There was a time, I remember, when most of the guys from my batch during graduation wanted to go to some foreign land, be it Europe, US etc. in search of a better life.

Don’t know whether it exists today as well, among the age group,

Though one thing that has continued to occupy the conversations among friends is to decide whether one wants to live in India or go abroad and settle down.

Somehow, the opinion seems to be divided, with those in favour suggesting:

Better infrastructure,

Better service standards,

Better governance,

Good money, as the pros of living abroad.

Those against suggest:

2nd grade citizen label,

Lack of emotional connect,

Difficult for parents to adjust, as cons among many others.

When in Rome, be a Roman, suggested some man, who found the wisdom in the saying, which doesn’t seem to work always.

As belonging to a nation or region, there is an ever pervading hangover associated with the interaction that one might have had with the person of the respective origin.

So strong at times are our biases, that it becomes very difficult to go beyond the generalisation and focus on the very person with whom we find ourselves interacting with.

It’s either religion or caste,

Either nationality or regionalism,

Either Asian or African looks, which tend to restrict our sensibilities.

In such an atmosphere, though preaching spirituality and the concept of vasudhaiva kutumbakam makes sense at a certain level, but might not be the immediate solution to the pervading issue.

In such a situation, does one really want to venture abroad and at what cost?

Leaving your loved ones behind, even if you take them with you, somehow becomes a pseudo life of sorts for them.

After all, what you need in life is probably:

Social companionship, in terms of your family and friends,

Few pieces of bread that one needs to earn for your loved ones,

A roof, for which one needs to pay rent or EMI for,

May be a good car, if you are too ambitious and are extremely passionate about driving in traffic, considering that there are enough Uber and Ola cabs on the roads.

Am sure, most of us, would be able to afford this.

It’s another discussion altogether if you or your wife are bent upon buying 2 dresses of Zara or such each every month :).

The only question that one needs to ponder over,

How much and why?

On a funny note, not a bad idea to conquer the entire world with your population and this might make the world one ;).

Source for the image: https://thecsspoint.com/reasons-for-foreign-policy-failures-by-mohammad-jamil/