Unwelcome Exports

A raucous minority of India’s global society is unsettling the norm by flaunting a culture of entitlement. In the process, they are embarrassing an entire nation

- RAJEEV NARAYAN

During Diwali in the US, several Indians lit firecrackers in residential areas, sparking police complaints, safety concerns, and public outrage

oliloquy: In a Texas suburb, the newly-arrived Varmas set out to recreate Diwali in all its Indian splendour. Lights and diyas glowed to vaunt rangolis and lines of sweets boxes on the porch.

For neighbours, the evening began in curiosity and fascination, It turned to chagrin when the Varmas, clad in silks and bravado, came out with firecrackers. In minutes, the street became a party zone. Bombs burst, rockets screamed skyward and smoke billowed, sending the neighbours running inside their homes. Somehow, a stray spark landed in a garage lined with clothes and dry leaves. The alarm wailed and fire trucks soon drowned the festive din. By the time the smoke cleared, the once-pristine street was strewn with burnt casings and ash, the air acrid with embarrassment. The Varmas, who had meant to cheer up their new world, stood amid the wreckage, bewildered and sheepish... strangers once more in the land they hoped to call home.

‘There was a time when Indians abroad were admired—industrious, academicallygifted, law-abiding and courteous. That image, burnished by decades of diligence, diplomacy and discipline, now faces erosion, changing how Indians are being perceived around the world. For this new breed is not just relocating, it is attempting to replicate. It reaches faraway lands not to integrate but to impose, not to adapt but to assert. In doing so, it also exports an annoying trait—the inability to respect or adapt to the culture and norms of others, From New Jersey to New Zealand, its actions are leading to a belief that Indians are by far the loudest guests at the global dinner table, the least willing to listen.