Indra’s Drishtikona (Viewpoint)

Indians Everywhere in Different Roles

Posted : August 7, 2005 at 10:19 pm [IST]

On the return trip to India, we were forced to have a stop over of almost 17 hours at new Hong Kong airport, thanks to the aviation policy of Indian governments- present and past. We reached Hong Kong early in the morning on Saturday 30th July. Courtsey the wheel chair assistance for Yamuna, my wife, we could easily reach the Travelers’ Lounge where we were to spend the whole day till 10.30 PM. While the whole America uses a lot of papers for sanitation, many a times to extent of wasting it, the toilets in Hong Kong had a note near the paper containers-’ use less paper, save environment’. Paper is produced with trees as raw material. Paper industry thus means felling of trees and reduction in forest coverage whenever it is unplanned. We must use it more judiciously. This is an advice for some like my youngest son- Anand. All the water taps and flushing systems are electronically controlled so perhaps, it leaves some amount of undesirable bad smell. Technology also needs some amount human controls or better sensors are to be invented.

After I had a forced nap for an hour, I met with number of Indian youths- both men and women. Deepa is of Indian origin, but a citizen of Nepal. She works in the lounge. Her parents were from Varanasi and she also had some schooling there. She now works on the front desk of the lounge. Her husband also works in Hong Kong. And then Manpreet comes and asks if I am here for the flight to New Delhi tonight. He was working for some Indian company at San Hose itself and returning to India. He is an employee of TCS and lives in Preet Vihar in New Delhi. And then comes in Chhabi helping us in finding out pure vegetarian items from the buffet laid at the lounge. She is going back to Jaipur with her daughter, as her in- laws were with her husbands. She is a Brahmin married to a Vaishya family. I found her conscious about it. She was pretty forthright, when as an old man I advised her to do away with the feelings of superiority. It may damage the sweetness of relations.

I enjoy every moment when I talk to the younger generation and get a feel of their aspirations. And right at the time of entering in the flight to New Delhi, I met few more persons one who worked for Jabalpur Vehicle Factory and the other gentleman from Dewas near Indore who was returning from China. After many days, I could talk about manufacturing and productivity. The Malayali gentleman was very impressed by the productivity of the Chinese employees, particularly women.

This is my first entry after returning to India. I had to undergo a nightmarish experience. I am now digitally connected again with the rest of the world and shall keep on writing. After all, this is my India and I find many things to write- good and bad too. Please wait.

- Indra

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