From: jcd@cbnews.cb.att.com (jayesh.c.desai)
Subject: PARDESH - 1 OF 2
Organization: AT&T
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1992 19:39:37 GMT

All this discussion on withering patriotism along with the fact that
we have new subscribers to SCI seems to call for another round of the
posting of PARDESH translations. The last two times I had posted these
17 articles separately, one at a time. Most readers liked the postings
and I had an overwhelming number of e-mails asking for missing articles.
However, some people did not like the earlier chapters, and did not want
to read further. To try another approach, I have put them in two BIG
postings. You may want to print them out and then read/think about the
issues discussed at leisure.

After the first round, I had sent the translations and feedback from
readers to the author in Ahmedabad. He has granted me the permission to
share these on the net informally.

Hope netters (new and old, some have read it twice already) enjoy it.

Regards ... Jayesh

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	Excerpts from Pardesh (Author Father Vallace)
		- permission is granted by author for informal sharing

About Father Vallace:
Born in Spain in 1925. Came to India in 1949. Got M.A. (with Maths) at
Madras. Maths teacher at St. Xavier's College in Ahmedabad from 1960 to
1973. Has written over 40 books. Recipient of several awards.
Since 1973 has been staying with middle class families temporarily,
changing home every few days, while working on Maths, writing and
religious pursuit. He is now a citizen of India.

By this book:
	- Many people will feel hurt
	- Many depressed lives will be uplifted
	- Many people's eyes will open (to the truth)

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		THE BEGINNING (KUMKUM PAGLA)

Once on London airport I saw an awful sight. I had just landed there.
In the waiting room outside of customs I saw a young Indian lady
sitting in a corner. She was alone, and out of fear, anxiety and
nervousness she was vomiting. She was wearing an expensive red sari,
dazzling ornaments, and a big kumkum on her forehead. But she was 
uncomfortable and her nervousness was showing through her vomiting.  
Seeing relatives off, foreign travel, unknown land and fear of the new! 
She must have been married just a few days ago. Before I could reach her 
to help, a south Indian looking man approached her, gave her water, cleaned 
up the mess and tried to soothe her for quite some time. Then he helped her 
stand up and they staggered out of the airport with their luggage. 
A tottering entry into a new land!

This impact of going abroad gets buried beneath all the celebrations,
new acquaintances and social formalities. But the stress remains and only
the heart of the traveler knows it. Behind the big kumkum are many worries.
Under all the garlands is the anxiety about the future.
If you uproot a plant and plant it in a new land, it will certainly feel it.
It may, someday, grow into a large tree, but the true pain of being
uprooted is recorded in all its branches and stems, even in its roots.

Even a great man like Nanjibhai Kalidas Mehta (renowned as Africa's Sugar King),
despite his ability to take big risks for business and despite the support 
from his elder brother, wrote about his first day in Africa:
    "Sometimes I used to remember home and then become extremely depressed.
     My elder brother tried to calm me, but only after weeping for 3 to
     4 hours I felt better. Mom's love, home made dishes, freedom of no
     responsibilities; I remembered all this. Once I felt it to the
     bottom of my heart. I felt like packing up immediately to return
     and meet my parents. Only an emotional, straightforward person can
     understand all this. Others will not even feel the pain. Returning
     was not possible. So I could not do anything but cry. At the time of
     leaving home, I had never imagined such a thing. Slowly, slowly
     I was getting used to the misery of being away from the family."

Going abroad is an adventure. It is not only a test of your mind and talent,
but also of your courage and heart. The son who writes home "don't worry
about me at all; I am doing fine here" writes it to keep his parents from
worrying, but the truth remains as given above: "did not expect these
problems when I left home."

In a separation, the one left behind suffers more than the traveler.
The traveler goes away and starts a new life and has many challenges
to look forward to. But the mother seeing him off is left behind with
the same old empty room, same utensils and dishes not being used by her 
son anymore, his fond memories and the heart of a mother. She cannot get
used to the sorrow. She writes to her son, "everything is well as before, 
so don't worry about us." But everything is not the same as before.
There is a vacuum created in her heart by the separation.

When her first son went to America, a widowed mother of three sons said,
"that is fine, I have two other sons." When the second son went away, she
said "I still have the youngest one." When the third one went, she said,
"well, I have God looking after me now." She stayed there in the empty
house with God. Indeed, the suffering of the one who is left behind is
greater. Parents suffer more.

I appreciate this pain and this adventure fully. I respect both, the traveler
who goes away for his progress, and the ones who let him go for their son's
progress. I bow to their sacrifice.

But along with all this I want to know if the suffering is worth the 
returns it fetches. Is the sacrifice reasonable for what you are getting?
It is all right to go abroad, but think about it fully, gather complete
information, keep eyes open and then only go.

I ask this question to myself too. I have helped many youngsters with 
recommendation letters to foreign universities. At that time I thought
that it was good for them. But later I started getting letters from
my students. I myself experienced some things. I saw that Indian lady
vomiting on London airport. Should I stop giving recommendation letters?

I know that there is no unified, general answer to this question for every
possible individual situation. But I would like to emphasize one thing.
It is not correct to assume a priori that it is good to go or to
settle in the foreign land. There are good as well as bad aspects of it.
I would encourage all those living abroad to openly share their
experiences for the benefit of others, and people willing to go from
India to keep an open eye and heart to both the worlds.

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			SERVING AN OUTSIDER

Two Indian scientists living abroad were awarded the Nobel prize
and thus their travel to the foreign land and stay there has been
fruitful. This gives a true and valid reason for many bright
people to go and live abroad. They have the potential, and only
the facilities and freedom offered by the western environment
can help them realize their potential. So they go, to make full justice
to themselves and their brain. Not everybody is going to get the
Nobel prize, but everyone has his specialty, and it is good to be in
a place where it could be fully developed. Those who go abroad for
their true development have my blessings with them.

But the success story has another side too. You got success, prizes,
honors and you served the country too. But which country? Ideally
one should be generous, and serving any country should be good.
But human heart is, after all, a human heart, and motherland is
motherland. So the satisfaction achieved by serving the homeland
is never attained by serving any other land.

Once I got a touchy letter from America which I did not keep. 
But I still remember the main point of the letter. "I got all the
success in my studies and business here, and I also invented
quite a few things useful for the industry here. As a result I got
a good reputation and honor, and I am happy about it. But deep in
my heart, I always have this feeling that if I could have done the
same things for my country, it would have been so much better.
Here I work for a foreign employer, and they benefit from my brains.
I wished I could have done the same work for India."

The other side of the success story is that you are helping fill
the pockets of a foreign employer. Therefore, your heart can never be 
contented. You render your services, but to the outsider. The insiders
within your country are left out of the benefits of your services,
and the outsiders rip the fruits of your work. India needs brilliant
scientists, businessmen and managers, and her bright kids are going
out for their progress in studies, business and research. The success is
something to be proud of, but it has this other side too.

In building the railway line in Africa (Uganda and Kenya), Indians
made the most contribution. The hilly region, retaliation from the natives,
and dangerous forests made it the most arduous task. Many Indians were
killed by lions in the forests. The bones of Indians on the railway
line still witness a true sacrifice. Others are using the facility,
and the work done is well and good. But the joy of making a similar
sacrifice for the motherland remains unequaled.

Many people send money to their native villages for some charitable
cause such as building a school or a hospital, and thus derive a nice
feeling of doing at least something for their country. It is nice to
do such a thing because it is, in effect, serving the motherland.
However, this is just a donation of money, not that of service,
hard work and talent. So his sweat, his efforts, his skills, his
talent, his inventions are all used by the outsider; and then as
a result he gets some money which he uses to help his country.
Sending money is good, but it is an indirect service to his country.
The outsiders get the privilege of his direct services.

To make the matter worse, there are some problems with this indirect 
service too. An Indian businessman settled in Africa once told me, 
"once I started earning substantially here, I always made it a point to
send some money to India for some worthy cause. I deserve to have a
right to do at least that much for my country, don't I? This helped me 
lessen my guilty conscience. But now the situation is different. There are
new restrictions on expatriating the earnings out of Africa. African
government tells us that if you want all rights and protection from
the government, then you must use up your earnings in Africa. Instead
of sending money for charity to India, do charity within Africa.
They have deprived us of the right to do something good for India."

If the work being done is good, it does not matter where it is done.
Still the issue of self-satisfaction remains. Contentment at heart is
the most valuable thing in life, and where you will find it in its
true sense is the thing to be considered seriously. Let the bones
be buried under any railway line, but the bones will prefer to have
those rails in the homeland.

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			THE LION'S TAIL

In the olden days people used to go abroad with pennies in their
pockets and return with millions. But times have changed now. It is
not so easy to get wealthy. Still money remains one of the chief
reasons to go abroad. Money can afford luxuries in life and yields
respect in the society. When the son sends colored photographs of
his car, apartment and office from America to his father in a small
village in India, the father cannot stop from boasting about his child.
All his sacrifice in bringing the child up now brings unbelievable
returns.

Wanting money is a valid point. But it should be noted that there
is a limit on wanting money too. It is a simple fact that not
everybody earns equally. I had seen a south Indian cab driver in
Washington, and a Gujarati newspaper seller in New York. After visiting 
his daughter in America, one person told me, "my daughter's life is
so full of hardships there, that now I repent about sending her
there." Once I got a disheartening letter from an Indian engineer 
in America. During times of depression, his company had laid him
off and he wanted to return to India if there was a job available
in India. Meanwhile he was working at a gas station. He did not let
his friends and relatives know about this. The examples of people
going from India with a great academic degree, and working on
ordinary jobs in America are not few. The whole world is suffering
from economic problems, and the first victim is always going to be
the alien. The safety of the olden times is not to be found anymore.

What money can afford is a relative matter. One can be happy with less 
in a small town, and be miserable with lots of money in a city.
When I went to America the first time, I used to think of one dollar
as ten rupees. But my Gujarati friends convinced me that my
calculation was wrong. One dollar is equivalent to one rupee in America.
In India you spend twelve rupees for a cab ride, and in America you spend
twelve dollars for the same distance in cab. You spend five rupees
for cinema in India, and five dollars in America. 

Have you not seen both the husband and wife working hard and spending 
very cautiously in America? Yes I have seen. I was listening to a couple
about buying necessary household things, and often they were saying,
"we'll buy it after Christmas." I was curious, so I asked why they
said so. Then I came to know that the left over items are on some grand 
sale after Christmas. It may not be the stuff of their first choice,
but they can live with that. They also have to be thrifty.

Money is a relative thing in another way too. One with a car is ahead
of one with no car; and one with two cars is ahead of one with only
one car. This reduces the glory of the life abroad. What is a luxury in
India becomes a necessity in America. If you don't have it in India,
you would not even think and worry about it. But if you don't have
it in America, the pinch will not go away from your mind. Competition
is everywhere, but in western countries it has crossed the limit.
People get entangled in that competition. Contentment plays an
important role in a happy life, and the degree of contentment is
greater in a simple environment.

One more important thing about money. We never think about "what 
after I get the money." The only dominating thought is that once I 
get the money, I will have no worries in life. But after you get 
the money, even more than what you desired in the first place,
and you continue getting more, then you realize that behind money
there is another desire left. It is the desire for power, and it
manifests distinctly after you get the money; it takes the control of
your life. Money is just a means to this desire for power. Everyone
likes the idea of having people work for him. The true goal is to
be a boss, and money is just a means.

And the engineers, doctors, brilliant researchers and professors
find a big disappoint in foreign countries. You may have the knowledge,
skills, experience and loyalty; but positions of power are not given
to foreigners. You have the money with the luxuries it can afford. But
you don't have the power, and that hurts. A Spanish adage says,
"it is better to be the head of a mouse than the tail of a lion."
A successful journalist who returned to India said, "there I got
wealth, but I had to work for others. Here I am the owner. And that's
a great feeling."

I repeat again. Money is a valid point. It is true that most people going
abroad get a higher standard of living and savings of their life time.
Money matters in life, so you cannot ignore it. But you should also not
forget that there is a limit to money too. Even after going abroad,
"hard work till you get the money, severe competition after you get it,
and the unsatiated desire to control others when you have more of it"
are the things you should keep in mind.

A foreign settled Gujarati friend once summarized this neatly as,
"do think about money when going abroad. But don't go thinking about
money only." I advise you the same thing.

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			SARI OR JEANS?

"Don't go abroad with only money in mind" is a suggestion. Then what
should one think of when going abroad? In one word it would be
"self-development". Now there is no clear definition of this word.
It depends on individual values, motivation, desires, circumstances and 
fate. Personal independence is an important aspect of self-development.
One may get more independent by traveling abroad. In an orthodox, joint
family the elderly may dominate and leave a very little room for
independent self-development. Many times living independently away from
the joint family is a reason for staying abroad.

After several years in America a Gujarati couple wanted to return to
India. Actually the husband wanted to return, but the wife did not,
because of the fear that she would not get similar freedom in
a place like Ahmedabad. The husband assured her that she would get
equivalent freedom back home and he would convince his parents
about it. After returning, the husband told his parents that his
wife was used to the American life, so they ought to be more generous
with her style; the parents agreed. Then as soon as the wife entered
the kitchen, her mother-in-law screamed, "you are wearing jeans in the
kitchen? You should be ashamed of yourself. I don't like this in my
house." The daughter-in-law was not to be frightened by such a shouting.
She knew that if she surrendered, she would not get any more independence.
She said calmly, "fine! I will never enter the kitchen with my jeans on",
and she walked out of the kitchen. Then onwards she never entered the
kitchen. Within a few days she returned to America with her husband, 
with her jeans.

Not all mothers-in-law are like that, and many joint families are less
restrictive now a days. Still in many families daughters-in-law are treated
with scorn. There still is the tyranny of the mother-in-law. If the 
daughter-in-law speaks English, then English is prohibited from the house.
If the daughter-in-law sings well, there can be no singing around the house.
Now if a young wife tries to solve the problem by going away, she cannot be
blamed. Brain-drain for such a reason is a pure loss to the country.
To stop such a significant loss, the elderly and the mothers-in-law
should treat young sons and daughters with respect and give them their
independence. Rather than complaining that these youngsters are going
away, the elderly people should create such an atmosphere for them that
they would never feel like going away.

Yet another reason for going abroad is, "my brother is settled there,
and has now sponsored me. He has generously arranged for my living
there. My sister is there, and she wants me to go there, so that we can
support each other. Actually, I had no desire to go, but I think
this is my duty towards my sister."

It is not your duty, it is her selfishness. If you want to go, do go;
with your independent decision, not because of any other pressure, 
invitation, or greed. Just as your sister was independent to decide
for herself, you have the freedom to decide too. It is good to consider,
before going, that you have some family members there; but just because
there is somebody from the family there, it does not mean that you now have 
to go. It is all right for the sister to express her desire to pull
all the family members one after another, but you don't have to take
that as a binding on yourself.

I knew a young man very well. He had his own reasons for going abroad.
He was mentally unstable in his youth, and had failed his secondary
school certificate  examination twice. He was ashamed of his failure, and
worried that he would face trouble in getting a job and finding a bride.
So he decided to go abroad thinking that he can stay there for a few
years and come back with a clean image. He went there and settled there.
Then he called his younger brother and made arrangements for his travel,
living and education. The younger brother did not want to go; he had
not failed any examination, and he had prospects for a good job in India.
But the invitation, pressure, convenient arrangements, greed played their
role and he went away. They did not stop just at that. They found a
suitable match for their sister there and got her to go abroad too.
Their old parents sent all the three kids off and stayed all by themselves
since then. The younger brother said, "if it wasn't for the urge from
my elder brother, I would never have gone." I can understand the elder
brother, but I cannot subscribe to the reasoning of the younger brother
for going.
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			I WILL DEFINITELY RETURN

Everybody says, when going abroad, "Who wants to settle there? I just
want to get a higher degree and gain some experience." Young Indians 
abroad also say a similar thing, "I definitely want to return. Just let 
me get a little more experience and save a little more money. In any 
event, I want to return before my kids grow up here; otherwise it will be 
too late."

Everyone says it, but a very few do it. They want to return, but they 
procrastinate; they wait for some more savings. Meanwhile the kids grow up,
and refuse to go to India. That is fine. They have the right to stay
where they want to stay. I would say one thing though: when going abroad,
don't say "I will definitely return"; instead say "I will most probably
return." At least it will be an honest statement.

One does not want to say explicitly that he will not return. In saying so,
one feels a guilty conscience; moreover it will hurt the parents. Deep 
inside, there is a hope that even though many do not return, he will.
If it was known a priori that there is no chance for returning, many would 
not have gone at all. But they go with this hope for returning; and in time
the hope vanishes, reality dominates, emotions wither away and the foreign
country becomes their country.

Once I asked a group of Gujarati people abroad, "why don't so many people
return?" One said, "I was successful here." He was right. Even with no academic
degree to back him, because in that country skills were valued more than
the degree, he could rise up to a high position in a business. Whereas, in
India it was for sure that he had no scope.

The interesting thing is that although this gentleman did not go back because 
he was successful, another gentleman said, "I am not returning because I was
unsuccessful." I was surprised, but others in the group were not. For them it
was a commonly seen thing. Then I got to know that as an unsuccessful person,
he was not starving, but he was not leading a great life either. There was
nothing he could be proud of in his going abroad. I wondered why he did not 
return then. Then they explained me the philosophy. Nobody likes to
admit failure. He writes all the glorious stories to boast about his life 
abroad. He does not want his parents to know about his miserable life there. 
He keeps writing that he is happy so that his folks don't worry and the 
critical and skeptical folks don't get a chance to mock him. His failure keeps 
him abroad.

An extreme but a true incident. A young girl from Ahmedabad got a proposal
from an Indian settled in America. The groom was in a hurry to return, so
there was not enough time to investigate his background. But the attraction
to America, dignified talk about his high salary, social status and a match
of the horoscopes led way to their marriage. Soon she got her passport and
the bride went to America. As soon as she stepped into her new home, her
hopes were shattered. There was another woman living with her legal
husband. Her husband said, "this is my true wife. I had to go through
the act of marrying you just to keep my parents happy in that society.
Here you will have to work and live like a servant. It will do you good
to behave yourself." What can the bride do? She had no money and no
knowledge of what to do. She could not even write to her parents about it,
because they would be worried sick. What could they have done from India
anyway? She used to write about her house, two cars and a happy life,
and then cry while writing. After some time somebody visited them and
the truth came out. Her folks tried a few things back home to convince
her husband. But she was broken already. How would she face the society
if she returned to India? Her situation did not improve much. 
Such silent suffering of many who are attracted to the foreign country
make a heart-piercing chapter in the history of going abroad.
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			RISK WITHIN RISK


The deceiving in marriage happens both ways. Sometimes people going from 
India get cheated, sometimes people coming for marriage do. Sometimes
a woman suffers, and sometimes a man does in the process. This is one such 
true incident.

One enthusiastic young man went abroad, obtained a good job and came to 
India for one week to search for a bride. He advertised in papers and
met several candidates. He was in a hurry, so he could not be as careful
and discriminating as he would otherwise be. As a result, he got engaged
with a woman, and discovered from other sources, after a few days that she 
had a serious disease. He was disappointed. But he was grateful
to the God that he discovered it before marriage. But now his problem
was more complicated. He had to find another one in a shorter period of 
time. But, as if the God who saved him the first time came to his rescue
again, he found another woman. He found her family, her character, her 
looks and her education appropriate and got married with her. But his
enthusiasm lasted for only a few hours, when he discovered after marriage
that his wife was mentally retarded. Being retarded is not her fault, but 
imagine the husband's grief. He had no time to stay in India, so he
returned. He had plans to call his unfortunate wife and have her treated by 
some good psychiatrists in the foreign country, and he did that too.
As a result he got divorced.

Even when marrying in excellent circumstances, with sufficient care and
investigation, there is a risk. It involves two different characters,
families, tempers. Even if there is love between the two, and even if the 
two care, the uncertainty remains about whether they will get along or not.
Now if problems arise in India, there is a structure to solve them.
There are elderly people, society, and friends to help. If not anything,
the wife can at least go to her parents for some time and seek guidance.
But where can a bride in the foreign land go? Her parents are thousands of
miles away. Even a letter would take days to reach. Moreover, what can she
write? Why unnecessarily make her parents worry about her? So she suffers
through everything silently. She tries to remain contented in whatever
she gets. It is good to be contented; but contentment out of no choice
is risky. Actions executed due to helplessness are risky. There is a limit
to how much a person can tolerate. Marriage is a risk, and marrying
somebody from abroad is a risk within risk.

A religious young woman got married and went abroad. She was raised in
a conservative family, and her parents observed carefully that she got
married to a simple person with no addictions. But it is easy to show
off temporarily. The true situation comes out later, sometimes slowly, 
and sometimes quickly. The newly wed bride discovered the truth quickly.
Her husband came to receive her on the airport with a cigarette in his
hand. She gave a symbolic look at the cigarette, and he welcomed her
with a deep drag. The lady was disappointed to see such a break of trust.
She hated smoking, but that was not a reason enough to go back to India.

With one addiction came other addictions. He invited his friends to 
a party to celebrate his marriage. All the friends were Indian, so
there was no problem anticipated. The main thing in the party was drinks.
The wife had seen the bottles in the refrigerator, so she had the suspicion
already. But now she was expected to learn the names to order them, and 
learn how to mix and make various drinks. During the party somebody tried 
to force her to take a sip. She looked at her husband helplessly. But he
was busy laughing; he did not help her. She did not drink, but the
fact that there was one more addiction in the house was recorded deep
in her mind.

Her husband was a motel owner. People could stay there, treat themselves 
to room-service and enjoy the privacy of the room. Many people came
there just to take advantage of the location outside the town, anonymity
and privacy without any risk. Many times people staying were guests
who wanted a night's stay; and many times people came there for
illegitimate affair. The motel gave protection to the illegitimate 
affairs.  The owner's wife was naive, so she did not know about this for 
quite some time. She used to welcome all the guests with a smile and
provide them with all the conveniences without realizing what they were 
there for. In time she got suspicious, and later assured about what
went on. She was deeply hurt. At the time of marriage others had thought 
that she was lucky to get a motel owner as her husband. Even today many
people narrate glorious stories about their motel, how much they earn,
and proudly exhibit photographs of the clean rooms and the building they 
own.  The parents value the cleanliness of those rooms and think that their
daughter who loves cleanliness is happy there. Yes, she just gave such a
clean room to a couple and said 'good night' to them. Motel business
needs 24 hours service, and today she has to work at night.

And finally, the limit. One day she discovered that the convenient 
arrangements she made for other couples, sometimes her husband also took
advantage of them. He had the keys to the many rooms. Night shift, a
secluded place, and assurance of keeping the thing a secret was enough to
invite somebody for a night. Only his own people would know about it;
his straightforward wife would know about it; but what can she do?

It is true that not everybody is as bad. But such happenings reinforce one
thing: one has to be cautioned about such things.
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			MAYUR, KISHOR AND AMIT


Those who got successful stay abroad to enjoy their success, and the
unsuccessful stay to hide their failure. Then who returns?

This is a success story of three youngsters. The names and incident are
true. I am writing about them with their consent.

Mayur was a division representative (D.R.) during my first year of college
as a professor. Amit, Mayur's younger brother, stood first in the Gujarat
board in the S.S.C. examination. Kishor was their friend, and my follower
as I wandered from house to house. They all became engineers in Ahmedabad
and went to America for higher studies and got lucrative jobs there. Four 
years passed by and I heard that they wanted to return. They came back
and met me. After knowing that they had returned with some savings and a lot 
of knowledge and they wanted to start a small scale business, I blessed
them heartily. Then we did not meet much.

One day I was riding on my bicycle in Ahmedabad, and a car came from
behind and stopped in front of me. I was about to fall off the bike, and
before I could say something to the careless driver, I saw Mayur stepping
out of the car. We hugged in the street, and talked. He told me about his
factory. He had searched for me for the opening ceremony, but I was not
in Ahmedabad at that time. I said, "never mind. If not for the opening
ceremony, I will be there for the closing." He said with a smile, "but before 
that come to see the factory once." He took me to his factory, and while 
showing various things, he narrated about the difficulties he encountered in 
the beginning, the problems in getting the loan approved, frustrations of
the bureaucracy and corruption, uncertainty about the future, fear of
incurring a loss, his survey of the market to find out what customers
needed in electronics and so on. I witnessed his enthusiasm, his pride
in making it happen, his interest in his own undertaking and his sense
of accomplishment. It was a pleasant proof of the fact that working for
the self in the homeland is far more satisfying than working for an 
outsider. I felt happy within.

Years passed. Perseverance and hard work is tested in any undertaking,
and the deserving always gets success sooner or later. The same thing 
happened with these three young engineers. One day Kishor came to meet
me with is wife and daughter. We remembered good old times and laughed.
Finally I asked, "how is your factory doing?" He replied enthusiastically,
"we started another new factory, and want to grow further. Do you want to
listen to the story?"

I wanted to, and so we went to his house and he told me the story. Some
businessman in Gujarat had imported an electronic furnace for his factory,
because it was cheaper and more efficient than the coal or oil furnaces
to melt and mix metals. But one day his imported furnace broke down and
he had to get an American engineer to repair it. The maintenance cost
him a fortune. After a few weeks it broke down again. Again the same 
story. Finally he thought, may be he should get some native engineer to
fix the furnace. He heard about these three engineers and asked them. 
Kishor said honestly that he had never seen an electronic furnace before,
but he would be willing to give it a shot. He tried it and it worked.
The businessman was happy and offered a contract to maintain the furnaces.
He got a similar honest reply, "let us study about the furnace and then
we shall let you know." They studied and got the contract.

Later came another milestone. Some businessman in Delhi wanted to import
the same furnace for his business, but was doubtful about the maintenance.
He consulted the Gujarati businessman, and got a quick reply that
maintenance people were available in India. The Delhi guy came to
Ahmedabad to inquire personally, and asked, "you know so much about these
furnaces, why don't you manufacture them?" He added, " You don't have capital?
you will get it. You need to ask the American company? go ahead and ask."
They wrote to the American company and got a disappointing reply, "this
furnace requires special micro technology and it is not yet available
in India. So India is not yet ready for this." This denial became a
challenge for these patriotic kids. They wanted to prove that India
has engineers capable of doing it. They started with whatever they had.
In a year and half they got their first furnace out. It worked well, so they
began on the second one.

In the meanwhile there was an exhibition of machines in America. Our three
engineers went there and met the president of the American company that
manufactured the furnaces. He was surprised as well as angry that they
did it without permission from the company. The youngesters smiled and 
replied, "we wanted to prove that we are capable. And you left us no choice. 
Would you believe us without seeing it first? We have proved our point, and 
it will benefit both the parties to cooperate now on."

The American engineer and president were obviously attached to their furnace
because it was their invention. The Indian engineers showed photographs of 
how they made the first furnace in India, and it was similar to the 
photographs of the first furnace of the Americans. 

The next day engineers from the American company met with the three
engineers. Our engineers were straightforward. They said, "we need new
technology from you. Reinventing the wheel is not cost effective for us,
and all we are asking for is a copy of your designs. If you do special 
research solely for our sake, you will, of course, charge us. For ownership
of the factory, India has some laws and are reasonable. We will give you
40% and keep 60% for us. For the first five years we will work on a no-profit
basis, and won't give you any profit. This way the company will develop faster.
We will invest 15 lakh rupees, and you invest 10 lakh rupees." For them
the sum of 10 lakh rupees in dollars was a petty amount.

The American owner said, "I have received proposals from many others in
India. I'll go there myself and talk to people. I value hard work,
honesty and principles more than money. I will sign a contract with you
guys only after I am convinced."

He came to Ahmedabad and talked with the three engineers for a week.
He posed several practical problems to test the youngsters. Finally, just
an hour before his returning flight, he signed the contract.

"One thing left was to get an approval from the Indian government.
They could not believe that an American company would agree to the
conditions we had set forth. They thought we had bribed the Americans.
We had no money to give, and they had so much that they did not need
it from us. They had agreed to our conditions as a token of appreciation
of our hard work and honesty."

Finally they got the approval. These engineers have proved that 
it is possible to return from America, mix and mingle with people here
and get good work done. They are saving foreign exchange that would
otherwise be spent on the imports. Moreover, they are setting up a good
example of the fact that one can return, be successful and be infinitely
happier.

The address of their factory is: INDUCTOTHERM (INDIA) LIMITED-47,
GIDC, PHASE I-VATVA, AHMEDABAD, INDIA 382 445.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

				GREEN CARD

Explaining the secret behind being successful in returning from a good
place abroad to settle in India, Mayur said, "I had torn apart my green 
card into pieces in the flight during my return journey to India"
and I understood everything.

Green card means a passport to heaven, a hallway to independence,
a permit to work or begin a business in America. Imagine the efforts,
aggravation, expenditure and anxiety to get it! And imagine the comfort,
happiness and relief after it is obtained! Green card gives security,
earning capacity and protection. What else can one ask for?

Green card is a blessing to live in the foreign land; and it is a
curse to never return to the motherland. As long as it is in the pocket,
it is not possible to go back. No matter how many times one visits India,
green card pulls him back. Green card is the anchor thrown in the foreign 
land and until that is not parted with, one cannot leave the foreign harbor.
No matter how much determined one is about returning to India, this small
piece of paper defeats everything.

People come back, look for a job in India, and tell others, "I will stay
in India once I get a suitable job. Who is attracted to America anyway? 
I saw and learnt various things and now I feel from my experience that
it is not worth staying in America. It has racial discrimination,
loneliness and violence. It is not good for raising kids. It is the
worst place for old people. Before that happens to me, I want to settle
here. Everyone in America says the same thing, but we are determined
to return. Just let me get a job here. I also brought my wife and kids
here, so they get accustomed to this life. Now I am just praying that
I get a job quickly."

He looks for a job and prays, but has green card in his pocket. The keys
to the house he purchased in America are in his pocket. When buying the
house, he had justified it by thinking, "it works out cheaper than renting.
And we can always sell it off when returning to India." His mind is on
his house. He is thinking about the TV, video, new car in the garage;
whether his property is secure. Meanwhile his search for a job continues
in India.

He cannot find a job. A few weeks pass by, and he does not find any job
suitable. There are delays, difficulties, laws, bureaucracy, favoritism,
corruption. He experiences this all and gets impatient. He is disappointed 
and worried. But everything is not lost. He still has green card in pocket.

If he did not have green card, the possibility of going back to America would 
not arise. He would have found some other way out of no choice. Some job would
seem acceptable, because now there would be no choice. Since green card gives
an easy choice, he goes back to America complaining, "I really wanted to
stay back. I tried so hard. I looked into so many places for a job. But
could not find anything I would like. I am going back with a disappointment.
Well, it must be God's wish." Had he torn away his green card, God's wish
could have appeared different.

After Columbus discovered America, Hernon Cortes was the first adventurer to
go from Europe to Mexico and conquer it on behalf the king of Spain.
After a long, tiring journey across the ocean, his soldiers were frightened
to see the Mexicans and their horses they had never seen before. They
were thinking of returning to Spain the next day. When Cortes came to
know about this idea, he did a trick. At night, when nobody was around, he
set all their ships on fire. Next day all soldiers saw that they had no
way to return. They had to stay back in the unknown land and fight for
survival. That's what they did, and a handful soldiers conquered the
nation and presented it to their king. This incident explains the
idiom "set your ships on fire".

Green card is such a ship. It is a means to retreat. It means a defeat,
a lack of adventure, a denial of self-confidence. People keep it thinking
that they may need it "just in case they need to go back" and they end up
going back to America.

The state government has a committee to guide those who wish to return and 
set up some business in Gujarat. I was once talking to an official of the
committee. He said, "when anybody comes to me to seek guidance and information
from abroad, I first ask them if they have green card. I ask them to tear 
and throw it away before they can talk to me. Talking to somebody with
green card in pocket is a waste of my time. Once green card is thrown away,
some doorway opens automatically."

Gandhiji had poured all foreign goods in fire. It was a symbol of self-respect,
independence and pride for motherland. Foreign land is not bad, but the
first duty is towards motherland, and there in lies the prime happiness.

I am sure if Gandhiji were alive today, he would have poured green cards 
in fire.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

			WHO WILL TAKE THE CHALLENGE?

I went to visit Mayur's factory, and we talked to his staff. He said,
"whatever you are witnessing today is the fruit of the seed sown during
my college days. I had gone to a leadership camp, and the preaching
about principles and goals has made me what I am today." He was being
modest in saying so, and he was also demonstrating that character 
developed during childhood makes lasting impressions.

I still remember that camp. I used to teach Mathematics in those days.
Maths is an important subject, I like it and enjoyed teaching it. I felt
that by teaching it well, I would help the kids progress, serve people,
and thereby serve the country too. I also observed that although I could 
teach things like importance of proof, need for logical thinking,
emphasis on rigor etc., I could not talk about ideals in life, principles
behind good characters etc. while teaching Maths. So I found two ways.
I wrote a book: "Sadaachaar" and started a part of my career as a writer.
I also started a camp for students. I gave it a glorious name: "leadership
camp", but did not know what to do in it. When kids asked, I used to smile
and say, "come there and find out." The students showed up and we had
lectures, discussions, and debates with full vigor.

The first thing I talked about was "Supreme Quality".  Whatever I do, I want 
to do it with utmost care, rigor, and do my best at it. It does not matter
if somebody is watching me or not, if someone cares for what I do or does
not. It is my work, and it has my impression. So whatever I write, speak, do 
or respect should be good, elegant, supreme. I gave three steps for 
achieving this: 1. knowledge about the self, 2. accepting the self (my own
limitations) and 3. self-confidence.

The second thing I talked about was motivation. I have the strength to do 
the work. Now to manifest it I need some ideal, some goal, some motivation.
I considered development, patriotism and social service as main ideals.

The final thing was belief. Believe in yourself, believe others and believe 
in God.

In the olden days, the king used to challenge his staff members to pick up
the "bida" (pan as in Banaarasi Pan with Pan Masaalaa) to accept an 
important assignment. For us the challenger is not any mortal king but
the God, and the assignment is serving mankind, working towards nation's
progress and saving the earth from violence, injustice and poverty.
Who will not pick up this challenge? Anybody with enthusiasm, belief and
ideal will come forward.  Those who do not are either lazy or wicked.
Ultimately, they are foolish, because the challenge takers have a wealth 
of joy waiting for them.

In Mayur I saw somebody who had picked up the challenge. I was glad to
see true service, true ideals and true accomplishments.


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