On Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 6:33 PM, Srini RamaKrishnan <[email protected]> wrote: >> Returnees run into trouble when they “look Indian but think American,” > > OMG, do I relate to this one. >
I dont live in North America ... but I still feel the disconnect everytime I fly from Nairobi into India. The traffic is equally bad (if not worse) in Kenya .. the infrastructure is much worse ... business / government nexus / corruption is much more endemic and systemic ... the appropriation of culture i.e. "look indian but think Kenyan ?" ... nope, doesnt happen unless you are born there. (i have no problem driving around either in a car or on a motorcycle or taking a rick. My cousin just in from the UK is too mortified by the chaotic traffic to get behind the wheel) What disorients me is things changing between one visit and the other e.g. one way streets, new flyovers ; my ignorance of new/changing pop culture ... new film stars, new slang, new hangout joints ; a growing list of dead relatives ; a lot of the old places i used to like have gone to seed ... I dont really see many of the issues that some of my America returned friends and cousins complain about - because while new problems are there, some of the old inconveniences seem to have been done away with. Maybe if you live in a functionally worse / better country you tend to see things back home through those glasses ?
