Simarprit’s Weblog

Bobby Jindal Vs India – More Pain, Less Gain November 10, 2007

Bobby Jindal’s election as the Governor of Louisiana is much in News. Lot of political expressionists are debating about good and bad of Bobby being Indian-American or American-Indian, on many grounds.

To me Bobby can be the disruptive element in the Indian-American ecosystem. Indians in America can be seen as Preservers and Conformists. Preservers being those who have brought in the Indian Culture and ethos and are stitching the same to the American culture fabric, they are the ones who have gained, while being grounded in the Indian  mould, they don’t see anything wrong in what their religion and culture stands for, they see a reason to pass it on to the next generations and even pass it on to others. ISKCON embraced lot of people from all ethnicity’s and religions to its fold of simple living and high thinking. Bhajan Yogi created a line of Sikhs – American Sikhs, with regular Gurbani Path and Yoga mix.

Conformists on the other hand condemn whatever they were “made with” in their desire to grow. Indian Culture, ethics and Indian Values hold no promise to them. They don’t stand for anyone except their very immediate family (that also maybe). They don’t stand by their parents, their language, their culture, their country of origin or anything else associated with it. They stand for their personal growth at all costs. They will give up everything in their quest to be an American. They want to conform at any cost. They want to be one of them at any cost. They try to follow Michael Jackson’s attempt to become white for that ultimate “I am White feeling”. Many refer to them as Coconuts, brown from outside and white from inside.

Americans don’t stand for these things, they value their heritage, they cherish what their fabric stands for they believe in gaining without loosing anything in the process.  Bobby Jindal sees himself as a conformist, he has to conform. He has to stand at the extreme right of the rightists. He has to be a radical among the radicals. He has to become President of United States of America, whatever happens to the United States of America or anyone else doesn’t matter. It is He first and He last. To think that he believes in what he is saying is a very tough call. He is fairly well educated and intelligent to take many of those stands. So are those stands only for electoral gains, is he playing only the vote game? That’s a very scary thought, a person like Bobby getting at the helm of affairs only for the heck of being there, what beyond? Maybe another World War, maybe another imperialistic urge, maybe to rule the whole world? Hitler II?

What does Bobby mean to India. Americans would see Indians as Bobby clones, opportunists and self centered. World would see Indians as trying to dominate the world and push them down.  Preservers among Indians would see him as a shame. Conformists among Indians would see him as an Icon. What worries Indians and India lovers is the last section. The conformists with Bobby get the tag of not only being legitimate, but they also get the tag of being torch bearers of change. Of-course  they are the torch bearers of change, but what a change? Change from being passionate to being cold? Change from being liberal in religious views to the radical extreme of Catholicism? Change from being multi-lingual to being only American English speaking (or Spanish or any other language if it helps in fetching more votes)? Change from proactive thought process to a reactive thought process? Change from thinking for all to thinking for oneself?

Bobby as an Icon for Indian Americans is a pain for India, an enduring pain. This pain would dilute and marginalize the preservers, it will make them think – is it worth it all? The preservers would become more accommodating with conformists. Preservers would now need an Icon, a very powerful Icon to counter the magnate of Bobby Jindal. Indira Nooyi is one of them. She is one of the Forbes most powerful women of the world. What she has attained as a preserver is path breaking. Nooyi is a great Ambassador for Preservers, we need more Nooyis and we need them fast.

Preservers do good to the whole world, the conformists do good to themselves at any cost. A preserver is gain for the whole world, with a preserver’s success every one wins. With a conformist’s, everyone except the individual looses.