From: mece1xg@menudo.uh.edu (purna)
Subject: Re: Linear times in Amrika
Organization: Dept. of Wizardry, Univ. of Houston
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 17:58:42 GMT

howdy!

first, a couple of requests.  could everyone please (pretty please!)
make sure that they write within 80 columns of text AND use carriage
returns?  it's not THAT big of a deal, but it does tend to make it
easier to read (and respond to) posts!  thanks!

ngupta wrote:
>In article 3385@cs.cornell.edu, soam@cs.cornell.edu (Soam Acharya) writes:
>>mvij@ocf.berkeley.edu (Pendragon) writes:

actually, this is incorrect.  the following >> stuff was actually written
by soam.  this isn't a flame, just a clarification to avoid confusion.

>> What claim does India have over me other than giving me my religion,
>> my language, my lineage and generous portions of my belief system?  
>> Don't I owe Uncle Sam something for my education?  My job?  What about
>> my obligations to the USA for allowing me to live here? 

actually, very good questions which, i am sure, many of us have considered
at some time or another.

ngupta replies with:
> From what you say in your article, it seems your motherland has given
> you much more than what this foreign land has offered.  In your case,
> it is difficult to say but generalising the issue, we owe much more to
> our India than Uncle Sam.  

could you elaborate on this point?

>                            On talking to people about going back, the
> majority responds that they are afraid because of the existing problems
> in their motherland.  Does America not have any problems?  How many
> people go to college over here, how many marriages extend beyond 2-4
> years, the percentage of people paying child support, the number of
> people suffering from health probelms, the number of rapes, the number
> of adolescent mothers, the factor of insecurity at job - all these factors
> do count towards problems.  Every place has problems and every government
> is corrupt.

all very true about america.  however, which of these points do and/or
don't exist in india?  and, to what extreme?

>             An American will always ask you the first question - Are you
> Indian?  And if you say that you are, but you do not want to be, then
> forget about asking for any respect from even your American friend.

well, i don't usually get this question that often.  maybe it's because
i'm so loud and boisterous, people hear me from far away and figure
out i'm more american than indian :)  however, i don't think i've
encountered many indians who're not PROUD of being so.  as for myself,
when confronted with the question "where are you from?", my response
is "Earth; 4th planet circulating the star we call Sol in the galaxy we
call the Milky Way" :) :)

>                                                                    In
> my personal opinion, do not falsify your identity just because NYTimes
> said had something negative to say about India.  The fact is that we are
> Indians and we will remain Indians, nomatter where we go.

i agree to an extent.  however, if i travel, i carry the american
expre....i mean, passport :)  so, am i still "indian".  i guess i am;
at least partly so.  however, at what point does someone stop being
"indian" and become "american"?  or stop being "irish" and become
"american"?  or stop being "indian" and become "irish"? :)

peace,
-purna