The NRI Syndrome

The other day I met an NRI … who stays in India!! You must be wondering what kind of species is that. Isn’t NRI supposed to mean a Non-Resident Indian? Not really. Listen to my conversation with him and you will figure out the newer meaning of an NRI.

Me: Some of my friends and myself are working on a new site…
NRIji: (Startled out of his wits) what? A start-up in this economy? You must be out of your mind.

Me: It is not a startup. It is about India. We are trying to build a network of volunteers -who will strive to bring in improvements – through this site.
NRIji: You are surely joking. Subah se koi mila nahi kya ?

Me: I am not joking. I am serious about this project and so are my friends.
NRIji: Are bhai … all this humbug about working for your country is okay for the final round of questions in a Miss Universe contest. Why are you wasting your time and energy on it? Besides you are not even staying here at the moment. So why bother?

Me: Now I think you are joking. Do you seriously believe that trying to improve the country is the responsibility of people living in India only?
NRIji: Don’t you have any duty towards your family? Take care of them first. Yeh sab country wagairah sudharane ki bate chhod do.

Me: I am taking care of my family, thank you. But that does not free me from what I owe to my country.
NRIji: Owe to your country? What could you possibly owe to this country for? Traffic? Dirt, filth and pollution? Corruption? Increasing population?

Me: I don’t want to sound theatrically patriot. But I feel that every citizen – be it Indian or belonging to any other country – owes a debt to his or her country. And that has got nothing to do with the facilities provided by the country.
NRIji: Did not you hear the long list of problems I just recited? I am telling you, India is beyond any redemption. What could you possibly hope for to change with a handful of people? And don’t you give me that Internet story of a man throwing starfish into the sea.

Me: Okay, I won’t. But all the same I would like to tell you something. I do seriously believe in that story. I believe that we cannot change anything unless we actually start doing it. We may be a handful of people in the beginning. But we won’t remain handful till the end. We are sure there are lots and lots of Indians – in and out of India – who think like I do. And I will definitely try to reach them through my site. India will never change until people who think like you do change first. Thank you my friend – for giving my efforts a new boost!!

Okay,whatever NRI stands for,we will not worry.Let's give a new definition to it as  Networking to Rebuild India.

Some of our NRIs do send some money back to India. But what India needs apart from the money is planning and suggestions that can be implemented without going through any governmental interventions. Instead of just keep on comparing India to the U.S.,the U.K. and other developed nations just we should start changing small things such as cleaning our locality, donating books to library, offering 1 hour free class about community services in the schools,etc,etc. Keep your eyes and ears open and if you find anything that can be implemented in India to improve the quality of life here, drop us a line.