Is it enough to be a democracy?

Recently, during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Mr. Modi, India and the USA patted each other's backs for being the largest and the oldest democracies. This was such a pathetic display of self-praise without recognizing the respective problems these democracies are facing. Just because regular elections are held and people vote doesn't make any country a true democracy. If we consider the criteria of regular elections and voting, then many countries could qualify or claim themselves as democracies, but we all know that this is not true. Yes, elections and voting are important aspects of any democracy but they are not the only aspects of it. Freedom of expression, political prosecution of opponents, uniformity of voting rights, subjugation of minorities by the majority, and transparency of the electoral process are some of the other factors that can tell whether it is a functioning democracy or just a paper democracy.

When politicians, especially elected ones, behave in an autocratic manner like kings and queens, is it a real democracy? When the economic fortune of elected politicians multiplies by orders of magnitude after their elections and no one, either the government or the people, questions this, is it a real democracy? When people vote for a bottle of liquor and some money, is it a real democracy? When the voting rights of some people are suppressed because of their social or economic status, is it a real democracy? When voters are continuously misinformed and fed with propaganda and religious fanatism, is it a real democracy? The questions are many, and the point is when some sections are systematically suppressed can we call that system a true democracy?

Agreed, with all its flaws and problems, democracy is still the best system we have. It is messy and not perfect, but this is the reason it is not a big deal to be a paper democracy, where the processes are present but the effect is autocracy. Implementing some democratic process is the minimum any country can do, and the US and India do a great job at it. Also, there are many countries that do not even have these processes, but they also don't claim to be the largest or the oldest democracies. This is why it becomes more important for any country that wants to flaunt its democratic credentials to make sure that its process is not ridden with loopholes and problems making it inefficient and undemocratic. This chest thumping can be a good public relations event or may mesmerize respective political bases, but beyond that, it does not have any meaning. FIX the broken system. It looks pathetic when leaders of two important democratic countries praise each other while their countries are ridden with problems that need their immediate attention. Optics are great for PR, but go and fix the real problems. It is not enough to be a paper democracy, make sure that every eligible person gets the right to vote and no voices are suppressed either directly or indirectly, and then, let's have a party.   

Thank you for reading and please share your views on this topic. 

© Vinay Thakur, All rights reserved, Vinay can be reached at thevinay2022@gmail.com

This is an attack on freedom of expression

On Friday, August 12, 2022, a  24-year-old man attacked Indian-born British author Salman Rushdie. The actual motives of this attack are not clear, but it is not difficult to guess why Mr. Rushdie will be attacked. He is an author who has written some books that created controversy in the past. Especially, his book, The Satanic Verses, first published in 1988, created controversy, and some countries like Iran issued a fatwa for his death. Various people related to this book (translators of the book in different languages) have been already attacked in various countries. This display of religious rage and hate is not new, freedom of expression is not guaranteed in many countries, even in some so-called democracies, books are banned and authors are attacked for what they write. However, the attack on Rushdie happened in the USA, a country with one of the best freedom of protection laws. Therefore, the attack is not just on Mr. Rushdie, it is an attack on the USA's core spirit, and it should be treated as such.

Freedom of expression is not an easy pill to swallow for everyone. Most people want this right for themselves so that they can say what they feel, and criticize whoever they want, but are seldom happy when others practice it, especially to say offensive stuff. Hurting religious sentiments is a timid and often-used excuse to curb freedom of expression in many countries. This is such a lame excuse. Religion is a centuries-old institution, it has survived violent attacks from each other (one religion attacking another verbally as well as physically), so, how does one more book or a speech or movie or anything expressed by anyone matter? If religions are not able to tolerate a book, movie, or speech against it how strong it is in reality? These are the questions religious people need to ask themselves, maybe they will find this post itself offensive, you never know. If we are serious about freedom of expression, we need to defend books like The Satanic Verses and authors like Mr. Rushdie. The USA has one of the best freedom of expression laws, these laws make this a special place for many like me who want to express and appreciate the expression of others. Defending freedom of expression is not easy, especially when things are being said that are offensive to us, but that's when it matters the most. If people around us only express things that we like or agree to, do you think there will be a need to protect free speech? Our commitment to freedom of expression is tested when offensive things are being said and when something despicable is said about things we revere or respect. Otherwise, why do we need such right? 

Protecting and celebrating freedom of expression is as important as defending the freedom of a country. Without freedom of expression, there is no real freedom. It really doesn't matter how old or how big of a democracy you are, it doesn't matter how old or how liberal your history or culture is, if there is no freedom of expression, there is no freedom at all. The USA has benefitted a lot due to its strong policies to protect freedom of expression. If it fails to do so the effect will be disastrous. I hope the attack on Rushdie acts as a warning to America and it acts accordingly to protect its most valuable aspect.

Thank you for reading and please share your views on this topic. 

Dilemma of NRIs about moving back to India

I immigrated to the United States in 2003. It was a life-changing decision for me and my family. There is a strong presence of the Indian community in the USA. I meet many NRIs most of them work in the science and technology field as I also work in the field of science. During most of the meetings, the subject of whether to go back to India or settle in the US comes more often. Many NRIs have been in a dilemma for a very long time about whether to settle in the USA or go back to India. A few days back, I read an article on Quora about this subject. The article is a good attempt to tackle this subject. The author tried to offer his take on this subject based on the opinions of people in his friend circle and his own experience. One thing that I found missing in the article is that the author didn't compare the data gathered in the US with the data of people in similar age groups who migrated back to India, this would have given some comparative picture. The article only presents one side of the story and draws conclusions based on only one set of data. What if people in the 21-28 age group are generally happy and enthusiastic about their work and social life, what if people who are 50 and above are generally worried about their kid's future and somewhat unhappy about their surroundings? If that's the case, then one cannot say that the feelings of NRIs are only due to the geographical location, but it could be also because of their age group, irrespective of where they live.

I want to share my own experience in this area. Maybe it will add something to this debate or help some NRIs to make up their mind to resolve their own dilemma. I immigrated to the USA to get some professional experience in the area of drug discovery and earn some money. Lack of access to sufficient money even for necessary things like education was a big hurdle for my family's economic progress. It was practically impossible for me to earn enough money by doing a job in my field in India and uplift my family's economic status. Moving to some other country was the most common path taken by many researchers back then to solve this money problem and this also helped to increase their job prospects if they returned to India, and that's what I did. My initial plan was to work in the US for 3-4 years and then go back to India and work in the area of drug discovery. As per my plan, I seriously considered moving back to India in 2007, but it didn't work out. There were two main reasons why I didn't move back. First, I didn't see any benefit in doing that, and second, I fell in love with the USA.  

I met some incredible people in the US who introduced me to a great working culture and a plethora of opportunities that are available for everyone. I also met my mentor and a great human being, Dr. Devraj Singh during my initial stay in New Jersey and it was another turning point in my life. I not only found a very good mentor, but also a caring elder brother who advised me on various aspects of life, introduced me to some great books, and encouraged me to take on new challenges. I am eternally grateful to him for this. His guidance helped me to smoothly transition into this new life. I wish every immigrant to meet with a mentor like him in this country who can introduce them to the good things this country has to offer to every immigrant. I also consider myself extremely lucky to work with some great people in my area of research, my all bosses in academia as well as in Industry are extremely talented and helpful people. They all contributed something meaningful to my life and taught me something that helped me a lot to become a better person. 

Apart from all these personal experiences, my wife and kids got incredible opportunities that were impossible for them in India. This is especially true in my case due to my social and familial background. I understand that this may not be the case with everyone, but in my case, this was a huge plus factor for me. The kind of evolution I witnessed in my wife's personality and the way my kids enjoyed their schooling in the US education system made me love this country even more. So far my stay in the USA is an extremely enjoyable journey. As far as relatives in India are concerned, this is a big concern for most NRIs. This is one factor that makes most NRIs worry as they feel that the geographical separation and lack of their presence in India might affect and weaken most of their relations with their relatives in India. This concern is not unwarranted, this is a very genuine concern. I consider myself an introverted person, and I also went through this worry. But for me, this geographical separation helped to strengthen my bond with my parents. I was born and brought up in a very conservative and patriarchal environment. There was no culture of having any meaningful conversations with parents. The parent-child relationship was very formal, there was a lot of fear (labeled as respect), and also gratitude because of all the hard work parents did. But, there was no frankness in that relationship. There used to be very minimal and only necessary conversations between parents and kids in the society where I grew up. But now, I am in regular touch with my parents in India. I must mention that our relationship has become more strong and deeper than ever. I talk with them regularly on various subjects. Subjects range from women's rights, politics, superstitions, casteism in India, many family issues, as well as their own personal issues. I don't know how much my moving to the US contributed to this, but this happened only in the last 10-12 years. No matter how busy I am with my work or studies, I make it a point to find some time to call them or video chat with them multiple times a week. This is a snapshot of my own story. 

The subject of moving back to India is a big dilemma for many NRIs. It is regularly discussed in Indian gatherings and I also participated in many such discussions. My own observation is that people want to have all the comfort and advantages that life in the US offers them, and at the same time, they also crave for so-called Indian culture and geographical proximity of their relatives. Many NRIs also believe that India today is the same India that they left several years back. They willfully ignore all the socio-economic changes India has gone through during all those years since they moved out of India. The main reason why many NRIs don't want to move back is the same laundry list of problems like corruption, lack of opportunities for their kids, pollution, lack of discipline in social and public life, and many other day-to-day hassles of life in India. They complain about these things as if these things originated only after they moved out and hence India has become inhabitable for them, so they can't go back even if they want to. This reasoning doesn't make any sense to me. All these problems were present more or less when each one of us left India for better opportunities, maybe the intensity of some of the problems might have increased or decreased over the years since we left, but these problems were still there when I was contemplating to move back to India, but they were not the deal breakers for me. So, I can't cite these as a reason for my decision not to move back to India. Another reason is many NRIs keep on worrying about the effect of the US culture on their kids without even understanding what is the US culture. The US is extremely successful today because of its culture, not despite it. The freedom, individual rights, protection of the law, and opportunities that it offers to every individual are not available in other parts of the world (definitely not in India). Calling the US culture materialistic and Indian culture spiritual is foolish. Indian society is as materialistic as the US society and there is nothing wrong with being materialistic. This unnecessary fear of an invasion of the US culture adds unwarranted tension to the lives of many NRIs. The irony is that they fear moving back to India and they also worry about the consequences of not moving back to India, it seems many of them feel like they have two worse options to choose from.   

Many NRIs waste so much time in contemplating what to do that by the time they reach any conclusion it is too late, and they feel trapped. They feel trapped due to their kids, career, or some other reason. This feeling of entrapment brings sadness, but this can happen even in India as well. You don't have to be outside India to fall into this trap. My parents moved from one part of India to another (from UP to Maharashtra), and they faced the same dilemma. Many people in India live away from their families because of their jobs and face the same anxieties. I love the freedom that life in the US offers to me. I am involved with my work, and I am interested in politics as well as the social and cultural life of the US. This is why I don't miss India as much as I used to during my initial days in the USA. This doesn't mean that I don't care about India or I have forgotten everything about it. I just can't because it's my birthplace and I have spent a significant part of my life there. It is always in my thoughts and will remain forever. But, the big change is that I love the USA as much as I love India. 

I have a simple advice for all NRIs who are trapped in this dilemma. First, decide what are your priorities (caution: this is not as a simple task as it sounds). Second, decide which country fits best to achieve those priorities. Third, don't compare your situation with others as you don't know what are their problems and priorities. Everyone's needs and problems are different. Finally, there is no guarantee that what we plan will work for sure, but without implementing that plan we will never know, so work on your plan with full confidence. For some NRIs, India might be the best place to live and excel in professional life, and for others, it might be some other country. There is no universal solution that can work for everyone to resolve this dilemma. Each individual needs to decide what is best for his/her family and act accordingly. One last thing, Steve Jobs said, "It's easy to connect the dots backward," don't fall prey to the hindsight bias. Learn from mistakes and move forward, don't worry too much about the past, and look at the future as that's the only thing we can possibly change. 

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

The real meaning of American citizenship

Citizenship of any country can be obtained either by birth or by being a resident of that country for a certain period mentioned in its citizenship act. This policy is an important aspect of many immigrant-friendly countries like the USA, where many immigrants choose to become citizens, mainly to avail of benefits that these countries offer to their citizens. For me, citizenship has a much deeper meaning apart from just a legal status, especially when someone chooses to abandon one citizenship and accept another. Citizenship by birth is a right, but citizenship by naturalization is somewhat different. To choose to become a citizen of any country is a conscious decision. It should be done after a lot of deliberation and serious thinking. Because citizenship is not only a privilege or right offered by the constitution of that country but also a big responsibility. Any person gets attached to his or her place of birth emotionally for various reasons, that place always remains special to him/her. But, if someone acquires citizenship by naturalization, he or she has to develop a similar love, concern, and sense of belonging to that new country. If this doesn't happen then the benefit is one way, like it happens in an extremely selfish relationship, where one side gets all the perks without giving any commitment or loyalty in return.

According to me, the USA is one of the best places to live, it offers the best set of civil rights in the world among countries. American citizenship comes with many benefits, but at the same time, it also comes with some duties. One of the major duties is to give up loyalty to your previous country of citizenship and be loyal to the USA. I have seen that some naturalized citizens fail to understand the importance of this duty. They feel that being a US citizen means having the right to avail of all the benefits, but loyalty to the US is an optional requirement. This loyalty does not only mean supporting the country when it's under attack by outsiders but also being loyal to its constitution, and its values. Being American doesn't mean only possessing an American passport but also understanding and promulgating American values and culture. If more and more people fail to understand these things then I feel the gap between various sections of this society will keep on increasing and this is not a good sign for the health of this great country.

The USA is an extremely tolerant country. It has accommodated various cultures and values gracefully. When I say one needs to respect American values I don't mean a certain set of rigid rules, I mean the spirit of respecting individual liberty and the right to choose. These two are the most prominent features of American society which helped this country to achieve the status of superpower. The real meaning of being an American is not just to hold an American passport but to understand American values. Understand the reason behind the phenomenal success of this country, which it managed to achieve in such a short span of time. Each and every citizen must continue to work towards making this country better than before. Being a citizen doesn't at all mean surrendering all your previous values or beliefs, this country gives a right of freedom of expression to every resident. Constructive criticism, political activism, opposition to the government and its policies, demonstrations, and protests all are part of efforts to achieve this progress. The sense of duty to protect American values is important and I hope all current and future citizens as well as residents of America realize this. This country is unique and one of the best places to live on earth and let's keep it that way. The real meaning of being an American citizen is not only to be eligible to enjoy the benefits but also to perform all the duties expected of its citizens.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing.]

If you don't love it, then please leave it

Actually, I never thought that I would ever write a blog post with a title like this. I am saying this because I am nobody to tell anyone to leave any place except my private property. No doubt that this line is a very catchy phrase and this is one of the reasons why I am using this as the title of this blog post. The intention behind using this title is not to hurt anyone's feelings, to warn anyone, or to threaten anyone, but just to express my feelings about some incidents that happened or happening around me both here in the US and in India. Especially in the US, I see some people (including many who are citizens of this country) constantly criticizing the USA, they also criticize the culture of this land and I always wonder why they have so many problems with this country and its people? I am specifically talking about the US as this is the only country apart from India, where I spent a significant part of my life. I am sure such things happen in many other places, but I can only talk about the US or India. Another reason to select the US for this topic is that it is a very immigrant-friendly country and many people come here willingly in search of better opportunities, so the situation here is totally different than the situation in India. I noticed that many people blindly criticize the culture of this land without even bothering to understand it, they just go by perceptions created by some biased reporting of media or some hearsay gossip or worse some imaginary misconceptions and base their ill-informed opinion about many things associated with this country. I can understand that people living outside the USA might have some wrong perceptions about it as they don't get the chance to interact with people here or get to experience what is it like to live life in the USA, but I am always amazed when people who get benefited by their presence in this country spew hatred about it. Here my intention is not to say that the USA is an ideal country, free from any drawbacks or problems. Like any other country of this world, it has its own strengths as well as weaknesses, it has its own social and political issues. This is not the perfect place and I don't think any such perfect place even exists anywhere in this world, but definitely this country is one of the best in the world.

I am a supporter of complete freedom of expression (except the threat of violence), so in that sense, everyone has the total right to say what they want about any person or country as long as they are not threatening to incite any violence. I also understand that criticism is necessary and should be encouraged, but there is a huge difference between criticism and hatred. I don't object to any criticism, rather I feel that it helps to improve things if taken positively, but when people spew venom blindly criticizing something without any rationale or logic I feel pity on them. Initially, I used to get angry or used to think if they are so unhappy with this place and so dislike it, then why can't they leave it, after all, the US is not forcing them to stay here. In today's world immigration is not as difficult as it was a few decades ago, one can easily get a visa or even permanent residency in many countries and emigrate there.  But many of these people stay here or even migrate here from many countries from all around the world for better living, they enjoy a far better and superior quality of life here and still hate this place, maybe this is the best explanation I can offer why I chose this title for this blog post. Today we all have many choices as far as the city we want to live in or the country we want to live in is concerned, many of us are even capable of going anywhere in the world and making a decent living. Wherever we go to make living in this world, there will be some advantages as well as some problems. We should be able to make use of those advantages for our own good and honestly try to fix whatever problems exist so that that place also benefits from our presence.

If anyone is so unhappy about any place that they can't tolerate its culture or people living there, then it is best for them as well as that place to get separated from each other. They should try to choose a different place which matches their way of thinking and whose culture they like, it is as simple as that. Criticize all you want, offer as many alternative solutions or ideas as you want, participate in any political debates and discussions, challenge whatever is wrong and try to make it right, and raise your voice against any injustice, any liberal and free society will encourage any such behavior and feedback, but please don't abuse any country while getting benefited by its kindness and resources. If you don't love it and are not interested in improving it, then leave it alone, please don't abuse it or hurt it. This is true for any relationship, including our relationship with a country or a person. 

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Why the heck Modi needs US visa?

Recent news about 65 MPs (members of parliament) who wrote a letter to US President Mr. Barack Obama requesting him not to grant a US visa to Gujarat chief minister (CM) Mr. Narendra Modi caught my attention. I was interested in the logic behind these people's requests and why they think is US visa is so important for Modi or for any person of his stature. The copy of the letter which is circulating in media with signatures on it looks very genuine. So, if we believe the contents of this letter then their major emphasis is on the 2002 Godhra riots, and because the MPs believe that Modi was responsible for those riots the US government should not allow him to enter their own country. 

The letter paints a picture of Gujarat as a most horrible place in India where minorities are butchered and raped daily. These people don't even realize that they are talking about one of the state in their own country. They consider Modi an anti-social and dangerous person, based on his human rights record they want the US to prevent his entry, but they are fine with his presence in their own country (that too as CM). If they believe and have solid proof about Modi's crimes then why is he free even in India? If his crimes are so serious and there is enough evidence about it, then he should be in jail. Why a person who these 65 lawmakers think is so dangerous and antisocial is roaming free in their own country? If they want the US to ban his entry, then why don't they criminally prosecute him in India? Do they think that in India criminals can stay, they can even rule, it's all fine, but they should not enter the US? Many questions like these should be asked to these 65 people and they should provide satisfactory answers to them or resign from their posts.

Having political or ideological differences is one thing, those differences can be debated, and discussed in civilized manure but to plead for another country to act on your behalf is a pathetic display of immaturity. I didn't expect this from these people. Another question is, why the hell does Modi need a US visa? He is the chief minister of one of the states of India, he is a democratically elected leader and holding that office for more than a decade. He can talk with anyone anywhere in the world without physically visiting that place, recent developments in communication technology have given every one of us that power and capability. So even if he wants to talk with the Indian community in the US he doesn't need to visit the US physically, he can do it right from his office in Gujarat. So, why the hell he need that visa? If US companies want to invest in Gujarat they will automatically invite him and arrange a visa for him. I am sure then there will be no question about human rights violations and other things when business and money are involved.

No government in this world has an absolutely clean record of human rights. Every country is involved somewhere directly or indirectly where human rights violations, either in their own country or on foreign soil. No one can claim high moral ground at least on this aspect alone. These people should fight against Modi politically based on valid and rational points, challenge him, and question him but please don't play a dirty game like this. I have only one request to all these people, please stop this circus and talk about more serious issues. I am sure India has many of them, whether Modi or anyone else gets any visa or not is not a big deal. We have much bigger issues to address and I expect these intelligent MPs to think about that rather than thinking about how they get some cheap media publicity.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Links:
1. 64 MPs urged Obama to keep visa ban for Modi
2. BJP wants US visa for Modi
2. Massive controversy breaks out over MPs' letter to Obama on Modi visa
3. Controversy breaks out over MPs letter on Modi visa

Why more and more people are moving away from religion?

Recently, when one of my friends forwarded me statistics about religion in the USA I was surprised to see that almost ~16% of people don't like to affiliate themselves with any religion. After ruling people's minds for centuries I think slowly religion is losing its grip on people. At least the trend in the USA points in that direction. It's not surprising, but one wonders what can be the reasons behind this shift? Organized religion is at its best nowadays as far as aggressiveness is concerned. Money is not a problem for them. All these organizations are very rich and powerful and their network is huge. They have a large dedicated workforce, and all resources are at their disposal to propagate their views (including TV, the internet, or any other modern tools of social or personal communication). So, technically they have all the physical requirements that are necessary to become a successful enterprise. Even after all this, their share is on the decline. However, even now with all this decline religion is the major force that divides or unites groups. It polarizes people's opinions as most people still like to associate themselves with some religion. All organized religions ruled this world unconditionally until progress in science and technology started helping people to figure out things on their own and the dependence on religion started reducing. I don't think the fierce competition between different religions, violent conflicts between them, the conservative nature of these organizations, and their unwillingness to change are the only reasons for this decline. These things have been there since religion started but its growth was not affected because of these factors.

Religion is a product of the intelligent human brain. There was a time in our civilization when there was a lot of confusion and a lot of questions about things happening around people. There was not a single force that could unite people of that time. There were no proper tools to find any answers to their questions and at that time organized religion and the concept of God came to their help. It provided them with believable answers based on the existing knowledge of that time and everything was attributed to God and its powers. Either with aggressive marketing or the use of force, everything was settled, people were content, and most of their doubts were either cleared or suppressed. To keep its hold on the masses slowly religion got converted into an organized institute with rigid rules and requirements. It also became big, very big so these rules were necessary to run the organization smoothly. But at the same time, there were always skeptics and nonbelievers who thought differently or didn't believe in all these explanations offered by religion and its books. Some of them developed their own philosophies which slowly developed in other religions. Some challenged the concept of religion and God itself. Some of them survived but mostly they perished or got executed. 

This whole process continued for many centuries. One after another many religions came, and with that came fierce competition and a tough race to recruit more subjects. Once they got recruits then they needed to retain them and this started a conflict between different religions. They were fighting for the same lands and people. The competition became tough and conflicts became serious. So serious that many times it resulted in mass killings and riots. Just because of differences in their beliefs people killed each other, wiped out civilizations. This exposed the ugly and cruel side of religion. Groups of people who claimed that their religion and God taught them love, peace, and compassion started killing others just because others didn't believe in the same source who delivered this message. But still, this didn't reduce the popularity of religion because the hold of religion was very strong. People needed something to identify themselves. They needed some common identity to feel part of a group and society. Because of the emergence of many religions, people got divided depending on which religion they follow. This conflict is still going on where there is a continuous struggle between different religions to expand their base and this is what we see around us today. 

At the same time, the rise of science and technology caused a major dent in the belief system of all religions. It helped people to find reasons and logic behind many things that were supposed to be divine. Initially, organized religion tried to stop this from happening but the evidence was too overwhelming to suppress. This slowly started to bust the bubble of false beliefs created by religion to some extent. Then there was an explosion of knowledge due to the revolution in communication techniques. Ultimately, at the end of the twentieth century, this revolution virtually brought the whole world together. Atheists, skeptics, and nonbelievers formed their own societies. In the modern world, it was not that easy to prosecute them or eliminate them. Slowly they also started sharing their own doubts, own ideas and there was an audience for them. Many of their questions sounded very logical, their concerns and doubts sounded very rational and they all demonstrated one thing very clearly, one doesn't need any religion to be a good human being. I think the result of all this is that 16% of people don't want to associate themselves with any religion. They have their own set of ideas and are fine without any particular belief system. One can see that this trend is all over the world. Unless organized religion and its gatekeepers recognize this trend and mend their ways this trend will continue. It's a very small dent right now but I am sure they must be concerned about it getting big and if they don't change anything I am sure it is going to get big. More and more people will move away from religion. To counter this trend I think they will either become more aggressive in preaching (the most possible action according to me based on the history of organized religion) or they will try to adjust to the changing environment of today's world (which is very unlikely to happen). It will be interesting to see which direction organized religion takes.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)

Reference:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_United_States
2. http://www.examiner.com/article/rise-of-the-nones-us-religious-affiliation-at-lowest-point-ever

Long live USA, my second home

Today is the 4th of July, Independence Day of the United States, it's a federal holiday and I am enjoying it in my apartment while writing this post. On July 4th, 1776 USA declared its independence from the UK. I came to this country in 2003 after finishing my education in India, almost 10 years now. This place has been my primary residence since then, I call it my second home. This country is called the land of opportunities, many people around the world dream to visit this country or wish to come and settle in this country for a better life. This country welcomes its visitors or immigrants with open heart, many people come to this country as visitors and then settle here to make it their permanent home (many come legally and unfortunately some enter illegally also). The post is not about the USA or the story of independence, I am trying to look back at my journey so far in this country, my first encounter with this wonderful country and its lovely people.

Before coming to the US I had a very vague idea about this country mostly from what I watched in Hollywood movies or in the news and you can see how naive I was. The first time I saw a real airplane was when I went to Mumbai International Airport to take my flight to the US. I was really excited and also traveling for the first time alone, that too out of the country. My first airplane journey was uneventful except for the first time I ate non-Indian food. It was a Delta flight and they offered Kiwi with lunch, this was the first time I saw it. I didn't know whether to eat it with its skin or peel the skin before eating the fruit, my fellow passenger helped me with this dilemma and showed me how to eat Kiwi. This was just the beginning of many first-in-life things that I was going to witness in this country. I landed at Newark International Airport in New Jersey and passed the immigration check etc. without any problem. Again, this was the first time in my life that I was conversing only in English and didn't speak any Hindi or Marathi for almost 24 hours. My English was manageable but not very fluent (still it's not great but much better compared to what it was 10 years ago) and people at the airport did a great job in understanding all my answers. I boarded the train to go to New Brunswick and it turned out to be the wrong one (which doesn't stop at that station). I had to get off the train at some station and I was shocked to see that there was no one on the platform. People who travel by train in India can understand why I was shocked. It's not possible to imagine an empty platform in India, even at midnight platforms are full of people, and here it was empty at 5 PM! I was the only one with my luggage standing there. Fortunately, one fellow came and I asked him about the next train and how to reach my destination, it took some time for him to understand my English and also for me to understand his (accent problem!) but finally, I boarded the right train and reached my destination. The initial journey itself was very interesting and prepared me for many new things that I was going to encounter.

So far my journey in this country is enjoyable and full of great learning experiences. I learned how to communicate in English. I gave my first public presentation about my research, learned to drive a left-hand drive car, bought my first computer, and also lost my first valuable possession in life when that laptop got stolen from the lab, my first digital camera, the first time I saw a real bathtub and used shower, and many things like this the list is big. But that's not an important part of my experience in the US. I think anyone from a small town visiting this country must have had a similar experience, so even though it was special for me I don't think there is anything unique in it. What I like most about this country is the attitude of its people and their culture. Yes, the US as a country does have its own culture. Somehow I had an impression (and many people in India also think like this) that only old civilizations like India, China, and Romans have their own culture and Western civilizations are all about money, and physical comforts and don't have their own culture or traditions. But I realized that it's not true, the reason for the phenomenal success of this country in many fields is because of its work ethics, social and economic policies, and culture. I can only compare things with my own country as I didn't stay in any other country. Some things that impressed me are religion and law are separate here, and no one is treated differently just because of their religion. The social status and financial independence of women are much better compared to India. People are more tolerant towards each other's views, it's not that they don't have difference of opinion (just listen to any debate on TV you will get an idea) but I never heard of any communal riot in the US. They don't kill each other because of differences of opinion (at least in their own country). The quality of primary education in public schools is amazing and it is free for everyone. Reading, one of my favorite hobbies is valued tremendously in schools and society. I just love the public library system here. People read a lot that's why books are also produced in that proportion. One can get almost any book from any country if one wants to read it, the book collection of many university libraries is amazing. I started reading English and Hindi books after coming here otherwise I only used to read Marathi books. 

There are many things that I learned here and they helped me to become a better person. My Indian upbringing taught me many good things and this country added so many other valuable things to my personality. Coming to the US was definitely a turning point in my life and I believe all my experience here has definitely contributed to making me a better person. I really thank this country, all my amazing friends in this country who directly or indirectly taught me a lot of things and its people.

Thanks for reading, your comments are welcome.

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)