A matter of perception

I have been completely out of touch with the news for a while now. And that is primarily because I got myself addicted to word games on Facebook. Today I had made up my mind to not log in but rather catch up with my back log of reading. The "racist" attacks down under have been hogging the limelight for a while and that was also the subject of my previous entry.

But today, a line in a news article caught my eye. It effectively said that while we knew the number of students of Indian origin who are in Australia as of now, we have no clue as to how many Indians are there to eke out a living or who may have settled down there for generations. Aren't these people also susceptible to these attacks? With our country screaming itself hoarse on brain drain, it is amazing how we don't seem to have a clue as to how many of our people are abroad. While NRIs are berated for taking their knowledge abroad, they are also (and very hypocritically, I must add) hailed for bringing the moolah into the country in terms of investment here and boosting the economy.

While foreigners of Indian origin are hailed as gods for their achievements in aeronautical space and foreign politics, we tend to forget the thousands who are also working behind the scenes in these places. Till today it was an honour to have a child who has studied abroad, all of a sudden we have parents trembling in fear about sending their wards to foreign countries. Do we forget how many students irrespective of status have been victims of ragging, racism, casteism in India? Why would you think any other country does not have its own share?

Taking to the streets in protest is a norm in most countries. But really... how many times have we seen foreigners take to the streets in India just because a member of their community has been attacked. If anything the taking of sides has happened at the governmental level. While our government has called to "express concern", there really has been no substantial ground work done to ensure that Indians are not targetted.

Carrying placards that say "we bring money, we pay taxes and we work for your economy and get stabbed" are ridiculous. How many foreigners come to our country and get looted just because they are of the wrong colour? Just as we get generalised in foreign countries as taxi drivers and curry munchers, so too we have percieved all foreigners to be of loose character and drug pushers.

Its all a matter of perception. And this applicable to all and sundry. Rather than the students, it is the governments who need to put their foot down. Had we been the self-proclaimed saviour of the world USA, we would have pushed our weight around and had a dozen meaningless embargos put on Oz. But considering we are India, we have a very victimised style of handling things.

How about rallying all prospective Indian students heading for Australia together and giving them incentives to stay put till the next intake. Education is amongst Oz's largest exports with India and China being its largest markets. Almost every education specialist based in India on Australia's behalf has been intimated of huge discounts and other means of wooing students. Why don't we try and counter this and express solidarity. Granted many may think that this could harm the student's future. But then, are we ready to send our children to a place where people treat foreigners with the same contempt that we (at least a majority) in India do?