New Delhi: They are many a times accused of being deserting their country and forgetting their traditions, all for a luxuries life abroad.
But now a new study has found that Non Resident Indians (NRIs) treasure the customs and cultural values of their motherland.
"The NRIs, both from the Gulf region and the rest of the world, very strongly perceive that the history and rich cultural values of India, its third-largest pool of scientists and engineers and technology are the major positive characteristics which make them very proud of India," Dr P L Joshi, was quoted by news agency PTI as saying.
Joshi, a professor at the University of Bahrain, conducted the study Gulf-based Indians' Perceptions About India: An Attitudinal Study.
"More than eighty per cent of the NRIs who participated in the study stated so," said Joshi. "It seems that although contemporary India has been gradually getting modernised, yet NRIs, wherever they live, actively participate in Indian traditions, customs and respect its cultural values,” Joshi says.
A few respondents from the Gulf region said they maintain their social traditions, observe social rituals more zealously and have a strong bond with India in celebrating various important festivals like their counterparts in India. One of them stated that the children of NRIs also pursue Indian education and value system, as there are large number of Indian schools located in the region, PTI quoted Dr Joshi as saying in an e-mail interview from Bahrain.
"All these factors keep them very close to Indian environment. Many of them feel very proud to identify themselves with a country that is rapidly joining the ranks of the developed world and nuclear and military power,” he added.
The study which commenced in June this year, continued till October and Joshi said questionnaire was sent to 1441 NRIs by email in 29 countries. A total of 162 replies were received.
The NRIs have strong reservations about the deep-rooted corruption in public life in the country and other negative characteristics of 'gross inequities and prejudices that are still prevalent in some of Indian life', Dr Joshi said.
"They strongly perceive that if India has to catch up with the advanced world and even with fastest growing countries such as China, corruption in the administrative machinery has to reduce significantly," he said.
At the same time, the attitude of Gulf-based NRIs was more positive compared to the rest of the world, particularly NRIs from Europe and North America, probably because they will not be naturalised in this part of the world and ultimately they will have to return to India.
They have an advantage of living in close proximity with India. Most of the NRIs in Gulf live in community (collective culture) and they have formed numerous clubs whereas NRIs in the rest of the world are segmented and scattered, Joshi said.
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