What goes around, comes back.
This is a period in time when India and USA have been forging ties for a better future, ofcourse driven by their own strategic interests. Nothing wrong with that. It is not an utopian society afterall. But there is an interesting trend that I have witnessed. America was and still is hated around the world for its policies. The bias it shows towards a few nations who harbour terrorism like Pakistan, erstwhile in Afganistan, actually funding the Taliban against the Russians, their interference in Vietnam, Cuba, bias towards Israel, infusing drug money into Mexico and south central American countries etc. All those were driven by strategic interests as deemed fit then. Anyone denying that is either a politician or does not know what he/she is talking about. But that's not the point I want to talk about. For the simple reason that every country has its own dirty laundry to clean. And each government, each individual in this world is corrupt, limited only by the power at one's disposal.
Coming back to the point of this blog, Indians had/has this dislike(and this gives me the topic for my next blog, IH2) for USA because of many reasons. USA's support to Pakistan perhaps tops the list of reasons. Indians always have viewed USA as a nosy superpower. And not just interfering, but an arm twisting one at that. Over the years, and specially after 9/11 this view has mellowed down a lot. Perhaps because 9/11 just did not strike some emotional chords, it also showed to the world that America is really not all that powerful. I absolutely agree, it is a sadistic attitude to rejoice in that incident for whatever reason, but this is true. While many, and not just in India but also, from the developing and the poor countries felt bad about those who lost their lives, a majority of them actually saw this in a completely different light as well. For them it was a blow to the superpower status of USA. It's supposed to have the best defence system afterall, doesn't it? So they are as fallible and as human as each of one us is, thought many Indians and others. This was a binding thought. And while the intent can be faulted, the result, a compassionate feeling for the USA and its citizens, can not be. Add to that the fact that USA asked for help for the first time, actually helped convince people all the more that Americans are also just like anyone of us.
Post 9/11, the economy slowed down a lot. I was in US then, NY to be precise and on I-95 going to Washington to meet a friend, so this is a first hand account of it. I remember American Airlines and United had fired many employees. Car sales had dropped and for many companies, who were already on a firing spree due to e-com bubble burst, 9/11 only acted as a catalyst. They were looking for new avenues of growth and more importantly, curtail the expenses. That's when the call centres and the BPO business in India picked up. Soon thousands and lakhs of jobs were moved to India, where a company could hire, train and manage 3, and upto 5, employees for the cost of one employee in USA. And as the market in India picked up, there were noises heard in the white house, the senate and many other forums against outsourcing. But this all had to fail because outsourcing was and is, in the strategic interests of the US companies. And the bottomline in any business is money. So, when all those noises failed to move any amendments or laws, next wave of protests started. This one is ugly. The call centre employees in India are now a target of racial abuse. Being in the very business which aims to help and please the customer, these poor souls can not abuse back. Now, this is but natural. I absolutely understand the mental trauma that Americans who have lost their jobs and have a family to feed must be going through but I also know that you or I can do nothing about it. Its a decision of a company, an American company and the anger perhaps should be directed there. When America was (it still is though thats besides the point) powerful, it was hated by the world, and now that India's economy is on its way up at the expense of American citizens, its our turn to face the heat.
But this, I believe is just a cycle. It will pass. Because evolution, of man and society, is a way of life, of time. There are many things that we can learn from each other. I am sure there are many things that we Indians can learn from Europeans, Australians, South Americans, Africans, East Asians, but I have never lived there and so I am not competent to talk about it. But from Americans, I have learnt many things. But that will be the topic of one of my future blogs.
Coming back to the point of this blog, Indians had/has this dislike(and this gives me the topic for my next blog, IH2) for USA because of many reasons. USA's support to Pakistan perhaps tops the list of reasons. Indians always have viewed USA as a nosy superpower. And not just interfering, but an arm twisting one at that. Over the years, and specially after 9/11 this view has mellowed down a lot. Perhaps because 9/11 just did not strike some emotional chords, it also showed to the world that America is really not all that powerful. I absolutely agree, it is a sadistic attitude to rejoice in that incident for whatever reason, but this is true. While many, and not just in India but also, from the developing and the poor countries felt bad about those who lost their lives, a majority of them actually saw this in a completely different light as well. For them it was a blow to the superpower status of USA. It's supposed to have the best defence system afterall, doesn't it? So they are as fallible and as human as each of one us is, thought many Indians and others. This was a binding thought. And while the intent can be faulted, the result, a compassionate feeling for the USA and its citizens, can not be. Add to that the fact that USA asked for help for the first time, actually helped convince people all the more that Americans are also just like anyone of us.
Post 9/11, the economy slowed down a lot. I was in US then, NY to be precise and on I-95 going to Washington to meet a friend, so this is a first hand account of it. I remember American Airlines and United had fired many employees. Car sales had dropped and for many companies, who were already on a firing spree due to e-com bubble burst, 9/11 only acted as a catalyst. They were looking for new avenues of growth and more importantly, curtail the expenses. That's when the call centres and the BPO business in India picked up. Soon thousands and lakhs of jobs were moved to India, where a company could hire, train and manage 3, and upto 5, employees for the cost of one employee in USA. And as the market in India picked up, there were noises heard in the white house, the senate and many other forums against outsourcing. But this all had to fail because outsourcing was and is, in the strategic interests of the US companies. And the bottomline in any business is money. So, when all those noises failed to move any amendments or laws, next wave of protests started. This one is ugly. The call centre employees in India are now a target of racial abuse. Being in the very business which aims to help and please the customer, these poor souls can not abuse back. Now, this is but natural. I absolutely understand the mental trauma that Americans who have lost their jobs and have a family to feed must be going through but I also know that you or I can do nothing about it. Its a decision of a company, an American company and the anger perhaps should be directed there. When America was (it still is though thats besides the point) powerful, it was hated by the world, and now that India's economy is on its way up at the expense of American citizens, its our turn to face the heat.
But this, I believe is just a cycle. It will pass. Because evolution, of man and society, is a way of life, of time. There are many things that we can learn from each other. I am sure there are many things that we Indians can learn from Europeans, Australians, South Americans, Africans, East Asians, but I have never lived there and so I am not competent to talk about it. But from Americans, I have learnt many things. But that will be the topic of one of my future blogs.
posted by F-ftOS at 10:13 AM
1 Comments:
Anoop, you say "I am sure there are many things that we Indians can learn from Europeans, Australians, South Americans, Africans, East Asians..."
I agree. There is so much we can learn from each other in the world, if only we can open our eyes, our ears and hearts.
I have a cousin in law, a Muslim, who shared a house with his best pal, a Hindu, when they were students in one of the Caribbean islands. And they taught each other so much about their religious beliefs, practises. They are still best friends today.
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