Thursday 11 February 2021

Migrants to USA

Aparna Krishnan

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Was chatting to a young girl who's ambition was to go to USA, to study there and eventually stay there.
I was asking her why she wanted to leave her country, her soil.
She had no answer. Beyond some borrowed phrases. Like "Better work environment", which she was also unable to explain.
Why do people wish to leave this country? The richness of this land. And the infinite answerabilities?
I am trying to understand.
I have been trying to since my college days when everyone went to USA in tumbling eagerness. And I went thro a period of self doubt in those initial months, at my own choice to stay on. Which choice got answered and validated in a million ways down the years.

When I was in school and college 'brain drain' was a topic. How India was losing her 'best brains', who had been nurtured and trained here, to USA.
It took half a lifetime to understand that India did not lose anything. India is wise and wonderful. And rich in intelligences of myriad hues. Reaching back to ancient times. The people here are wise and wonderful and we will together steer this complex and magical land.
The loss is of those who left. The loss of the soil. Of the richness in the soil. Of roots. Which deep anchor alone can sustain all future generations in the best of ways.



Saw the movie Dollar Dreams yesterday. Had had a glimpse of it 20 years ago on TV. Have been meaning to see it someday. It's there online.
Simple storyline. First time actors. A one and a half hour of straightforward shootings.
The basic question raised among a group of six youngster friends. Who have divided positions.
Why move abroad. Forsaking parents. Country. Duties.
The heartaches of parents. A country of poverty, demanding action from each of us.
One doesn't see such simple movies, asking simple questions anymore.
The simplest questions are the most difficult to answer. Because they need simple straightforward honest answers.


Most of my college classmates, after studying in one of the best facilities funded by the GoI. moved on to USA and made that their home.
Without a sense of their infinite debt to a poor country that sustained them. To the poor farmers who grew each grain that nourished them.
Education, in its most real sense, begins with values. An understanding of ones answerabilities. Duties. The rest is just details which build up on this foundation.
When did this essential learning, of values and duties, disappear from the purview of education ?
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I met a college friend who has migrated to USA. We met after long decades.
After covering the inbetween decades in half an hour, we started treading on forbidden ground.
The country. The realities. Each of our duty to the country.
He was quite clear. After studying at a government college of repute, at the country's expense, he has repaid the debt to this country through dollar repatriations to his family, and through good contributions to an NGO.
I didn't pursue the point. We spent the next hour talking aimlessly of less potent concerns. Bypassing landmines. And we parted pleasantly.
But I wondered.
When does one's duty to one's country end ? Not while breath is in body.
A poor country when it confers privileges on us, invests in us the dreams and faith of its poorest.
When a poor country feeds us, we are fed by the sweat and toil of the poor.
That debt will take a lifetime to answer. Not less.
In our language it is called Runam.



July 25 
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A friend was very proud and happy that her son had got into a top Institute for theoretical physics. Abroad.
'What does that mean ?', I asked.
'The highest intellectual standards. Imagine', she said appalled at the question.
I wondered. In silence.
What is the intelligence we seek in our children ?
The intelligence that teaches us our duties. That shows our answerabilities to the poor of this land. And our duties to the land that sustained us, our fathers and forefathers. That bestows on us the integrity needed for walking the talk.
What are the standards we seek for them ?
In understandings. In perspective. In integrity. In courage.
And his going abroad. Does it not reduce his opportunity to answer these duties to the land that nurtured him ?
His deeply theoretical studies, would it allow him to nurture the other more important learnings. Of society, of ground realities, of politics, and of his role in all this.
I wished him well.
And hoped in my heart, that all his journeys bring him back to his roots, his beginnings. To his land. To his duties. To address this Dharmam. His Rinam.

Someone asked why children should not go away to other lands, as 'there were no opportunities here'.
Opportunity ...
- to be a better nuclear physicist ? To make more money ? Maybe US of A
- opportunity to serve ? To redeem ones dues to those who grew each grain of rice one eats. Only this land.



An old man in his eighties in a 'retirement home', eupheism for old age homes. A friend's father. Alone today. I was speaking to him. His lonliness in the twilight of life was palpable. His children across the seas.
He was telling me how his children were well settled and happy there in USA, and describing his grandchildren's accomplishments. And how they should not come in these times risking the virus. How he was very well. And yet he let it slip. At the end, wondering in a halting voice if they could not he found the same happiness here in this country had they chosen to stay here ... and then he would have had the happiness of seeing them sometimes.
I remembered his pride many years ago when his son got admission in a prestigious university in USA.
And I wished. If at that point he had reminded his son that he needed to return to he land to return his debt to the land that nurtured him.
So many debts would have been answered.
Duty is a single word. Debt is a single word. Understanding that is to understand all duties. All debts.
We call it Runam in the village.



  • Prakhar Prakash
    Retirement home I think is not so common in Bihar because not too many people have moved out from India....but perhaps in the Tamil Brahmin community it might be.....I heard that all British ICS officials came from Mylapore but later they started going to USA....so mainly old people live there now
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    • 52w
    • Aparna Krishnan
      Prakhar Prakash yes the Tamil brahmin community learnt English first ! That path of English education finally leads one group to USA and another group to old age homes.
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  • Paranthaman Sriramulu
    Everyone says they will come back. Once they are used to western culture and then family/kids, it becomes difficult for them. After some years, their kids wont be interested to come to india because they are that country citizens and see themselves as that land sons and daughters. Old man son would be planning for his retirement home in USA. What is the use of money, education when they cannot do their duties as son or daughter. Pity that old men for his mistake.
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    • Aparna Krishnan
      Duty to parents, community, country and the wider world. The foundation stones.
      But the very word duty seems to be considered old fashioned.
  • Archana Mishra
    Life in Western world is not easy. Good law and order but always fear of loosing job.
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    • 52w
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    • Aparna Krishnan
      The discussion is of default of duties here. Whatever be the pull to that land.
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      • 52w
    • Archana Mishra
      Aparna Krishnan yes that's what I mean people should stay in India .Life in Western World is not so easy except for better law and order.They can take better care of their parents in India.Parents don't want money sent to them .They want to see their grandkids growing in front of them.
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      • 52w
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    • Aparna Krishnan
      To live on this soil is a blessing. In a million ways.
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      • 52w
    • Paranthaman Sriramulu
      I am not against going abroad for some time. Personally, I learnt lot from there which would be impossible here (practically). However should come back here to do their duties.
    • Aparna Krishnan
      Paranthaman Sriramulu I was there for about year. What I learnt was how much I needed to be here, and how infinitely valuable this land was to me.
      Its a land of material dreams, spinning everyne in circles.
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      • 52w
    • Paranthaman Sriramulu
      Aparna Krishnan yes, it is materialist world there. However I learned what is Q system, rules of traffic, integrity, zero low level corruption, law, rules, trust, professionalism.
      In India, I saw these very rarely.
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    • Aparna Krishnan
      My whole definition of integrity and corruption has changed. It is not defined by the law.
      A life, a country that is far more consumerist has failed the levels of integrity most completely, as it is built over many broken dreams of underpaid lives, usually far away and invisible.
      Queues I hardly care about. And traffic rules. The issues that need to be faced are far more fundamental.
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      • 52w
    • Paranthaman Sriramulu
      Aparna Krishnan if peope stand in Q many deaths and injuries can be avoided. If people follow traffic rules 1.5 lakh people dont have to die every year and their families turning to poor. if people practice integrity you dont have to be in that village. Panchayat office, ration shop, electric depart, hospital, school would be quality. And they would take care of needy. Citizens would get what they are eligible without being treated as beggars.
      Western countries have minimum wages per hour and is strictly followed by most. Police or law department doesn't check them daily. It is a law and most follow it.
      If someone is underpaid and reports, vualators are punished and big compensation for victims so that it becomes lessons for others.
    • Aparna Krishnan
      A country of far higher consumption violates ethics on a far far larger scale. Whether they stand in que or not. Thats the point Im making.
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      • 51w
    • Paranthaman Sriramulu
      Yes, they consume more and many take loans and revolving credit. That is their grey area. We too do it in different ways. Marriages, houses, land, gold bought/done using borrowings. 500 years back, we and China were leading rich countries of the world. That is the reason invaders came loot. UK looted money from india alone was 45 trillion pounds.
      Why are millions still poor or uneducated? Because for 70 years peope who were employed to bring out them from poverty did not do their job. Money meant for them were looted by x poor.
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    • Paranthaman Sriramulu
      Aparna Krishnan one more reason they are consumerism because they rarely save for their kids. Their culture is earn, spend and enjoy. They move a lot. Take care kids till 18 years and chase them out.
      Why is India corrupt because of building assets for dynasties. Money is saved to buy land, gold or investments.
      With kids getting educated and migrating to different states and countries, here too parents will do same in future.
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  • Rama Murthy
    Runam is a dirty word in USA 😢
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    • 52w


    • When my village people, SC, have ever been treated with less dignity in any home, I have seen then rise with complete dignity and walk out of there.
    The Indian migrants to US are totally affronted that they are being 'hounded' amd 'made to feel unwelcome.'
    They left their motherland which nurtured them, forgot about debts to be repaid to this country, and looked to wealthier places seeking self gain. And one day when that country says, "No, thank you.", they looked shocked. But why ?
    Komakkambedu Himakiran, Arun Kombai and 16 others
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    • Narayana Sarma Ghadiyaram Venkata
      Selfishness; Deep rooted dislike of their own roots; love of sophistication, cushy life and easy money; thrill of finding greener pastures; very primitive sense of survival; under-employment and really sad state of affairs at home... all contributed to brain-drain. Now there is trouble.. but I would say- "yes, you made your money, so why hesitate- come back home and see how to continue with life. India is not bad, after all this is where you were born"
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      • 4y
      • దామోదర రెడ్డి
        No, why to come back? to fill inferiority in village people with their slavery,arrogant nature, and thus force them to make their children too like those rascals? they doesn't deserve india... let them continue with their material pleasures there.
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        • 4y
      • Narayana Sarma Ghadiyaram Venkata
        దామోదర రెడ్డి
         🙂 I know lot of good old 'desha bhakts' who had migrated to the US so they can serve their motherland! You are calling them names unknowingly! lol
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        • 4y
      • దామోదర రెడ్డి
        What can i do.. i didn't found single one who came back as humble and rooted. it's not just about their so called 'desh bhakti', 'partriotism, nationalism' etc.. they all are artificial when they are actually not rooted. they always project themselves as some saviours, and progressed.. and curropt natural farmer's mind .. thus farmers too want their children not to work, but leave the soil. and if itis calling names, then what they talk about villages, and superiority is just utter arrogance.
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        • 4y
      • Aparna Krishnan
        Narayana Sarma
         "who had migrated to the US so they can serve their motherland!" ante ?
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        • 4y
      • దామోదర రెడ్డి
        " I know lot of good old 'desha bhakts' who had migrated to the US ;; so they can serve their motherland! " . they are part of two differant sentences may be. sir justified their return as they are 'deshbhakts'. not their migration as to serve motherland(?).
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        • 4y
      • దామోదర రెడ్డి
        Narayana Sarma
         pedayya, there are many villagers in telangana, and rayalaseema who are forced to leave their village and migrate for survival.. they all leave with greif.. seeing their crops dead.. and leave memories, parents. (తెలంగాణలో, బత్కనీకి బొంబాయి పోవడం) .but they all identify themselves with that village, and always think of returning with wet hearts.. but when they return on a fortunate day(if ever comes)... their hearts will fill with truthful joy, and feel of reaching their mother.. that's what their great rootedness. but those above US migrators, no that feel.. everything artificial. and they feel like they graced their village, by their visit. and roam in cars even in villages to showcase their wealth, or value which they think of. that's i can see in my village itself. if any great people are there, sorry for them, but they are surely minority.. and i didn't see any. that's sad reality. ... may be out of context, but don't miss this beautiful telangana story song till end ...about regular migrations of telangana villagers.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwjuJvii0Cs
        Muddula Rajalo koduka || Telangana Folk Songs || Pailam
        YOUTUBE.COM
        Muddula Rajalo koduka || Telangana Folk Songs || Pailam
        Muddula Rajalo koduka || Telangana Folk Songs || Pailam
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    • Aparna Krishnan
      They left when the going was good. Without a second thought. Now I would like us here to 'consider' and 're-admit with conditions'.
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    • Prakash Thangavel
      Thank God I returned few years back. Never felt comfortable there
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    • Abitha Padmanabhan
      I see some of the discussions here, and the strong passions involved and would like to not get into them. However as a person living in USA, and trying/wanting to help as much as possible, and trying to ask other people living in the USA also to help/purchase/donate, and exposing them to these pages for pictures and more information - I fear that this public hatred, derision and anger towards anyone who did not choose the Indian way is not a helpful thing in that pursuit. We don't need to agree with others life choices, but can be respectful. Many Indian origin people in USA follow a lot of traditions and want to give back to their Indian community - maybe not as much as some of you are doing - but in their own way. Just a thought.
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      • 4y
      • Aparna Krishnan
        1. There is no 'help' ma. There are debts to repay and it will take lifetimes to. Those who grew food for us and nurtured us are hungry today 2. I do not 'help' my village, and there are shared concerns we work for. If anything, I am grateful for the opportunity to work 3. There are rights and wrongs. It helps to face them, imo. If it disturbs, best to unfollow such posters 4. There is no hatred. We are all living in greys and need to work personally and collectively. 5. This post is a genuine wonderment at why one community needs to claim eternal rights in another land. Especially when they are not impoverished workers who migrated for bread and butter, but well off who went in search of more.
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        • 4y
    • Prakash Thangavel
      Once help starts, condescension sets in, top down solutions are bandied around and village becomes a no mans land. Eg: swachh bharat







    Mukundan, "But if you are marrying and moving to USA, your child will be an American citizen. Ayyo."
    The girl, "Thats the idea Sir."
    Different people, different strokes.

    What is this term "woman/man of Indian descent" ? And this game of claiming their successes as ours. Sundar Pichai, Kalpana Chawla, Hargobind Khurana ... And now now one new Kamala Harris has popped up.
    Once they have chosen to leave the country, take another citizenship, the dignified adult response is to let go. Wish them well in their new life.
    We are an ancient civilization, and have infinite strengths and riches here. To build on, to claim and be proud of.
    India, grow up.



    Atul Sharma
    I agree completely. In her case, even more so.
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    • 5w
    • Aparna Krishnan
      Always.
      One doesnt cling on to those who choose to leave. And certianly not try to wear their laurels.




    I see the students bewailing that they cannot move to USA, with tightening immigration rules. I wish I could show them what a blessing it is.
    I have seen my generation. Following the great american dream.
    Losing roots, des. Losing the space to serve family and community. Losing the country and citizenship.
    For some purported standard of living. For some so called intellectually challenging work.
    While the essentials are lost. So completely. That their loss is also forgotten ...



  • Vijay Chacko
    Loss is of their mother tongue for the next generation, the culture of festivals is gone in it's essence, the dirty looking man on the street disappears. Clean and well laid out streets appear, but they have no soul, cause the stray dog and cow is missing, the wild trees and bushes, around the corner are gone, the soul leaves the body and one becomes part of the western concept of 'secure perfect world'. It is this sense of security that drives people abroad, on the way they lose their identity, if any, and they roam the cold streets like zombies in mars.
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    • Kavitha Nistala Gollapudi
      Vijay Chacko
       I sort of disagree. Yes we are a part of the western world which is not perfect either. But we have not lost our souls and identity. We are attached to our roots, culture and soil immensely as you are.
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      • 2y
    • Aparna Krishnan
      Over time, and over generations the loss will happen Kavitha. It happens from villages to cities.
      Come back soon !
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      • 2y
    • Kavitha Nistala Gollapudi
      Aparna Krishnan
       Garu. Yes a percentage does exist who don't appreciate it. Yes we are pretty soon !!!
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      • 2y
    • Vijay Chacko
      Congrats to u for keeping it alive and kicking. I am also living in UK since couple of years. Was giving u a first hand account of myself and my family, that consists of wife and one son aged 10 yrs. Suddenly we started to talk only in English at home not Hindi or malayalam, which we used to few years back. So first loss for my son was Language, now I am spending 8 pounds per hour for online Hindi class to keep up, in case of going back. Secondly we used to celebrate all festivals of all religions back in India. Now the fellow Indians here try a abridged version of few hours celebrations at community cultural centre, that makes no sense in essence to the child, as culture is ongoing process, where children, used to talk with other children, adults would take time out for preparation and it used to seep in our lives slowly but steadily. Not a fast food break. Next is about the regimented lives the kids live of school, home work and any after schools. The aim of parrents here is to outdo each other with children academics only. As if life is only about reaching that coveted university and A levels.They truly miss out on the aimless time spent with friends of all economic, linguistic, and social background, that made me more tolerant and accepting of all types of people. I can go on....
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    • Aparna Krishnan
      " culture is ongoing process ..." Word.
      That is why one needs to be on the soil of the land. There is no short cut ...
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    • Kavitha Nistala Gollapudi
      Vijay, the situation is no different in India. It might be existing in few parts and among those who truly understand festivals and culture. But the exact ditto environment competition, losing the real meaning of festivals but celebrating lavishly st the cost of many socioeconomic conditions yes exist back home as well. It's upon us I feel - yes there are restrictions here in U.K. Or US but some are good. Recently I've started attending and celebrating Telugu land festivals with the local groups - the culture is alive in true sense even though it's celebrated in community hall. Mindful for others and neighbours . I don't mind it as long as we don't forget the history of these festivals vs just name sake celebrations and eating.
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      • 2y
    • Vijay Chacko
      Hi Kavitha, I get ur perspective and hard reality of times. Our common challenge is how to ensure that the next generation can have their identity alive and have something to pass on to the next, as we r trying.....
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      • 2y
    • Aparna Krishnan
      And yet, the very soil matters. However alienating upper class urban India lives are becoming, still some thing about the very ground roots.
      That is my feeling.
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    • Arindam Ghosh
      I am sorry. You cannot force your identity on your children. A healthy respect for it : yes. They need to forge new identity on new soil. Human identity with concern for all.
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      • 2y
    • Arindam Ghosh
      How can you uproot the plant and still tell it that it has to draw sustainance from old soil?
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  • Aparna Krishnan
    Yes, but they even lose their understanding of their loss. That protects them into a sterile bubble.
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  • Subramani Reddy
    I am experiencing the same even in Bengaluru. Leaving my village!
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    • 2y
    • Aparna Krishnan
      Yes, I know. At least we sense the loss all the time.
      There they live in a delusion of heaven.


    • Reading a post on my wall of yesterday. On the infinite losses of those who migrate away from the des, the land.
    Daughter, "Amma, you are too much. You keep writing what you want. They dont feel any loss. That is why they went there, and stayed there."
    Me, "They, and their children, lose the chance to serve the land that nourished them, and their forefathers. Serve in action. In deed, and word and thought.
    Dont you feel that as the greatest of losses ?"
    Daughter, "Yes, I do. But they dont maybe. Even the parents dont maybe. They are happy to serve America. "
    Me, "What service is needed in a prosperous country ... ?"
    Daughter, "Oh, they think they serve science maybe. Who knows ...", and she went away closing the door behind her, and closing the conversation.


    Roopa, as we passed IIT in the bus. "This is a college it is very hard to get into ?"
    Turiya, "Yes akka."
    Roopa, "And what do they do after they study here ?"
    Turiya, "They all migrate to America."
    Roopa, "Forever ?"
    Turiya, "Yes, mostly."
    Roopa, "After being born here, after growing up here. They leave forever. How ?"


    Yesterday someone was discussing about their child going to Harvard. And suggested that our child also try for Ivy League colleges.
    Educated Indians have lost their perspective totally.
    We all need to address the various problems in this country - period. Poverty, malnourishment, loss of livlihoods, rural crises, appropriate health for the poor. What learnings does one need in USA for all this ?
    Understanding the problems needs us to be here and grounded, and addressing them is also done thro' methods based in this land.
    Also, the child who goes, usually is gifted to that land across the seas !!

        • Krishna Kanth
          There are couple of reasons. 1 the latitude of courses suiting ones interest and employment opportunities thereupon are higher only in developed countries specially US.
          2. Ivy league college education in US ensure everything of above surely.
          3. Education cost in such institutes makes sure that you need to be employed there to pay off the costs😁
          4. After everything if you still remain sensitive and sensible to the causes you'll return and work here. Ofcourse I agree here with your narratives of them showing starry airs of being superior, entitled etc. Not everyone's has such attitude as there are some learners like you 😁
          5. Without any of the above, they'll have nothing to do in India to earn and live a decent life.
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          • 4y
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        • Sajjala Sreedhar Reddy
          Can it not be both? Learn those skills which arent available else where and apply them in India.
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          • 4y
          • Aparna Krishnan
            Sajjala Sreedhar Reddy
             the skills which are needed in India are learnt here.
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            • Anil Kumar
              Good one Aparna. i always wonder why one should go abroad for studies. This land India is the world's biggest classroom.
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              • 5y
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            • Srividhya Jayakumar
              Students want to experience a diff culture , study in an International environment, compete with the world's best. What is wrong in that ? it is another matter that ivy league is so bloody expensive. But if we stop every ambition, then it is an issue
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              • 5y
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              • Naveen Manikandan Periasamy
                No one is stopping ambitions. What Aparna is pointing out is the perverse culture of brandishing such achievements.
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                • 5y
              • Srividhya Jayakumar
                if it is bragging it should be stopped. But just saying studying in berkeley or Yale is useless I cannot accept it. Those institutions are good . It is upto individual how he wants to contribute. Just talking ill of everything is not the solution - Somewhere creation has to happen including the process of wealth creation.
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                • 5y
              • Aparna Krishnan
                The best learning for India, were India our first concern, is India. If discovering quarks is the concern of the child, to the exclusion of the realities and problems of the land he grew in, then I am sure USA or Europe is the place to head for.
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                • 5y
              • Aparna Krishnan
                And imo the learning of weaving from a master weaver is as exalted as learning about electron spin in Berkeley labs.
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                • 5y
              • Sailesh Bhupalam
                depends on our definition of civilization. yes we have problems, but that didn't stop us from reaching mars. and Harvard and LSE work on poverty eradication as much as Indian universities. This is another extreme where everything other than the village life and weaving baskets is inferior, as far as i can see. But i'm only stating my opinion and could very well be wrong.
                There is a niche for everyone. What people consider superior is not of our making, it is a collective responsibility of both the village and the city dwellers to change it for something more just, and i don't think demanding everyone to quit civilization is just. Those who like the simple life are blessed, but there are others who should be free to do what they like.
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                • 5y
              • Aparna Krishnan
                nobody needs to quit anything. yes, these are moral choices - and on these moral choices is based everything. we have one life - and whether to use it to study electron spins, or to address hunger is our choice. and to enable making these choices is imo the first duty of a parent or a teacher.
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                • 5y
              • Aparna Krishnan
                I beleive that a child brought up in India owes its first to India. Even were my child to leave the land for greener pastures abroad, for intellectual or material ends, I would say the same.
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              • Sailesh Bhupalam
                you are entitled to your opinion, as others are to theirs.
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                • 5y
              • Aparna Krishnan
                I think it is not opinion. It is a vaster truth which comes under Dharmam, as my village people would term it.
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              • Sailesh Bhupalam
                what is truth? when a lot of people believe the same thing, can it be called truth?
                truth cannot be who should do what. Because it doesn't describe what is, it is not a fact. It only tells a persons vision of how the world should be. It is hardly truth. At best, it is a philosophy, at worst it is a day dream.
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              • Aparna Krishnan
                Yamas, niyamas ... are eternal truths. There are objective norms also. Fed by a poor country, we owe our first to the country. That is the Yama called non stealing (Asteya). If we do not repay the debt to the farmer, we are in the wrong. Yes, that is m… 
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              • Sailesh Bhupalam
                yamas and niyamas are a part of a philosophy called yoga. whoever likes the philosophy follows them. What if someone is born in another religion? he has a different set of truths then.
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              • Aparna Krishnan
                never mind.
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              • Sailesh Bhupalam
                ok. but, actually considering something which is a part of a religious text as an eternal and immutable truth is dangerous, and is the root of fundamentalism
                .
                You might be able to better empathize with the people in rural distress, we need your perspective and guidance because you have a unique experience. but if you are on a rage like Thejaswi says, then please relax. 🙂
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              • Aparna Krishnan
                well past the age of rage.
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            • Thejaswi Reddy
              If I may add, Aparna is on rage that there is inequality in India. One child enjoys and the other suffers, despite being dependent on the sufferer. Villager is no way dependent on us..it would have been wonderful if that were the scenario. No offense Srividhya, life is a matter of choice..
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              • Srividhya Jayakumar
                Very confusing all these arguments . I think simple - Those who with a knowledge thirst should go anywhere whether it is to a village in West bengal or Yale or harvard. As simple as that. Just because there is so much poverty, it is not right to say that no one should go to Yale - What if the child from the village qualifies on merit ?
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              • Aparna Krishnan
                🙂 never mind.
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              • Srividhya Jayakumar
                And too much of free advice. We have to remember that doing is difficult and lecturing is very easy
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              • Aparna Krishnan
                Well, we can understand the Right and Wrong, or Dharma and Adharma, and also face our own shortcomings and compromises. That suits me. Otherwise one can refuse Right and Wrong altogether. Thats another choice.
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              • Srividhya Jayakumar
                by your logic are all the people who study in India should come and serve villages. Do they do it ? There are many who study overseas or work overseas, leave it and come and serve India. So if one has the intent and perseverance and passion they do it , whether they are Harvard educated or Hindupur Educated. But I will never say that why someone is going to Harvard or Yale. If someone has earned it, they should go.
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              • Aparna Krishnan
                And I would say that if this country has nurtured them, their duty is to this land 🙂. No, there are many things to do in this sad land - everyone does not need to go to villages, and cause crowding there !
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              • Aparna Krishnan
                anyway, never mind.
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            • Mohua Lahiri
              There are two sides to it. I have lived my life wanting to give back what I got to this society to the best of my abilities. But maybe we should really go beyond boundaries. If we can benefit humanity in some way it does not matter where. Some (maybe very little) of those kids from Ivy colleges have used their learning to actually work in many under developed parts of the world.
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              • Aparna Krishnan
                In general yes. When its a poor country, where the poor farmers have fed us, and are in sad straits, then there is a first duty to them. And then yes, to the enire world.

    FebhtgruardsyuS epo19eoS,n sgoraemnmfl2n0a1d9 
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    Roopa, in the context of the recent explosion, was discussing with Turiya in the bus, "... and America fought with Afganisthan. It bombs all countries of the world isnt it ? ... Then why do people from our country go so eagerly to that country."
    Turiya had no answer to give her.

    There are students seeking to go abroad as there are greater opportunities there. So they tell me.
    Opportunity is a meaningless word. Opportunity for what is the question.
    The opportunity to serve, to repay our debts, is only available in this land. On this soil. Our karma bhoomi.
    What other opportunity does one seek, over this ?
    We have not asked the right questions of our children. Or guided them.




    A friend asked me if I will be 'visiting USA'. I told her that there was neither the interest nor the money for suchlike. That about sums it up !!
    Karpagam Vinoth, Arun Kombai and 21 others
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    • Amalorpavanathan Joseph
      I haven't bee there either.All that I know is it has tall buildings
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      • Aparna Krishnan
        After my studies, I worked for two years before i retired and moved to my village. In that period I was there for a year. But I have buried that as part of dark deeds of youth! Anyway it was almost a quarter of a century ago !
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      • Aparna Krishnan
        Was on tenterhooks waiting to return I remember. Since then I have always felt very sorry for those who have banished themselves to that land, and to that citizenship, and also deprived their children of this land and its richness.
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    • Aparna Krishnan
      One's first duty is to the land that nourished one, especially when that is a poor land. Necter from other flowers can be savoured later.

    fMtSpuoatnrcfimha sSggasi3, 2o0r1e4do 
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    Yesterday an old school classmate called up after 30 years. he has been abroad for so many years. he had done well for himself and got the equivalent of padma shri there.
    i could only feel sad for someone who has had to stay so far away from the beauty of this country - and not have had the oppurtunity to work for the country, with the country. after a certian age, titles are just some bits of paper. i told him as much.
    'unto each his own' he said. i wonder. very much.
    my village people would never say or think that. they have a dharmam, a sanatana dharmam - where a very large goodness and morality is defined very precisely. paapam and punyam are defined. and are universal and eternal. it is not 'to each his own' at all. they all try to live by the dharmam as they accept it. and if they do not, they accept that they are failing it.
    i remembered a school poem
    'paida kar is desh jaathi ne tujhko paala posa
    kiya hua nij hith kaa usne tujh par badaa bharosaa
    urrin hona hi paratham sat kartavya tumhaara
    uske baad de sakte ho vasudha ko shreest svajeevan saara.'
    (“Whichever country and community produced and nourished you
    That has set great hopes of its own welfare on you.
    To redeem that debt is the you first sacred task
    After that you can give the rest of your life to the world.”)

    29 January 2016 at 21:04 ·
    Do those who leave their land for greener lands, gain new lands, or lose their souls ?



    Saw a detailed post now on the pros and cons of settling in the US. On the material benefits, and social losses.
    I found the entire analysis wrong.
    It is not about our gains or our losses. It is the call of the land that nourished us. Our duty to that land. Our debt.
    The claim of that soil on us. Our claim on that soil.
    Dharmam. Rinam.




    MatmiScyospeoe 2n1nslton, a2or01emd9 
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    I see youngsters today. Seeking to go abroad. Saying the opportunities are greater there.
    It is not new. It was the same in my time. When I finished college. A generation ago.
    But opportunity is too incomplete a word. And does not allow us to think through. Precision in thought and word is essential. To chart our deeds correctly.
    Opportunity for what ?
    To serve ? To redeem our debts to the poorest of this land ? Who sustain the land with their labours.
    That opportunity, the greatest of all opportunities, is available only on this land. Nowhere else.



    Mrlady 2teSsponh1,oaseoro 2e01fdhd9 
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    I was telling my daughter how sorry I felt for those Indians born and brought up on USA. How due to a choice if their parents, they have been dislocated.
    Lost roots. Lost the soil of this land.
    And how with having their family there, they can't even return.
    She replied, "Well, the Indians here, with families here, relocate to foreign lands quite easily !
    It's all a matter if choice.
    And anyway their own parents left their roots and families. To wing away. So they won't object to their children also moving away. Back. If they choose to."
    I think she's right. We all craft our lives. And choose our futures. Every moment.
    We all have far more choices that we choose to see.
    Ramanjaneyulu GV, Sonali Rao and 23 others
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    • Indu Viswanathan
      I don’t feel lost or unrooted. And I have come back and lived in India with my kids. In fact I feel more connected with my roots than many urban Indians I see living in India.
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    • Aparna Krishnan
      The daily touch of the soil matters. More than we understand. The air, the soil, the peoples.
      Yes, many urban Indians are lost too, to their answerabilities. Yet the very air and soul protects them. Whether they deserve it or not !
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      • Indu Viswanathan
        Aparna Krishnan I agree. It does feel different and it does matter. But I still long for it, i recall the difference in breathing the air, in hearing the morning birds, all of it...so the thread is there. The Longing is intact and that’s meaningful.
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    • Vidhya Subramaniyan
      that wont happen , as they would have already used to so much comfort n luxur .
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    • Ashok Urs
      Grass is greener on the other side we just don't water on the land we belong to.
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    • Vipin Sharma
      USA is a land of root less people because the original people were uprooted by the greedy barbaric imperialists from Europe


    Aparna Krishnan
    A poem from my class 7 hindi textbook. Has never left me. And I think it shaped my path gently over the years ...
    "Paida kar jis desh jati ne tumko pala posha,
    (The country which gave birth to you and nourished you)
    kiye huye hai vah tumse nij hit ka bada bharosa.
    (it has much expectation of you)
    Partham urin hona us se hai sat kartavya tumahara,
    (Redeeming that debt is your first duty)
    phir de dalo vasudha ko shesh sawa jeevan sara.
    (after that you can give the rest of your life to the earth)"


    Dharam Vir Singh Ahluwalia
    Drawing a line by a wall, or Customs and Immigration, is just a line -- a crime towards all life forms. We are the beings of the planet, of the stars surrounding us. No bird ever accepts these lines of control, no elephants ever carries a green card. But we humans, somehow, are sold into the line of lines of control, of borders.
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    • Aparna Krishnan
      First repay your debt to the farmers who sustained you through growing years. Repaying that debt will take lifetimes.




    Many leave the country for 'better opportunities'. And stay there for better opportunities for their progeny.
    Opportunities for what ?
    The opportunity to serve, and to return one's debt to the country is available here on this land. And only here.


    There was a term 'brain drain' prevelant in my college days. Referring to those who has chosen USA and other lands as their own. Over this.
    Today I am aghast. At the presumptions in that loaded term.
    At what constitutes 'brain'. At who one assumes has it. At the implied superiority. Of those who left.


     

    When I see people coming from Australia or US, I always feel sorry for them. More for their children.

    Loss of roots. Loss of this soil. Loss of this air. Loss of a chance to serve on this soil. The calling of the small privileged class in a vast poor country.

    Daughter, "Amma, maybe they feel sorry for us ! In the physics classes the main discussion used to be American universities."

    "Maybe they wanted to study and come back."

    "No ! Many were very clear that they wanted to bring up their kids there. Liberation from this country, was the idea."

    All learning, however erudite, is as ash, when fundamental perspectives of duties and responsinilities are not instilled. We have been sustained by the labour of half nourished farmers, and out first duty is clear. No one had maybe even drawn the children to that thought. Sad.



    JauutneiSp donhSl9t, 2sfiSosr0e1es6d 
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    I havent the faintest idea why an Indian would choose to make America his motherland. India is wonderful. Yet many of my own community and family have moved there lock stock and barrel.
    Vipin Sharma You are a rare specimen who did not cut off her roots but rather appreciated your Indian heritage and returned back to the land of your birth. Most young Indians in cities believe that they are actually Americans erroneously born in India and when they land in America they feel that they have come home. The material temptations of America makes them cut off their roots and they make America their home. Only a very few think that India is where they truly belong and must return. I salute your courage and conviction in returning to your Indian roots and accepting India as it is with all its poverty and squalor, corruption and lethargy and lack of patriotism and love for motherland. A sorry state of affairs indeed, but India is Home and home is where the heart







    JodtuSpdoinly oh3lis,o S2refhu0su18d 
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    Some people say that in India "merit" is not recognized. That "skills" are undervalued. And so they move abroad.
    I think of the merit of the farmer, working hard on undernourished body, sustaining the land. I think of his skills. I think if the far greater violation there.
    I wonder about our answerability to them to sustain us. About our failing our answerability. As we focus on the perceived violation of our own merit ...
    I stay silent.



    A friend was very proud and happy that her son had got into a top Institute for theoretical physics. Abroad.
    'What does that mean ?', I asked.
    'The highest intellectual standards. Imagine', she said appalled at the question.
    I wondered. In silence.
    What is the intelligence we seek in our children ?
    The intelligence that teaches us our duties. That shows our answerabilities to the poor of this land. And our duties to the land that sustained us, our fathers and forefathers. That bestows on us the integrity needed for walking the talk.
    What are the standards we seek for them ?
    In understandings. In perspective. In integrity. In courage.
    And his going abroad. Does it not reduce his opportunity to answer these duties to the land that nurtured him ?
    His deeply theoretical studies, would it allow him to nurture the other more important learnings. Of society, of ground realities, of politics, and of his role in all this.
    I wished him well.
    And hoped in my heart, that all his journeys bring him back to his roots, his beginnings. To his land. To his duties. To address this Dharmam. His Rinam.
     





    "They all studied in the IITs ma. The best of education that India could offer, for near free. And went on to USA.", i observed to my daughter.
    She answered, "They will simply say they will return the money !"
    "What money ma ? As Gandhi said, in a poor country, the money spent on such insititutes is money diverted away from far more essential survival needs of the poor. These people have been sustained by the poor. The poor farmers growing their food on half stomachs.
    The only way of repayment is by serving the poor. What money can they offer in return for a poor man's hunger which is the price of all our free higher education".
    My daughter was silent.



    What I do today, working with the women of Paalaguttapalle, has nothing to do with my college learnings.
    It also has nothing to do with my talents, or capabilities, if any.
    It is simply what is needed most importantly in my context. Livlihoods for survival. And our duty to share in the task as best as we can.
    There is no bigger purpose than this simple reality. To do our duty.
    If we could share this simple truth with our children, it may help them find their direction in more meaningful ways.
    Rather than what I see around me today. The youngsters' dream. JEE, to IIT, to USA. A dream devoid of purpose, of answerabilities.
    Our failure. To give valid and sacred dreams to the next generation.
    As Gandhi put it.
    "I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Will he gain anything by it? Will it restore him to a control over his [her] own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions?
    Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away."



    SeptSoemobngsntter 1d4, omre2020he 
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    A friend. Met after many years. Settled in USA. Her child in an Ivy Leage college there now.
    She was happy with her life choices. And was sure she had given her child the best opportunities. In USA.
    As I was happy with mine. And was sure that I had given our daughter the best opportunities. In India. In a village upbringing.
    Then later I realized it's about perspectives. Priorities.
    Material versus spiritual.
    USA is materially rich. In India the soil and air themselves are spiritual.
    Consumption versus contribution.
    A materially rich land gives scope for greater material consumption. A poor land gives infinite opportunity for contribution.
    Runam. A debt.
    Of the privileged of a country to the country, essentially poor. To accept that Runam. Or to reject it.
    These choices direct our life. And that of our children.

    • RJ Sudha
      I have lived in the US for more than 20 years now and the amount of contribution I have been able to make to innumerable Indian organizations and international ones both in terms of monetary and functional help are innumerable. Same with my other friends who have settled overseas. Not sure how many in India do that. I can show you my bank/PayPal statements if you like
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      • Aparna Krishnan
        The contribution you or I make is only a fraction of our debt. It need not even be mentioned, we can skip it. Also it is never just money. Actually being present and serving is important l, as hands and minds are so limited on the ground. Also in emigrating one denies the country the service of future generations.
        But the point of the post is actually different. It is what we value, and as indicated in choice we make for our children.
        1. This very soil and its richness. Or another?
        2. The space to grow materially, as opposed to the space to serve.
        3. The land where one pays ones Runam. It in across janmas and generations. Or to default on it and move elsewhere.
        The post is about that choice.
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    • Murthy Sudhakar
      "The post is about choice". We all make choices that best suit us when we make them. Statistics are simply a collection of choices grouped. I do not see much purpose in ruing about the decision made by others. Best to focus and correct and steer our own- that too only if one wishes.
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      • Aparna Krishnan
        Murthy Sudhakar these thinkings and discussions about duties are essential to a society.
        Maybe it was the lack of these that created a highly 'educated' circle in this land uncaring about its duties and answerabilities.
        These are not 'personal issues', they are far larger in their implications.
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      • Chitra Sharan
        I remember reading a Ramakrishna Paramahamsa story (life incident). Apparently a mother brought a small boy to Paramahamsa and said please tell him not to eat too many sweets. Paramahamsa asked the mother to bring the boy the next day and told the boy … 
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      • Aparna Krishnan
        Yes, and after that he did answer.
        The personal and the collective need to go together for any larger change. Collective soul searching for morality and ethics for social wellbeing.
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    • Gopal Krishna Iyer
      It is all about perceptive and choices of individuals.
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    • ऋषि दशोत्तर
      On a lighter note, if both the daughters are happy both the mothers can go to sleep peacefully both in US and India. And so as the people who commented here 😋
      👆🏽that’s my runam I pay here on fb. Asking people go have a nice sleep. 😋
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