Chandan da,
The answers to these questions are too obvious and have been debated over and over in the net since the Jurassic Age. Lets say the roots to all these problems lie with India. Do you really think we NRA could only contribute to Assam's development when David has finally won over the big bad Goliath ? And even in the most optimistic case , how many years do you think it will take and till then how many years of finger pointing and cyber arguments do you think Assamese diaspora would be involved in? And where do you think the rest of the world would be in comparison to our Assam?
I am no particular fan of India or of the Cow Belt. I do not think India Bashing is a crime. I do not think it is a PAAP to consider Assam does not belong to India. But I do not think we are in a position to wrestle control from the Union of India without inflicting so much wound on ourselves that we may never be able to recover.
Tell me Chandan da, which one we would find more gratifying :
Choice 1 : We spend rest of our life pointing out why things are not going to work in Assam and what ails Assam.
Choice 2 : We realised we can not make a heaven out of Assam in one day but we won over the problems/challanges presented in Assam in ourown way to contribute to the Assamese society by contributing to its economy (does not matter whether Assam remained a part of India or independent).
I can understand the sentiments of residents from Assam when they say Assamese diaspora has not contributed enough. Sure, the numbers prove it. As they say in America, it's only the bottom line that matters. And that's where we are ZILCH !!
I went to a alumni get together over the week-end and met our old alumni Jerry Rao (who was a Country Manager in Citi Group , India and was amongst the top 15 Citi executives in the world). And I would definitely value his words because he is a doer. He left the US in 2000 to start Mphasis and he has created employment for 9000 people in India in a matter of 5 years. He comes from a middle class background. He pointed out India is definitely changing . It took him 1 year to get the license to open up 1 ATM machine in 1988 !!! Things move much faster now. So when he says it is much easier to contribute to India now, I would buy it rather than from one of us who have not even tried.
We diaspora are perhaps the most privileged children of Assam in terms of education, family background or whatever. The choice is ours, whether we want to remain finger pointer for rest of our lives or we really want to make those numbers look better.
And these numbers are :
How many employments have we generated in Assam.
I am ZILCH !!!
Chan Mahanta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Chan Mahanta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hi Utpal:As a graduate of IIM and thus being very savvy about business can you help us understand the following:* WHY is it that NRAs are not returning to Assam by the droves to set up businesses, factories or other employment generating ventures? * Are the NRI business ventures in India for charity, or for making money primarily but thus generating employment too? And how many are doing so, I mean setting up businesses in India? Let us however not equate buying expensive flats in Gurgaon to setting upbusinesses, even though flat buying too does, marginally, create some jobs.* Are ex-pat Indians investing in India in the same degree as Indians investing in the UK for example? If not why? Does what Santanu touched on the other day, on transparency, on property rights, ondispute resolution mechanisms etc. have any impact? Or are those excuses of India bashers only :-)? c-daAt 10:00 PM +0100 9/22/05, Malabika Brahma wrote:>>Also, Utpal, it is good to know that the people that do not write in these forums are >>spending their spare time doing good for Assam. Yeah, right! That is the ONLY alternative >>that they find to writing here.>>And yes, it is also an advantage to have a rich family background so that you don't need to >>bother about anything but spend your entire savings helping everybody - all you need is a '>>big heart', isn't it??
Alpana ba,
That was not what I meant. I was just lamenting the fact that we as Assamese diaspora living abroad, have not been able to contribute to Assam what many others have done. This includes me as well.
However much I may argue or engage in debates, when it comes to doing things that matter, our contribution have not been that significant. I would not like to comment on others, but when it comes to finger pointing I would like to finger point on me.
Education : Masters from one of the best schools in India.Helped In creating/generating employment in Assam : 0Influenced Global Corporations in investing in Assam : 0
What Assam needs is contribution from children like us in employment generation and investment. And where do you think we (the diaspora's) figure ?
You and I can make a lot of arguments and counter arguments, but we won't really count for the down trodden denizens of Assam unless we do things that they need. That is to create jobs and market the potential of Assam internationally.
And its the number of $$s that created a difference in Assam that matters not how many kilo-bytes of emails we generated.
The idea was not to get bogged down in blame game. Just a little introspection.
"Alpana B. Sarangapani" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
An honest, hardworking YET poor farmer from a village could blame the ones living in a concrete (or Assam-type) building in a city in Assam, equally, saying:-How could you afford to communicate with THEM diaspora, using a computer that costs about Rs. 20,000/? Or Rs. 25/ (or however much!) an hour to sit in an internet cafe to communicate with them?How could you even go to school, to be an expert in all these things, when I had to plough the land, give half of the harvest to someone who owns the land - though thats not the law anymore, carry water from a pond two blocks away, make my children sleep under the bed when it rains, so they won't catch cold from the rain water, waste months going to the river banks looking for 'Ikora' or the bamboo pieces (I don't have them grown right here in my backyard) to mend the "four walls" - the 'baahor-bera' to protect my children from the cold air in the winter season - let alone the harm that any intruder may cause?And yes, the diasopora need to stop talking about the possible things that they may/want to do for Assam IF that hurts Assam.Thus the blame game goes on. What is new?Also, Utpal, it is good to know that the people that do not write in these forums are spending their spare time doing good for Assam. Yeah, right! That is the ONLY alternative that they find to writing here.And yes, it is also an advantage to have a rich family background so that you don't need to bother about anything but spend your entire savings helping everybody - all you need is a 'big heart', isn't it??
From: mrinal talukdar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: mrinal talukdar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Assam] Assam Srength
Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2005 06:13:42 +0530
>Dear Assamese Diaspora
>
>The strength of the Assamese is that they feel about Assam, express
>concern about Assam and talk big about Assam only after leaving their
>beloved state for greener pasture and then spend one hour each day
>trying to improve Assam through Internet from their air conditioned
>room, eating Hamburger or KFC.
>
>The weakness is that they see everything forign is very good. I am
>inviting the Assamese diaspora.. Come back, fight the heat and dust
>and then express your love and work for Assam. If you can not stop
>thinking about Assam. Do something rater than wasting your energy
>blogging.
>
>When you talk of pebi! cite or self rule, I feel pity for all of you
>beacsue you are still in Utopian dream of flying someday to new nation
>called Assam from New Jersy or New york.
>
>People will admire you if you collectively do something rather than
>wasting energy. Pitfully Assamese diaspora have always been thinking
>and behaving in the manner of aliens.
>
>I am awaiting a howl of protest from all of you. I welcome strong debate.
>
>Mrinal Talukdar
>Pub Sarania, Guwahati
>
>_______________________________________________
>assam mailing list
>[email protected]
>http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org_______________________________________________
assam mailing list
[email protected]
http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
Too much spam in your inbox? Yahoo! Mail gives you the best spam protection for FREE! Get Yahoo! Mail
_______________________________________________
assam mailing list
[email protected]
http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
To help you stay safe and secure online, we've developed the all new Yahoo! Security Centre.
_______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
