...then today, I have the pleasure to attend Marieke's interesting intro on India and Indians. Marieke is a beautiful, polite and gentle student from Holland, who is working on her internship in Physiotherapy, and she is specializing rehabilitation of disabled children. She is an Indian-phile or a Keralaphile, yes, a lover of Kerala. She talks about how smiling and polite Indians or Keralites are! Really, sometimes I think we are a noisy bunch and she specially mentioned of honking in the street while in Holland there are no car horns to irritate. True, Indians are great honkers! wether it is car or people, we used to make so much noises. It almost became a habit, sometimes I wonder, if it is part of Indian culture (sigh!) and she mentioned making the city's unclean habits and pollution! Hear Indians! You should heed her; it is the sentiment of some Indians too. Make our city and streets clean. Just today, I have seen people spitting and throwing things into the street without any pangs! When are we going to learn? The world is getting shorter everyday. No matter how proud we are of heritage and history, the world watch us with agape of and it won't be an appraisal of our culture.
Marieke also tell us about her country and I was saddened by the fact that she emphasizes independence repeatedly and said religion has no place in Holland, and it is out of people’s life except senior citizen. No religion, strong sense of independence, much concern about self reliability, and some sort of detachment from family life all are part of Holland’s way of life. It seems like a modern man’s dream of healthy social surroundings but it is not. Some of these way of life is good initially but all of it eventually be leading to a state of emptiness for the individual. Depression is the primary byproduct and along came suicide and crime. Drug related crimes and deviations also follows, Holland is a major European producer of ecstasy, illicit amphetamines, and other synthetic drugs; important gateway for cocaine, heroin, and hashish entering Europe; major source of US-bound ecstasy; large financial sector vulnerable to money laundering.
It makes me wonder how the Holland survives with all these drugs, carefree life and spiritual vacuum. In my previous researches I have noted that such freedoms are breeding grounds for family breakdowns, pornography and crime. Unfortunately Holland is no exception. (See crime and suicide in Holland)
We can learn many things from Holland though; starting with organized, structured buildings, transportation, roads and cleanliness are some of the characteristics we should adopt from them. If people are like Marieke in Holland –warm, gentle and altruistic (she is helping disabled children, remember?) then it is one of the great countries you should look forward into…
