It's so sad, indeed heartbreaking, that racism has reared it's ugly head here in Australia, with the attacks on students from India. I'm so ashamed.

I was involved in training overseas students for several years and loved the experience, and really felt for these wonderful young men and women, who had committed themselves to education and work in another land far from home. A majority of our students were from India.

I have a thousand memories that I cherish, and still have friends from that time, although we only get in touch by email these days. One gentle young man, Kiran, I think of as a son.

I'm sorry I missed out on the petition, which has closed now.

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You are fortunate that you are who you are. I have not been fortunate to be an Indian in the Arab world, but I am proud to be an Indian always. Then, after travelling around I find the difference of treatment. No one knows that I am not a Hindu but because I look Indian, the presumption is made. In Malaysia this is a fact since its a Muslim state and dont want Hindus making a big deal or even building temples there. It is a long standing issue which I hope will be solved one day.

Did you know about this in Australia? This issue in Australia has got to do with being an Indian and taking over the clever job making the other less fortunate. http://www.care2.com/c2c/groups/disc.html?gpp=8157&pst=1422247

Bottom line I'd like to say that religion has become an issue today. Have a look at Isha Judd's youtube presentations. She has a very nice way of putting to you what life is all about and also making a movie and writing a book on, "Why Walk When You Can Fly " http://www.whywalkwhenyoucanfly.com/main.php?lang=eng

You can also check her out on care2 http://www.care2.com/c2c/people/profile.html?pid=165963260

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In facts the Hindus in Malaysia who have contributed so much for the economic uplift of that country are being treated as second class citizens.....says Sanky boy!

I think that Indians are all over the world contributing to the uplift of the particular country they are in today...Canada, USA, Europe, East A& West Asia, New Zealand and Australia, now have I missed out Mehgalaya? lol... oh ho, ok come on, check me out....

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I agree with Subhadra and Yvonne to some extant. On the face the video depicts more of social inequalities than religious discrimination. But in a Muslim country like Malaysia, subjects like Ramus ought to have been surrounded by affluent majority Muslims in the school. And they might indulge in such ugly overtones to minority pupil.  In facts the Hindus in Malaysia who have contributed so much for the economic uplift of that country are being treated as second class citizens. Time and again this ugly face of mankind emerged in that country and only recently many Hindus were suppressed for demanding their rights. The video is definately disturbing. 

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While I too find this video disturbing, I get a whole different take on this movie. I see absolutely no references on religion here. No distinction as to who is Muslim or who is Hindu, no evidence that Rama is the only Hindu child. One child who ridicules Rama is obviously Oriental, should we assume that he is Buddhist? Even the video's description states that "A tale on the social economic plight faced by many Malaysians." To bring religion into this will just perpetuate the assumed presence of tension. Why unnecessarily take on the victim role? Why fan the flames of religious bigotry and hatred? I see this as more of a rich vs. poor. Please watch this video again, Yvonne.

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Shoba, that video is really disturbing, why is there so much of hate in the world where religion is concerned. It makes me think twice of religion and how it has had such an impact on the world today.

The participants in the video are all Muslim students and Ramu is the only Hindu boy there who was ridiculed and hurt in the end. God help us all!!!

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I agree with Patricia. The standard of education in India is quite high. As a tradition, education is being looked upon holistically even today in India. The students practice it more holistically, whatever be its field. Be it Medicine, Engineering, Electronics, Humanities, IT  or any subject one is likely to get proper Higher Education in any of these fields. Education has ever been looked at Indian culture as a holistic effort since time immemorial. Indian culture is in the core attributes of education beginning from ”Gurukul” type of education, where the disciples lived in the house of the Master who taught them what all things he knew for years together. And medical education has never been an exception since the period of Vedas. There is separate Veda to deal with medical education. The Vedas are thought to be more than 5000 years old. The demands of Indian Medical Doctors are phenomenal in the west and all over.  Many people are coming to India for medical treatment from many countries as they are best and cheap.  With the introduction of IT and software development, India has developed a standard of its own and achieved glorious position all over. Many Indian Software Engineers are working in prestigious institutes in USA and in the West like NASA etc.

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http://15malaysia.com/films/house/ Synopsis An Indian boy is asked to build a model of his house at school. A tale on the social economic plight faced by many Malaysians.

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Right on Jennifer, sometimes we always think that the grass is greener on the other side and blind ourselves with what we have, as Sarvo has said in a new thread he opened.

Patricia, I agree with what you are saying. When I shop in the USA you find labels, MADE IN INDIA, BANGLADESH, THAILAND, INDONESIA, KOREA, EGYPT... ofcourse, it all goes to cheap labour.

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I can only speak from my limited experience of  hundreds of Indians who worked as contract workers at a large company near me.  I know the vast majority were educated in India and were qualified to work at the USA company. Written rules here allow for the admission of alien (—ha ha*) workers if there are insufficient numbers of qualified natives. Based on that I can only conclude that computer technology was taught adequatelly in India, and to many people.

I became a dear friend of the wife of one of the contract workers. She herself had a Master's degree and I learned how much emphasis is placed on education in Indian families. She had a 4 year-old son whom she sent to a Montessori school.  Her 8-year old attended the public school accross the street from our apartments. He had finished 2nd grade in India, but was placed in the 4th grade here because he was more advanced academically than the local children his age. At times she would lament about the terrible teachers at the school, where she volunteered.  I told her what most Americans know: the quality of education is not the same in all 50 states, and Texas is near the bottom of the list. She was very happy to return to India where her sons would get a better education .

*Yes and all those alien Indians arrived in the US on an
Al India   UFO!       

(At this point I will not address the politics involved in large US companies getting permission to hire foreign contract workers because they do not have to pay for health care, overtime, or holidays. In other words, people from other countries are cheap labor in the US.)

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I just cannot believe it I always thought that India had one of the best educations. My sister who lives in Australia went back to India to take both her degree because the Aussies think gread of Indian education.

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I wish I could say something on the system in India, but I know Ivy can say something about it as she is the professory there and could give us an insight on your view.

I do know that the whole world thinks that Indian's are a clever bunch. So dont get yourself down and just stay with the moment and do your best.

I had met a few Indians in USA studying IT there after the bachelor degree. They say that the masters degree is far easier than what they already know. So Jaydeep, hold on and be brave, good luck friend.

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I can only say now that it is a fact that thousands of students each year move to the developed countries to study there in a good university, better environment and to secure their future. As nowadays opportunities for the youth is declining here. And the whole education system is a failure.

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Malaysian government shuts down newspaper for ethnic Indians
17 Apr 2008, 1051 hrs IST,AP

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian government has shut down a newspaper catering to ethnic minority Indians, a move the daily's news editor slammed on Thursday as punishment for its critical coverage of social and political issues.

The Tamil-language Makkal Osai, or People's Voice, received a letter from the Home Ministry on Wednesday saying its operating license would not be renewed, news editor BR Rajan said.

The letter gave no reason, Rajan said. No edition of Makkal Osai was published on Thursday.

"It's very shocking. ... It's mostly because of the issues we covered. We go more on social issues ... That has caused some kind of anger to the ministry," he said

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Indians_Abroad/Malaysian_government_shuts_down_newspaper_for_ethnic_Indians/articleshow/2958638.cms

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I think its very important to never forget your roots.

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Sarah welcome to !GLORIOUS INDIA! You are true taughter of India because being Indian is very important to you like many other Indians who lives outside India and for whom India is still dream land.

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Hi everyone!! I'm the daughter of Indian parents who lived near Bombay We speak Hindi and Urdu at home...even though my parents speak Gujarati as well. I love living in America because life is full of very different people from different cultures and ethnicities, and it's cool to learn about all the different cultures, but my heritage is the most important to me and I'm really happy to be India

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After 30 yrs in the US I am planning to design a Goa in Mexico one hr by flight from San Deigo airport . I need to know how to import the aura flora and fauna from Goa to make the new Goa a haven for Indians in the West to go home for vacation if the real one is too far away.

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Well, I'm not exactly living outside India, but I'm kind of working outside India! Of late, that is.

http://astrological-remedies-indianpedi.blogspot.com

http://healthy-living-website.blogspot.com

Therefore, I have a new name and a new identity on Care2....

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Deepak Chopra is one of them... check it out for yourself....

http://www.indobase.com/indians-abroad/index.html

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for  any reason  when person migrate  and enjoy the  cultural displacements in what ever   way it prevails  ,, while coming back to  its own land  whatever reason  do  motherland  remain  same in attitude ,, ot it is just like  to turning back to the emotional enclave  ancient time (old deserted  monument)  ,,  in the land  where such feeling  prevails a lot  ,,  ,, can any one  say  sweet home sweet home or mistake  commited is corrected in early stage ..

hope  migration makes   pleasure  to fulfil  own ability and attitude

looking  for  befitting   words  ,, where as  Indians  who are NRI  ,,PIO  ,, lage raho munna bhai

happiess is inside  ,,not out side feel happy and cheers ups others

take care with smile

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tricky languages...

and Yvonne...you have choices right? and you choose to be there because you have to...Folow the leader, right?

In time you'll have the space to get and live independently...you're a brave and survivor...anything that can happen in the future...you can face it ...with bravery...a tough job for a woman like you...

Kudos!!!

hope to read more Indian languages and perhaps a lebanon language, Yvonne?

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I have been here since 1997 and kind of struggle with the discrimination here. But today, 4 days in an invasion of air land and sea we are totally surrounded by Israel and have no way to get out. I just hope that there will be some space for me to get out. I never even wanted to be here but then, in life, you have choices and circumstances.

Its comforting to see how Bombay has come out of the bombing and the government has so rightfully condemned the culprits unlike here. Its really sad to see how things are done here.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-hezbollah14jul14,1,808614.story?coll=la-headlines-world&ctrack=1&cset=true

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And how can a Patient be patient playing patience with cards that have a  patent....I guess  you need patience.

Then ...

There's ladies over there who have their own hairdresser and they're really working hard to make them look their best for today there or is it here?

there and their and they're as well as here are some of the most trickiest in the english language, and even english speaking people get these incorrect.

I remember learning it this way.

Here and there are to do with places or locations only as it has a word within that lets you know...that is the word HERE.

Here means a location or place

There means a location as well. so that is all you need to know and the other their means a personal possession of one person or more than one then it comes down to their's.

it is a tricky language.

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There's English with a twist...plenty of them

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present .
8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row .
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

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I wish I did speak Hindi, but I'm afraid English is my only language.

Where I work we have many different nationalities... Mainly from Africa and Eastern Europe but some from the Asian continent too. Those who spoke no English before they arrived picked up our language as they went along and though some of them are not at all fluent they understand all our little sayings.

Those who learned English at school are often more fluent but some of them are puzzled when we speak to them... They have learned the literal meaning of the words but not the context in which we are using them.

Quite frankly I'm amazed that folk can learn English at all... Our language is a bit like our cooking... No consistency... For instance.

The plural of box is boxes.... so the plural of ox would logically be oxes... but its not... the plural of ox is oxEN.

And so it continues....

Foot.... feet, so why is the plural of boots not beet?

One goose, two geese... One moose two meese?

One mouse, two mice... One house two hice?

And how on earth do folk learning english make sense of a sentence such as this?...

Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

I'm impressed by anyone who speaks more than one language.... But I'm in awe of those who get to grips with the crazy English language.

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Hillarious, Delirious, flabergasted, thats wat I'm rite now Tony.....good one

But then you have some who wud do it and then we'd have another set of individuals. We gotta look a the funny side of life to let it all go......But then, how come you know Hindi?

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Would those Americanisms be understood?... For instance, in India if I said "Uppar kya hai" would the average person look skyward to see (Quite literally) what was up?... Or have some of these Americanisms been translated and adopted?

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Haven't you always wondered how "Americanisms" would sound like if they were translated literally to an average Indian on, say, the streets of New Delhi (or elsewhere)?

Have a nice day!

* Achcha din lo!

What's up?

*Uppar kya hai?

You're kidding!

*Tum bachcha bana rahe ho!

Don't kid me!

* Mera bachcha mut banaao!

Yo, baby! What's up?

* Beti Yo, uppar kya hai?

Cool man!

* Thandaa aadmi!

Don't mess with me, dude.

* Mere saath gandagere mat karo, ek hustee.

Check this out, man!

* Iskee chaanbeen karo, aadmi!

She's so fine!

* Woh itnee bedaag hai!

Listen buddy, that chick's mine, okay!?

* Suno dost, woh choozaa mera hai, theek?

Hey good looking; what's cooking?

* Arree sundarta ki devi; kyaa pakaa rahee ho?

Are you nuts?

* Kya aap akhrot hain?

Son of a gun.

* Bachcha bandook ka.

And the best one is..... 

How do you do?

* Kaise karte ho?

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I left India in 1977 to Kuwait, got married there to a Lebanese, moved to Cyprus for 5 years after naughty Saddam came in there. Then in 1997 I moved to Lebanon as my husband got a job, so we had to follow the leader and supporter of the family. We have 2 boys 19 and 17 year olds.

Discrimination I must say is at its highest level here. Its 9 years that I'm here and I still feel like I'm a foreigner here, but I'm a survivor.

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