America’s Independence Day- July 4
Posted : July 5, 2008 at 7:04 pm [IST]
It was interesting to see and talk with the whole of family, thousands of miles away in US on its Independence Day evening. Broadband Internet has diminished the distance. The cheap and high quality web cameras have made it livelier. It appears we are sitting in one large room in two corners. While we had been seeing Emma and Bart quite frequently, today Svanik and then Keshav and Anvita also joined Emma. Anand normally they used to have a lot of fireworks on this occasion, but with large number of fires all over California, they dropped the idea of fireworks this year. It is good that the three families have come together to celebrate and enjoy the Independence Day of US. In India, on its Independence Day, we just listen to the prime minister’s speech from the rampart of the historic Red Fort and sleep in the afternoon.
Rakesh was wearing a T-shirt with a big car with external of an American flag. Unfortunately, I hardly find very many T-shirts here in India with India as a subject. I am sure it could have helped in developing a national unity. Perhaps the business community may be skeptical about its market with people in India having so varying number of identity. No one has taken initiative to develop the souvenir business that may have a lot of potential. The comparison becomes visible when we visit any place outside India.
Indo-US relation over the years has gone real positive. India was never so near to US. I remember the years when US was so near Pakistan that every Indian used to hate to take pride in US. I remember at least one name of Dulles.
Many feel it started with NDA government, while UPA wishes to take the credit more clearly with signing Indo-US Nuclear Deal. Thanks to Mulayam and his manipulative middleman Amar Singh, the Deal may come through with a new dawn in Indo-US relation.
Many a times I consider the affinity of US towards India is due to the Indian immigrants that are playing a significant role in various American technology sectors. Indians are making their presence felt in every field, be it with money power supporting Presidential candidates, or with their entrepreneurship and innovations.
I don’t know how many of the leftist leaders are having their children in USA. But for those with their children in USA, the country becomes the second most important one after one’s own country.
Let me also celebrate the Day with all Indians in USA and wish peace and prosperity for that nation.
- Indra
Category: Personal |
1 Comment »
Dear Mr. Sharma,
I went through some of your posts in the Bihari groups@yahoo, which prompted me to go through your blogs. This particular piece caught my attention as I came back only today morning from my July 4th vacation. Why I am writing this is because I have a different opinion on few points made here.
First, I wonder how you can associate patriotism with fireworks and souvenirs. I think each country has its own tradition of celebrating independence. If Americans burn tonnes of pounds of crackers, we Indians like hoisting the national flag. It’s just a matter of tradition. And when it comes to souvenirs, I don’t think India has any dearth of it. Every region in India has something to offer, be it some king of particular clothing, or sweets or handicraft. I agree that we are not good at display of patriotism, thanks to our heavily diverse background, but in spirit, we are no less and the change in attitude is very much visible these days.
And second, I think the most important factor in bringing India and USA together is probably the globalisation of world economy. Had it been the immigrants, it should have happened decades ago. The very first Indians who leveraged globalisation where those who were in India, running their businesses out of India.
Posted by: Abhishek at July 8, 2008 @ 12:47 am
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