The Indian economy is booming – soon to become one of the world’s biggest economic powerhouses to stand with the U.S.A. and China. The future is one of hope, beckoning investors into the country all hoping to cash in on the growth.

Amongst them are the erstwhile children of India. The “NRI’s” or non resident Indians, or as they are now sometimes called the “PIOs” (Persons of Indian origin) Over twenty million of them are sitting (some for many generations) all the way from the United Kingdom, to Canada to the islands of Fiji and beyond. Originating from all parts of the Indian subcontinent some are now eying the ancestral homeland for both material and spiritual gain.

Standing at the immigration counter at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi airport on my recent visit I was witness to a cacophony of voices and accents from the soft drawl of the American deep south, to the sharp cockney accent of east London all the way to the stuttering speech of someone from the Malay peninsula. Most appeared to be entering and visiting India with a sense of confidence and hope with a wholesome respect for the nation of their ancestors.

And then you get another (thankfully a minority) who are from the West, want everyone to know that they are from the West and never tire of telling anyone unfortunate to come into their path how poor India is, how backward, and how much better it is where they live. Talking loud and down to anyone in their path with a flair for contempt only matched by a 19th Century British governor.

Standing at the counter of departures I heard the sharp crack of a London accent telling the worker at the counter to speak “propa Inglish innit”. Behind him I heard the supporting cast of young couple from Canada with their exaggerated motions and accents laughing loudly at the accents of the staff at the airport. I was welcomed to the world of the Non Resident Idiot.

The comedy continued as I sat next to a fat Punjabi businessman whose shirt barely contained the enormous contours of his belly on the coach to the holy city of Amritsar, complaining about the roads, the smell, the shops, the colour of the people ?! - His tirade was only ended in exasperation after I asked him what the hell he was doing in India. He then launched into another tirade about how things were much better in India under the British, finally finishing on a lecture on how important it was to preserve our culture in face of the western onslaught.

I managed to escape from the N.R.Idiot rigours to take a dip in the holy sarovar of Amritsar, The Hari mandir. I decided to take a walk in the Old City to take a dose of culture and history.

After about 15 minutes of peace I heard the telltale signs of an argument going wrong – similar all around the world. Raised voices and growling faces. Except one of the parties was an N.R.Idiot. Shaved head and tattoos confronted a much smaller and slimmer opponent. Accents from Vancouver to Punjab were lost in the din of the argument in which the Canadian badboy seemed to be making a lot more noise. I heard his voice rising above the din ‘you f@### Indian!’

All of a sudden I saw a melee of fists feet and other implements appear as if out of nowhere and rush in a tempest at the hot tempered Canadian NRI. Blood and fists were flying as the Canadian fell to the ground. The assault continued, his shirt was lifted above his head and tied to a nearby wooden post. The attack then seemed to increase in tempo as his opponent, his opponent’s friends and what appeared to be assorted passersby launched into a vicious assault on the now helpless NRI. His tattoos were now ringed with his own blood making a grisly pattern on his body and the ground. His loud voice, up until a minute ago growling angrily at the locals, was now silenced by the savage assault as he lay in semi consciousness without even the pretence of defending himself.

The attack still continued with what seemed even the local shopkeepers wanting to get a piece of the arrogant ‘foreigner’ until the arrival of the police. Expecting the crowd to scatter I was surprised to see the victim being duly prodded with the police canes and then arrested for public disorder and assault! He certainly suffered for the spirit of arrogance he was displaying towards locals.

Suffice to say I left the scene in hurry.

On my return to the United Kingdom I fell like I have learnt various things. Firstly that India is advancing at an electric rate in business, real estate, the I.T. sector and other regions. There is a wave of western culture sweeping across the land, but it is healthily tempered by an age old respect for traditions.

However the rate of progress and change is not uniform across the nation. We, the children of India generations apart, look with hope and expectations towards the ‘motherland’ but we must be realistic in our perceptions with a healthy respect for what is after all still a developing nation. Many NRIs feel the rise of India with a contingent rise in respect for us in our host nations.

A small minority of confused Non resident Idiots however will always exist. Once dominant but today with diminishing returns in an ever changing world the N.R.Idiot will need to adapt or become another historical irrelevance in the footnotes of history.

[Credit: Image from PropertyBytes.com - The Indian Real Estate Blog]