Indians living abroad and home societies

A lot of people in western countries blame indians for not socializing enough. More so, they are actually blamed that they either dont come out or stick to their own kind. Lately there have been a lot of such accusations, and so much so, that either Indians are sometimes not considered a part of home country or they are feared and suspected. The suspicion and hesitancy in accepting them in mainstream society has been more and more pronounced in European countries. It is particularly acute in more advanced countries like Germany, UK, etc. (even though france seems to be an exception).

Most of these accusations are a result of a big misunderstanding from the home society. There are two points to consider before jumping to such conclusions.

Firstly, Indian social structures are different. Indians are a very soft breed of social creatures. Intially, there is a lot of "over the surface" interactions with the home society. This is just to understand what are the values and the underlying ethos of the home country's society. Once it is established that the home country principles are more or less in coherence with the principles inherent in the society of which Indians have been a part of, only then, Indians will try to become a free part of mainstream society. This is not to be construed as resistance to new social norms. This reluctance on part of Indians happens only when there are some contradictive ideologies or ethics could be felt. Given a neutral or a new idelogy that does not contradict with existing Indian philosphies, rarely would an Indian avoid socializing.

This dilemma is more pronounced in cultures where pre-marital physical relationship is not a taboo. In Indian society, it is still very taboo. Not only that, it is also discouraged. So, Indian parents are very apprehensive of home youth. On surface, this looks like resistence to new culture, whereas the resistance is of a different nature and cannot be generalized to entire society as whole.

Secondly, in advanced countries, most of the Indians that have moved there under work visas or permits. It goes to say that these permits are for limited time periods and sooner or later the worker will be back in India, looking for another job or that person may be an extension of the permit (which cannot be guarenteedly renewed). So, the primary thrust of such Indians is to save as much as they can. Socializing always definitely involved give and take, and would certainly involve certain expenditure as a part of social activities. Most Indians, esp. families, dont want that. Infact, they are there to earn and save as much as they can.

Finally, I would feel that it is unjustified for home countries to be apprehensive of Indians arriving in home countries. Their skill and hard working nature will only bring revenue and profits to the organizations that employ them. By filling those positions economically, they are generating some other jobs at some place else.