Where are you from? This relatively simple question posed to New York Times columnist Anand Giridharadas years ago proved to have a significant influence on his views of Indian culture 鈥� and even life itself.
Giridharadas discussed his exploration of those ideas with nearly 200 attendees during a presentation Tuesday at the 麻豆原创.
The forum, part of the ongoing 2010-2011 India Speaker Series, was organized by the 麻豆原创 Global Perspectives Office. Giridharadas also made presentations at other community events during his visit to Orlando.
Giridharadas was the 罢颈尘别蝉鈥� first Bombay- based correspondent in modern times, beginning in 2005. He began writing the 鈥淟etters from India鈥� series three years later, and he is presently focused on 鈥淐urrents,鈥� a column focused on globalization and the increasing effects of technology. His first book, 鈥淚ndia Calling,鈥� is due out in January.
Giridharadas, who is of Tamil and Punjabi ancestry, grew up in Ohio and wasn鈥檛 interested in India as a young person. Short visits to his parents鈥� country of birth did not help, and he was guided by negative preconceptions, he said.
Later, though, after spending more time in India, he experienced an awakening. Most important and exciting, he said, was the realization that 鈥淚ndians were coming to believe that their destinies are in their own hands. They were coming to believe in the power of their own dreams.鈥�
Those dreams, he said, are what separate the past from the present and mark a stark contrast between the land his parents had left and the one to which he had returned.
It was in this context that Giridharadas elaborated on the 鈥渞ise鈥� that will make India a world leader. He noted that the next generation of Indians will be of major significance because they will provide a new model for globalization, challenging how Americans learn and being ambitious.
In addition, Giridharadas urged the audience to see India as an experiment, one that will have a major effect on international politics, economics and social organization. Democracy, cutthroat capitalism, pluralism and poverty are all factors in India that have the capacity to drastically alter the country鈥檚 path, he said.
鈥淓ven if you don鈥檛 care about India, you should care about its experiment, because it is, in so many ways, your experiment, too,鈥� said Giridharadas.
The sponsors of this event included the 麻豆原创 Global Perspectives Office, The India Program at 麻豆原创, The Anil and Chitra Deshpande India Program Endowed Fund, Lawrence J. Chastang and the Chastang Foundation, the Orlando Area Committee on Foreign Relations, 麻豆原创鈥檚 Political Science Department, 麻豆原创鈥檚 Nicholson School of Communication, 麻豆原创鈥檚 International Services Center, 麻豆原创 LIFE and the Global Connections Foundation.