...is what I would like. A bowl of hearty potato soup with chunks of charred garlic fried in butter. And a large, flaky croissant.
Why?
To cope with SO.MANY.NRIs having SO.MANY.OPINIONS on India. I used to think that us Indians were the most unnecessarily critical category of people. Apparently we become positively insufferable when we live in a more developed land...shrill and one-note.
In the absence of potato soup, I am having ginger tea and sitting in the mellow light of a dim living room. There's a full moon out there. I cannot see it. I send it my love. Taking a break before I do some yoga. Maybe yoga will help me put up with those brethren of mine who find this sub-continent such a painful boil.
Well...
We stayed. You left. Now shut up. PLEASE!
Comments
If an NRI has an opinion on something that is not controversial, or if it happens to be closer to an opinion that you hold, would you still ask them to "now shut up"? Or would that be at least slightly more acceptable to you then, than it is now?
Be honest about what it is that really irks you about this.
I really dislike the slightly condescending tone used in reference to India, by people who are no longer indian citizens.
Sounds to me like you actually have an opinion about NRIs without living their reality. Might be worthwhile to apply your own standard about when a person should be allowed to have an opinion about something, huh? ;)
Blogger, meet mirror. Mirror, blogger.
Incidentally, I know a couple of people from Saudi Arabia who hold the exact same view you and your little cheerleader above seem to have. They think people who don't live in Saudi Arabia shouldn't be allowed to have an opinion on what goes on in that country and society, and for the exact same reasons you have mentioned. I'll point them to your piece here and tell them that their views might find some traction.
As a bit of unsolicited advice that is sure to rub you the wrong way...whenever you find yourself in a spot where you think that another person shouldn't have or express the opinion they do, it is typically a reliable indicator that you are implicitly aware of, and even afraid of, the holes in your own world view being laid bare. Personally, I welcome views that are critical, and prefer to confront and examine them openly, and hopefully edify myself and come out of it a more well-informed person with a more robust belief system. Wanting the other person to not have an opinion or to keep mum because it sits uncomfortably with a fantasy you inhabit is never a good sign.
And for the record, I am very much an Indian citizen and do not mind the entire world criticizing everything that is wrong with this society (and even myself!), in whichever terms and language they choose. Just as I don't hold back when I call out shit that's wrong with other societies. That's how the world gets better. Not by painting happy pictures over a mirror.
Peace!
It's a hard life for everyone, and certainly for a lot of us here. The condescension and holier-than-thou attitude does not help. The shaming does not help. The world does not become a better place through mighty talk alone. I merely wonder, maybe like your friends in Saudi, that if things are so off, could one provide any kind of assistance apart from an ill-informed opinion? Or just compassion or empathy.
You seemed to have been too quick to respond to read what I said in the previous comments. That's okay. I triggered something and touched a nerve. Nuance is usually a casualty here. But you say that you are open-hearted, etc. So someday you will see what I mean and I, you.
Anyway, Eid Mubarak to you and your friends.
The bottom line is, there are people who think our society is headed to hell in a handbasket. If you don't agree with that, that's fine. But I don't understand where you get off thinking it is OK to ask those people to shut up! Why? Because they are not willing to mollycoddle your insecurities and are calling a spade a spade, as they see it?
Conditions in Saudi are awful for women, whether you say that as a person who lives inside that country, or lives in, say New Zealand. That just requires basic empathy. Similarly, if someone feels a similar pain about the state of things in India, they should have all the voice they want, irrespective of where they live. You don't get to judge what is 'mighty talk' and 'ill informed opinion' and ask them to shut up based on that. FWIW I think your opinion here is the most ill informed of them all, but shame on me if I ask you to keep quiet and not express it, just because I don't like or agree with what I hear!
Btw, I am not expecting any kind of change of stance here from either one of us. That just doesn't happen in the world that we live in. People tend to double down on their take, the more you point out the defects in their arguments. Me included, perhaps, but hopefully not! ;) But believe it or not, sometimes humbly listening to criticism that comes in a voice that you don't like the sound of can actually be what's needed. And if that voice happens to be of an NRI or even a complete foreigner, that shouldn't matter in the slightest.
Hopefully, there is a moment somewhere in your future, when nobody is watching and you have nothing to prove or defend, when what I am saying here will make sense to you, in your heart of hearts. I don't need to know if or when that has happened, but I hope it does.
And with that, I think we've belabored this enough. Thanks for the conversation.