see how India received the illegal immigrants sent home after the Trump inauguration, in chains on long-haul flights, not with sympathy but with plain hatred and open disdain. The H1B holders or aspirants are talented, but they can't expect to be treated any better. And, for all my enthusiasm about reverse migration (see here and also here), the reality is that it may not work for India. 

Or, let's say, if India can take this opportunity, I shall be pleasantly and happily surprised.