Friday, June 3, 2011

High Achievers

'Dharma' and 'Karma' are two words that are used in the West in contexts that are totally different from the original meanings of these words.  Let's talk about another word - 'Sanskar'.  Sanskar is the value system that passes down in a family. If you are a responsible, moral, hardworking person who values education who stays committed to his/her family, then you have 'good sanskars'.  Your kids will learn from you and carry on this torch.  Do good sanskars give a people an edge?  Lets take the National Spelling Bee as our test tube case - because this competition is free of influences of discrimination and social engineering.

You can look at the results of the past years and see that the Indian community has produced champions year after year.  Where do these kids end up?  Do they reach heights of glory in their professional life or do they keep bumping their heads against the glass ceiling before resigning and joining a 'pooja group'?  Well, that is for you to mull over.  One thing we know for sure, Indians start out as high achievers (the proof is on the left).  If, despite all their capability,  they do not reach decision making positions in society from where they can shatter the glass ceiling for others, then it is due to something they lack - then it is their unwillingness / inability to hold hands across linguistic and regional lines and form a singular identity and work as a team.

Didn't someone say, "I went to India. I met a Gujarati, a kashmiri, a Punjabi,  a Bihari, a Marathi... but I never met an Indian"