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| At the symbolic Bosporus Straits, Turkey which connects Asia and Europe, the East and West and yes, where Kipling’s twain meets. |
I consider myself a Global Indian.
I am among a growing tribe of Indians who live a life of duality. We either live abroad or have come home but enjoy and appreciate best of both the world.
I live in Hyderabad – home to Google, Amazon and Facebook, Subways, KFCs, McDonalds and hotels like Westin. Sometimes the world I left behind comes chasing me. Though I live here my mind continuously lives between there and here – the mind continuously maps, compares, transfers pictures between the two worlds. Living a dual existence means trying to settle in somewhere – sometimes trying to accept – sometimes trying to be accepted.
I lived more than 12 years abroad, more than a quarter of my life but have always yearned to come back home. I came back almost 12 years back when a renaissance was beginning in India. Things have never looked back since then and India in the course became of an emerging power. And so there was no need to return to my adopted home.
I know I can settle in a shady boulevard anywhere in the developed world but I love the chaos of my city – the growth opportunities in India are incomparable.
My family and friends have branched out all over the world – most of them in the Bay Area and others in the UK, Australia and the Gulf. Though I am tempted to live every time I visit them I prefer to stick to my roots.
Though I attended classes in New Hampshire, South Caroline, New York and California, I actually learnt about the world from its streets, its airports, its campuses, its offices.
Though my mother tongue is Malayalam, and can speak Hindi and Telugu, and understand Kannada and Tamil, I think, read, write, joke, persuade, protest, scream, imagine, seduce, placate, and negotiate the best in English. I flirted with German and French but remain loyal to my first love, English.
Though I am highly patriotic, I consider myself an Anglophile and love all things British and Victorian. Though I work and live in India, not a day goes by without Americana values and tastes.
My favorite places are scattered around the world and know several streets in Hyderabad, Mumbai, London, New York and the Bay Area.
Every morning I look forward to read The International Herald in hard-copy and cant stop myself reading the New York Times, San Jose Mercury News and the Slate Magazine on my BlackBerry.
I live in Hyderabad and make at least overseas trips in a year. I return to the Bay Area every 2 years and am as enthusiastic as ever to get in touch with my family and friends there.
I live the life of an Indian who lives to his full potential because he left his home and country and returned. My goal is to help Indians pursue becoming Global Indians.
The latest, hippest and the coolest caste to be in is The Global Indian. Join it. And broaden your mind and wallet. Unlike other caste and communities, you can’t just be born into it – you have to earn it.
by Xavier Augustin, CEO, Y-Axis Overseas Careers. www.y-axis.com