India is a terrible place to live in but I feel great when I am here

Just read about a well known musician who grew up in Rio before moving on to Los Angeles summing up his experience of living in Brazil and the US, ‘The US is a great place to live in, but I feel terrible when I am here. Brazil is a terrible place to live in but I feel great when I am here’

This contradiction also sums up my feelings about living in India and the US. India is a terrible place to live in, but I feel terrible great when I am here. However, it is not as cut and dried as can be expressed in two sentences.

I think it is question of the short term and long term feelings. In India, I sense great warmth in several small encounters during a week – the fervor of religious processions, the hustle bustle of baraat (wedding) processions, the jostling of small traders in the market place, the din at family get-together and the crowds at the the small eating stalls all over town. In the short term in the US, I feel alienated by the antiseptic surroundings, the lack of facilities to move between two places which I’ve thought up only at the last moment, the haunting absence of salesmen inside shops and the overly orderly crowds as though life is a military parade.

The long term, though, is altogether different

In India, it is the absence of law and order - nothing for the common man, everything for the rich and powerful. The unending queues and lines, only to be told finally, ‘No cash in this ATM’. The filth and muck on the streets. The total lack of quality control on all commodities. The sight of helpless children of the poor who just have no chance of a future of even average happiness. The utter exploitation of humans by brother humans.  The sickening face  - and tales - of Indian netas (leaders).

In USA, it is the sense of security and orderliness. The assurance that the state will come to the rescue of the oppressed or in need.  The ease of living life in all its glory. The glory of its national parks. The easy availability of just about anything. The rich social and cultural diversity and the universal acceptance of same. The wonderful public libraries. The outstanding sense of customer service. The march of science, research and development.

How wonderful it will be if I could live in India in all my short term moments and in the US in all my long term.

But beware. Don’t take this ‘I feel great when I am in India’, as acclaim for it rotten civic system and the government. It is a salute to the warm genetic code of its people. Maybe, I like it this way and it is an acquired taste.

What if Indian people could team up with American system!