The Indian dream

It’s every teenager’s dream to board a gleaming plane to study in a land far away where students from all over the world come to study. The United Kingdom, The United States of America or Australia are the study destinations most students prefer. Developed countries hold a lot of allure for students from the third world. They represent a standard of living and an obscene level of affluence that the youth of all third world countries aspire for and hope to bring to their own homeland. Despite this prevailing trend, we find that a large population of students choose to come to India for further studies. You heard me right! India, with its corrupt officials, spit streaked streets and steady supply of impoverished villagers crowding city streets, who resort to begging in their desperation to survive, is the desired destination for students from Mauritius, Srilanka, Iran, Iraq, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Afghanistan and several African nations apart from others. But why India? “We have heard that it’s a good country to study Law, Medicine and Business Studies in, besides, I have two elder sisters and both of them have studied in India. They are doing very well back home,” says Stephen Kimundi of Kenya who has spent several years in Pune and has enjoyed his stay here considerably. Wahid Hamidy of Afghanistan came to India on an ICCR scholarship and plans on finishing his MBA and returning to his country to help rebuild it. Says Kazi Asaduzzaman of Bangladesh, “I came to India because there is a lot of student politics in my country. Here there’s a lot more freedom.”

As I discovered on the unique occasion of International Student’s Day celebrated by Symbiosis University on July 31, Pune city plays host to a multitude of cultures of people from all over the world. Dr S B Majumdar, the president of the University, decided to put aside one day of the year to celebrate this diversity and to give students, far away from their home, a chance to feel welcomed and taken care of. Says Hamidy, “Dr Majumdar sees everyone as equal irrespective of race, class or caste. In fact the name of his institution itself signifies this mindset of his. In a society we have to respect each other since we are a part of each other.” Mr Hamidy, has resided in Pune for several years now and was awarded the Most Outstanding International Student award for this year. Apart from Symbiosis, several colleges in the city attract international students. It isn’t for nothing that Pune is called the Oxford of the east.

However, does Pune live up to its reputation? Is it hospitable to students? Says Kimundi “I love Pune. I have visited Mumbai too but I didn’t like it as its pollution, crowds and traffic were too much for me to handle.” Although Pune may be marginally better than Mumbai when it comes to traffic or pollution, do the citizens of Pune treat foreign students like outsiders or do they exhibit an attitude of atithi devo bhava to their foreign friends?

Carrying the hopes and dreams of their countries, most of the time these bright students tackle more than just their studies when they land in India. It’s a struggle to get the smallest of things done. Getting themselves registered at the police station, finding a decent place to stay or even catching an auto becomes an ordeal since they look different and talk differently. People try to cheat them at every step. Unfortunately racism isn’t just a phenomenon in the west. Our obsession with fair skin (as made evident with just a perfunctory glance at the matrimonial column in our local paper) has made us adopt a superior attitude, (akin to that of the British towards us) towards people from African nations who as a race are darker than us. “We do find that Indians favour fair skinned people. Sometimes people stare at us but we have learnt to ignore people who taunt us and talk negatively. Every society has its pros and cons. The positive aspect of India is that we also have many friends from all over the city, who are willing to help us out,” says Kimundi. While students from Africa face a problem of looking different, students from Bangladesh and the Middle East are discriminated against because they talk differently. “Language is a problem for us in the beginning. Even our pronunciations mark us out as foreigners. The more time we spend here however, the less trouble we get into,” says Asaduzzaman. Hamidy has given some thought to this issue. He says, “Most often, people who are ignorant about who we are and where we have come from, treat us differently. Rickshaw drivers, policemen and landlords try to cheat us but our classmates and professors treat us very well.” These seem to be problems every student faces when they go to a new place. In fact, Pune seems to be quite in tune with the culture and needs of an international student community. Is the rest of India the same way?

Pune is a city that accepts the cultural differences of an international student community, hence it can be said that it consists of a tolerant society. However, our tolerance is always under threat. If a person finds a headscarf offensive today, they might find jeans offensive tomorrow. The narrow line between discipline and dictatorship is often trespassed in the name of morality. As global citizens we mustn’t try to enforce our views on people. We must understand, empathise and refrain from making a judgment for as along as possible.

We live in a globalised world. Boundaries are becoming meaningless. Warfare can take any form and often economic sanctions prove to be more fatal than a war with tanks and missiles. In such a situation it is important for us to be sensitive to and aware of the differences we share with people all over the world. Although racism in our country stems more from ignorance than from malice or hatred towards a particular race, as a society, ignorance can’t be our excuse anymore.

by Shivani Bail