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Second Chance for Manmohan Singh

People of India have decided to go with the status quo by opting for another five years of Congress rule — not that they had any alternatives that are much better.
As noted in the last blog post, India is a conundrum ...
People in the United States whose jobs have been Bangalored certainly love to hate India ...
People in India meanwhile love to admire America ...
I am confused about Indians admiring America though ...
I am confused about this whole business of India being a 'young' country ...
From what I have observed about young Indians, they seem a strange blend of tradition and modernity ...
Youngsters don't see any dichotomy in aspiring to all the trappings of material success and yet at the same time they don't mind keeping alive their moribund traditions and rituals ...
When it's time for some critical decisions in life — such as marriage — young Indians demonstrate a remarkable resemblance in their mindsets with their ancestors.
I find it odd that educated Indians should emulate the cultural motifs and laws laid down by their illiterate forefathers ...
For if young people are to just silently emulate those who have gone before them and not challenge them, then what have they learnt from whatever education they have had?
It's not uncommon for IT professionals and others to migrate to the U.S. and yet marry someone from their own community ...
I think this has something to do with the way children are brought up in India — parents teach them, indeed drill it into their heads, to 'respect' elders ... and that stays with Indians forever ...
In contrast, one of the core values that kids in America learn growing up is to challenge 'conventional wisdom' ...
This attitude of conformity continues through the years of education for an Indian ... it's never the case that a school teacher would ask the students to challenge him or her — they would be happy if the student simply memorizes what is in the text or what he has explained on the blackboard ... God help the kid who proclaims the wise teacher to be WRONG!!!

On a different note, the Atlantis Hubble Servicing Mission — STS 125 — is over after a spectacular dozen days.
It's sobering to talk about the reality of India and the cosmic heights of Hubble in the same blog ...
While it's frustrating to see the frog-in-the-well attitude of Indians to many of the challenges facing them, it's exhilerating to keep up with the exploits of NASA at the same time ...
I think it has something to do with the ancestry of Americans — why they are such good explorers — after all, their forefathers crossed an ocean to come to America!

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