Metamorphasis

It's really become a problem. Going to a completely different environment really changes you. It's not at all like when I was in Luxembourg in the fall however, simply because I was surrounded by Americans the whole time even though we were all in a foreign land. As long as at least one person in our group knew French, we could get by in any situation. This is different. That's not to say India and America are as different as Venus and Mars but they certainly aren't the same. You get forced to give up a little bit of the coomfort zone that you've grown up in your whole life. People can easily tell you're from the outside and, just like back home, some are very interested to hear about the outside but most really work to distance themselves. Here are a few examples of conversations I've had...

Me: What's going on in Indian news this morning?
My Boss: Something that happens in America all the time
Me: O ok, what's that?
My Boss: Well, some kid in Mumbai just got kidnapped, held for ransom, and was killed. They just found his body.
Me: That doesn't happen in America all the time
My Boss: Who are you trying to fool? I remember reading about JonBenet Ramsey.

Or this one....
Guy at bar: So have you been to most places in America?
Me: Yeah, I've been a lot of the major places
Guy at bar: Have you ever been to San Francisco?
Me: Um, sure
Guy at bar: Are you gay?
Me: No, not all people in San Francisco are gay
Guy at bar: Well, I've seen it on TV. I get the feeling that most people in America are gay.
(Note: To be perfectly honest, if his assumption about San Francisco was true, a large portion of the guys in Mumbai would fit right in San Francisco based on their bar/club attire.)

When I went to Amsterdam, as part of a class trip, we went to a Dutch school and were told to talk to the kids and get their opinions about Americans. I still remember asking the guy at the table what his impression about Americans was and I still clearly remember him saying, "Fat people who eat McDonalds." Now that's not to say that Americans don't eat McDonalds; I had just eaten there while perusing Amsterdam late the night before. But still, one of the most interesting things I have gotten to see in foreign countries is the local person's view of what I would like to call "The Greatest Nation on Earth."

However, it really is the fact that we parade ourselves as the "Greatest Nation on Earth" that makes the outside world resent the United States. In an earlier post, I expressed how much I find Cleveland sports fans to be the bane of humanity for their overdone local loyalty and this isn't too different. The only difference is that, unlike the city of Cleveland, America truly is a winner. Given this truth, people in foreign countries really do everything to put America down, or at least bring themselves up to our level. Hence, the poster boy for America has really become NOT a Barack Obama or a Bill Gates, but rather 50 Cent or Lil Wayne (which as awesome as Lil Wayne being the poster child of America sounds, we could certainly do better).

The most talented and ambitious of Indians rarely end up staying in India, they usually go abroad to places like London, Dubai, or the US. There's a whole host of reasons for this, mainly political (a whole entire separate discussion), but as a result of the poor economy, the outside world has begun closing their doors to foreigners from India, China, and Latin America. This too, creates a sense of anger towards American from Indians who were and weren't trying to go to America.

The whole experience has really had a change on me though. I'd like to say it's made me tougher because I'm able to sit here and listen to all this ridiculous America bashing all the time, but in reality it's just made me more of a dickhead. I find myself regularly talking about my experience of being halted on the road by buffalo in an urban metro to any America basher and subsequently saying things like "Make sure you don't step in that buffalo shit on your walk home from work. We don't have to worry about things like that in America." I'll usually get a snide remark such as, "Make sure you don't step in that Wall Street banker shit on your walk home. We don't have to worry about things like that in India."

Moral of the Story: For better or for worse, the elitist lifestyle that was once exclusively American is now becoming a global phenomenon. With a new technology base that seems to somehow make the cover of BusinessWeek every week, India is certainly making strides to move forward. It's purely a new competition, which is not necessarily good for America, but very good for globalization. It's about time somebody else felt that their home was "The Greatest Nation on Earth."