UK NRIs are really funny!

We, the NRIs living in the UK are funny people.

Most of us stop talking to our own kids in our mother tongues, and feed them with English language and culture. But we maintain our Indian culture by watching Hindi films (pirated DVDs), wearing kurtas and saarees on Indian parties, and visiting temples once or twice a year.

We all are extremely secular, most of us keep christmas tree in the house and celebrate christmas. For us, Diwali (not deepaawali) is the only great Indian festival. 

We watch all cartoon movies in theatre paying £7 each, and return the pirated Indian film DVD to the shop for exchange of other movies, if the print is not good, even though we have paid only £3 for a DVD of 3 movies.

We religiously watch BBC news and all the drama and competitions of BBC. We do afford Indian channels when our parents are coming from India to do babysitting for our newborn children.

Whenever we friends meet here on any occasion, one of the most commonly discussed topic is 'when are YOU going back (to India)?'. Most of us think, if we go back to India, India will be proud of us!

Most of us believe or want to believe that we will eventually go back to India. For example, a person who has come from Jamakhandi (a small town in North Karnataks) will tell that he is going to India in 2 years; what he meant was he wants to Bengaluru, not Jamakhandi. He wants to live in a Metro to serve people (being a doctor)! But the most important thing is he has been telling this thing for the past 10 years!

We believed and still believe India can be a better country, if Indian politicians and beurocrats are not corrupt; if India gives 3+3 motor ways (national highways); if India gives 24 hour electricity, gas and water; if India gives 5 working days a week with total of 6 weeks of annual leave; if India gives money to attend conferences and stay in star hotels; if healthcare system is streamlined as in the west. In short, India will be a better country, if India looks like west in every respect. Then, we do not mind returning to India.

(If any NRI reads this article by mistake or by chance, I am sure he/she thinks he/she is an excpetion to these observations)