North Star shoes in Dream

Early this morning I saw a dream of wearing a pair of North Star shoes, a popular sneaker and probably the only decent one available during my childhood days. I felt happy, waking up with a fulfilling feeling.

 

North Star shoes, with black and yellow stripes resembling a tiger's skin used to cost Rs99.99 a pair, a sizable amount in the year 1980, in the days of socialism and closed market economy, when jeans and sneakers were luxury items. This brand was available in Bata, a chain of stores apart from Carona which offered decent shoes in Bhubaneswar those days.

 

I requested my dad to get a pair for me. My father was always generous to me, fed me exotic, quality food, took me to good restaurants of those days, bought me my favorite books, comics, magazines and took me to watch cricket in Barabati Stadium. But he sneered at the idea of buying a pair of North Star shoes, firmly put down his foot on the my longing desire.

 

His logic - while teaching in BJB College, Bhubaneswar, he has seen the

 North Star shoes worn only by the CHATARAs (girl chasing vagabonds) and BAZAARIs (free roaming loafers). The hall mark of a BHALA PILA (a good guy) those days, a category an overwhelming majority of students fell into - to wear cheap Canvas shoes polishing it's dirt off using a white paste or CHAPPALs (sandals). My dad's convictions vetoed my desire.

 

Time and again, I would peep at the North Star shoes through the glass, displayed in front of the BATA Store located in Unit II (probably only one at that time), salivating at it, dreaming to wear it one day. But luck wasn't on my side, I could never wear them. The North Star was like that star I wished for , so near yet so far. Soon the brand went out of the selves and out of the market.

 

Eventually, I forgot about it. Never thought about it for a long time, until this morning when I found myself wearing a brand new pair of North Star shoes it in my dream. Childhood memories can be very stubborn, especially about the things we longed for, our feelings we craved about, fantasized or had a crush on, dwelling deep inside our subconscious mind.

 

The small smoldering sparkle has never vanished from the already extinguished inferno. The wish inside the child in me was never dead, it was lying dormant, ready it rise as Phenix from the ashes. The ever hidden subconscious desire recalled and manifested itself after decades in my dream. No wonder, I woke up with a wonderful sense of fulfillment .

Saga of a submerged Gurgaon and Bangalore

Do we remember how many times Delhi and Bangalore have been submerged due to seasons rains. Umpteenth time. The recent deluge followed by the sad saga of commotion and road rage witnessed in Gurgaon, a suburb of Delhi isn't something new and out of the blue.

 

Not that we had been hit by a typhoon or hurricane of a magnitude of category 5, which caught everyone by surprise, but hit by the expected annual monsoon rains at the peak of the monsoon season.

 

Yet I am not surprised, as I saw last year in Delhi, clogged drains with no natural outlet for water lying low in low lying areas. Come monsoon, the disaster was waiting to happen.

 

The inept and inefficient authorities as usual were caught napping, quite aware of the inadequate infrastructure but still without any contingency plan - exposing how unprepared we are for such an eventuality.

 

And it happened. Cars were stuck in a melee for hours on water logged roads. Commuters had to leave their cars and wade through the rivulets. Even there were reports of folks on boats fishing on the paved roads of Bangalore, arguably the most hightech city of India.

 

After being stuck for hours, what if one has this urgent need to pee. Guys can sneak into a corner and add more color to the yellow water beneath them, exposing their ugly underbelly as the same of Delhi gets exposed. Pity the ladies, for them it would have been a pitiable condition. For those with loose bowels, water isn't far away.

 

Sarcasm aside, this is a terse reminder of our lack of basic INFRASTRUCTURE,  which is the biggest bottleneck to our image and growth. To those who dream of Mumbai to be Shanghai and Delhi to be a Seoul or Singapore - Dream on.

Democratic Convention- 2016

Unlike the Republican Convention which was filled with fat, bald oldies with long, boring monologues, the Democratic Convention at Philadelphia was full of glamor.

In Hollywood, you have Democrats and more Democrats. You can feel its flavor at the venue of the Convention, where Movie Stars, feminist in person or by message conveyed from the tinsel town marked their presence.

Bill Clinton's speech at the Convention was cool, commanding and explainatory. He has this uncanny ability to tell a story, explain a policy, deeply connecting to the audience, who responded with a standing ovation. Love him or hate him, the telegenic ex Commander-in-Chief is a real charmer in chief. Like Kishore Kumar, he is very versatile, an excellent communicator in all kinds of podium or platforms, be it a stump speech at a public meeting or one to one tete a tete in a Town Hall format.

In contrast Hillary looked plastic, bit nervous too and stale, whereas her husband, a natural leader is still evergreen. She was savoring her Pyrrhic victory over Bernie Sanders, who would have easily defeated her, if he was 64 instead of 74 years old. Didn't here anything new from Hillary in her acceptance speech - policy or vision wise.

Time Kaine, Hillary's VP nominee, gave an outstanding speech. Sometimes I wonder, why he didn't run in Presidential Primaries, which he had a very good chance of winning.

But the best speech given in the entire cycle of Convention, both Republican and Democratic, was by President Obama. The body language of the usually cool and nonchalant Obama showed aggression, his electrifying speech drew thunderous applause.

Attacking Trump time and again, an unusual move by an outgoing President who usually though campaign for their own party nominee, usually don't go directly against the opponent nominee. Obama was virulent when he threw punches at Trump.

Bill and Barack, the two two-term Presidents were the most effective speakers on Podium of either conventions. Both are natural politicians, grew without the support of their respective biological fathers (Clinton's father died before he was born, Obama's Kenyan born dad hardly had any affinity towards his son, took to alcohol after returning to Kenya and crashed himself to death).

Both had turbulen, unsettling early life but worked hard to climb the ladders of success, ending up being 8 years in White House, arguably the most powerful position on surface of earth. Both have an inspiring life story. Wish Hillary Clinton, who isn't a natural politician, was half charismatic as both.

Now Hillary will bask for a few days with the conventional bump coming out of the Convention. As the dust settles down, next 3 months will see some hectic campaigning, interspersed with 3 Presidential debates, mano to wo(mano) this time. Watch out for more coverage of American Presidential election from this Citizen reporter on the Social media.

Teachers beating students in India

Stories abound in social media, about the peer pressure to excell in academics is driving both the parents and children nuts. It wasn't not so during our childhood days, but not so uncommon was our teachers mercilessly beating the students.

My memory goes back to the year 1978 when I was in class V. It was a fateful day, when the results of Science subject was declared after our Half yearly exam. I was fortunate to get the highest mark in that subject, but it was not enough to escape thrashing. I still got a few canes on my palm for my mistakes.

The rest were not so fortunate. Our teacher lashed them with his thin but effective cane closing his lips, yelling intermittently PITHI DEKHA (show your back) and alternating  between the backs and sides of the hapless students. The kids as young as 9-10 years old had no other option but to bear with closed eyes, some crying BAPALO MAALO MARIGALI (dad, mom, I am dying).

A couple of them wet their pants. There was this burly guy and a champion athlete from our class, but a poor student. We were in awe of him and his physique, because of that he used to bully us. Now we saw how vulnerable he was.

When his turn came stream of urine started flowing on his left thigh as he fainted in anticipation of the things to come. Water was sprinkled on his face till he came to his senses. Still he got some ear twitching, but was glad that his fainting saved him from further cane lashes.

Ironically it happened in Rama Krishna Mission School based on the name of a person who preached non-violence and compassion for all living beings. But cattle's would have been better treated compared to the way our Science teacher dealt with his primary school students. He strongly believed that thrashing makes the kids more obedient and keeps them better focused on studies. How silly.

I am sure many from my generation and above would have been through this ordeal. Sadly there was no cell phone, Internet, social or 24x7 media those days. This kind of treatment makes news these days Those were the days, those were those times.

Vagaries of monsoon in India

Reports abound from Odisha about the scarcity of Monsoon this year. Many are apprehensive about Global climate changes contributing to the erratic  monsoon.

Vagaries of monsoon is neither something new, nor unheard of. Its inherent tendency is to be bountiful one year, scanty the next. We see intermittent dry spells during the monsoon, shorter or longer in duration. A year of flood is followed by a year of drought, with repetitive precision.

My grandfather told me about the NA ANKA DUBHIKHYA (The Great Drought of 19th Century), which was told to him by his grandfather. NA ANKA in Odia refers to the years around 1885 - 1887 in the Gregorian Calendar. The monsoon rains, restricted to the summer months of June - September, failed spectacularly for a prolonged duration of at least three  consecutive years.

There is no reason to believe that it was then caused due to Deforestation or Green House effect. It was simply the Dust Bowl years of Odisha. Hundreds of thousands died in that time span, due to hunger and malnutrition, caused by their dependency on the rain fed crop, which failed to crop up due to miserable monsoon rains.

The High Himalayas, with its Mt. Everest at its highest point of 29,000 feet, run East to the West, acting as a natural barrier to India from the bitter cold winds coming from Siberia and Pamir plateau. The tallest mountain range in the world gives India a unique geographical identity, keeping it warmer compared the other places in the world along the similar latitude.

It explains why Calcutta is hotter than Canton, China and Jaipur is hotter than Jacksonville, Florida - though they are in identical latitudes. The gigantic mountain range also keeps the monsoon restricted to the Indian subcontinent, providing ample rains during the summer months, while rest of the season it is mostly dry.

In contrast, the Rocky Mountains of America aren't tall enough and run North to South, unable to prevent the cold wave from Canada blasting through the Prairies into the Southern Plains. It also helps the moisture from Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Pacific Ocean reach out to the interiors of mainland America.

Himalayas has protected us from the likes of the marauding Mongol Chengiz Khan, who could have ravaged India. Only due to the limited access via Khybar pass we stayed better protected from many, if not all invaders, preserving our unique cultural identity.

Invariably every year, sooner or later, the monsoon arrives and leaves, with a highly inequitable distribution of rainfall - causing drought somewhere, flood else where. This Odia proverb aptly depicts  the vagaries of monsoon :

JALA BAHULE SRUSTI NAASA,
JALA BIHUNE SRUSTI NAASA, meaning

"Lack of water causes catastrophe,
 Excess of water causes catastrophe."

Trump can very well win in November

Per the latest CNN-ORC poll, Republican nominee Donald Trump has taken a 3 point lead over Hillary. Nothing unusual coming after the Convention, this is called Post Convention bounce. The Democratic Convention starts today in Philadelphia and come next week - Hillary Clinton is going to wipe off Trump's post conversation bounce.

Trough in a normal election under normal circumstance, Hillary would have been a shoo in against his opponent, who looks more buffoon than Presidential. But it's not normal time in US, when a whopping 2/3rd feel that the country on a wrong track. With the trust on politicians being a record low, Trump is seen as the Knight in Shining Armor to many. Come  November, there's is a distinct possibility of seeing a President - Elect Trimp.

At this stage, Michael Dukakis had similar lead over George Bush Sr. in 1988 and Al Gore over Bush Jr. in 2000. Both went on to lose to the national election, to the father and son respectively. So any lead now hardly holds good till November which is eons away - when a week is considered as a long time in politics.

Until now Hillary carried a slight lead over Trump overall, but is tied to her opponent in the crucial swing states of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania. In American Presidential election someone doesn't get elected by winning the maximum number of popular votes, but by winning the highest Electoral College votes. So there is a chance that a person can get the higest popular votes, yet still lose the Election.

Al Gore exactly suffered that feat in year 2000, Bush won the White House in spite of the former winning the largest popular vote - a classic case of Electoral Dysfunction of America.

States like Texas and Georgia where I live will vote for Trump no matter what. States like California and New York will certainly go for Hillary. The final outcome depends on a few swing states, where Hillary is vulnerable. Read my lips, come November don't get surprised to see a President - Elect Trump. 

Social and political life of Indian Americans

As the US election campaign gains steam, it's time to analyze how the Indian American community is expected to vote.

Indian Americans (not to be confused with American Indians or Native - Red Indians who are the original inhabitants of the land) constitute 3 million - nearly 1% of the total population of USA. Demographically they are 51% Hindu, 18% Christian (many born Hindus are converted influenced by Evangelicals), 14% non-believers (I am veering towards that), 10% Muslims, 5% Sikhs and rest immaterial.

Only next to the Chinese immigrants, Indian Americans, are ubiquitous in larger cities and Metros. Nicknamed as DESIs, the NRI community have carved their niche. (Mostly Persons of Indian origin use this term Desi among themselves, often in a deregatory sense, the Mainstream Americans are mostly unaware of the term. Though I have this uncanny ability to laugh at myself, during my inititial days I was uncomfortable being called a Desi, a term generally  used to denote a pariah dog back home in Odisha).

Coming to Elections - Like most monorities, an overwhelming majority of Desis are Democrats, nearly 70% of them. Couple of decades back it was 90%, a decade back it was 80%. So, on an average, a mobility of an estimated 1% of Desis from the Democrat to the Republican camp takes place every year.

The reason - many during their initial days of immigration are in a state of insecurity, tilting towards Democratic party, which is considered as more immigrants friendly. As they start earning  money, making upward mobility, they are impressed by the Republican values of lower taxes (so that they can hoard more money).

Our upward mobile Desi Bhais, like Lord Shiva now have their 3rd eye opened, seeing values in the family values espoused by the Conservative Republicans, finding their own cultural roots brought back from home, aligned more to the Republicans. It's another matter, their idols and the so called votaries of family values are often found caught pants down with their concubines and gays.

So the neo immigrants who step into the Coke land as 100% Democrats, after getting their Green cards become 50% Republicans. 5 years later, with US Citizenship on hand, they are 100% Republicans - the complete metamorphosis of a DESI, from a democratic leaning Caterpillar to a Republican Butterfly is now complete.

For most of them, the journey starts with insecurity, with a perennial struggle from  Credit Card to the coveted Green Card (Without a Credit history it is difficult to get a credit card, as without a credit card you don't have a credit history). With a Green Card and subsequent Citizenship on hand, a roof of their own over their head - it's time to fulfill their SHOUK (hobby).

These hobbies perpetuated by the now settled Desi are myriads - but per my observation it's mostly couple of them. First, a tendency to be a NETA (a political  leader). Most are satisfied by playing roles of a KUJI NETA (small time leader) at the local Desi bodies. As MULLAH KI DAUD MASJID TAQ (A Mullah can't go beyond Mosque), their political ambitions mostly end up as a NETA in their national level cultural bodies. Very rare breeds of our Desi bros go into (or possess the ability to so) the Mainstream American politics.

Secondly, many get pets home, especially dogs and cats. Overwhelming majority of them are Dogs, as for many Desis seeing a cat waking up in the morning is considered as harbinger of bad luck for rest of the day.

The pets give company to their lonely kids at home, acting as a great stress relievers to them, filling the hiatus of lack of companionship in their life they so accustomed to in the land they left long ago.

Republican Convention of 2016

It's not Donald Trump, but the Duck Dynasty star Willie Robertson who gave a short but more impressive speech at the just concluded Republican Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. These Political conventions, covered extensively by media are more of a farce, yet provides an idea platform to showcase themselves in front of tens of millions of Americans who watch it.

Reminds me of Barack Obama, a first term Senator, who catapulted into the  limelight during the 2004 Democratic Convention with his famous "Skinny kid with a Funny name" speech. A star was born that day. When I saw that speech, interrupted by standing ovations, I predicted a bright future for him. Little more than 4 years later, he walked into the White House.

Frankly I feel, these conventions should be reduced to 2 days from being held for 4 long days. The best performance of this Convention was the American National Anthem rendered by the young, blind girl Marlana VanHoose. She couldn't see the crowd reacting to her performance at the Convention, but she could hear their huge applause after she finished singing.." Land of the free, home of the brave".

Ted Cruz grudgingly spoke at the Convention, requesting the electorates to vote per their conscience, rather than directly solicitating vote for Trump. Obviously he hasn't taken his defeat into his stride and shaping himself for 2020, assuming a Trump loss. Differences inside Republican party still remains.

Trump with a shortened hair and softer tone, tried to his Presidential best. He formally accepted Republican Party's nomination amidst thousands of Red, White and Blue balloons wafting around, swooning over him, filling the gigantic auditorium. The attention now shifts to this weekend's expected announcement of Hillary's Vice Presidential candidate. Now over to Philadelphia, the venue of Democratic Convention starting this Monday.

Double lives and wives of public figures

The news of Roger Ailes, the CEO of Fox News, has been at center of the news charged with sexual harassment lawsuit from a female coworker didn't surprise me. And rumor has it - it's one among multiple sexual harassment lawsuits against him.

Nothing new in the Corporate world - except this Conservative News Network promotes Christian family values, when their CEO is caught literally pants down. Can't get more hypocritical than that.

Many politicians and celebrities have double lives and double (often multiple, though not legal) wives. Many Conservative Christian Evangelists, famous for their believes - "God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve" have been infamously caught with their gay partners.

Many regular Church going, wedding ring flaunting, believers in family values and virulent critics of the then President Clinton's debauchery were caught with their concubines. One was Georgia's Congressman New Gingrich a vocal votary of impeachment against Clinton, was caught having affair with his secretary.

Another was his colleauge Larry Craig, the Idaho senator who was highly critical of Clinton's moral was caught red handed and charged in Minneapolis airport for gay soliciting.

Many temple going BHAKTs (devotees) and PRAVACHAN givers (preachers) whose sermon espouses EKA PAT(N)IBRATA (belief in single spouse), siting the example of Lord Ram and Devi Sita, are known champion womanizers.

Khushwant Singh in his autobiography had mentioned about Moulana Azad, one of our founding fathers and freedom fighters. Moulana would spend evenings sipping Scotch in his privacy and would be curt if intruded.

Obviously he was very secretive about this habit, for it could have impacted his image in public, especially being from the Muslim community. Such public figures leading a double life is not something new. The list is endless. This inherent hypocrisy has to do with our tendency to do do something in private and preach something in public.

Often I wonder about the vagaries of life. A doctor who cures others from incurable disease, falls pray to mundane ailments. Many doctors who give lengthy lectures on bad effects of tobacco and alcohol are chain smokers, champion chewers of ZARDA (scented tobacco) and frequently get doused in liberal dosage of sundowners.

A great bowler who takes the wickets of great batsmen often gets out to ordinary bowlers. A great astrologer who can predict other's future can hardly control his own. Burglaries in a policeman's home are not so uncommon.

A 73 year old gentleman once told me, "I am perplexed by the hypocrisy of  the folks from my generation who now preach morality and abstinence to their children. The irony is, they never cared about these virtues when they were young, growing up.

Women can't keep a secret

Yesterday Abu Dujana, the Lashkar terrorist was killed by Indian Security forces in Kashmir. If reports are to be believed, apart from creating terror in the valley, this married young man of 28 had several girlfriends with whom he had rotational affairs. A busy guy always on move hiding from the army and police met his end as he was tipped off by one of his extra marital lovers while spending some quality time with his wife after a hiatus.

Last summer Burhan Wani, a young, handsome, charismatic Kashmir terrorist, a recruiter of terrorists and also a champion womanizer was slain in similar manner. If reports are to be believed, one of his jilted lovers led the Indian authorities to him. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

In June, 2006 Abu Musaba Al Zarqwai, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq and precursor to ISIS was killed by US laser guided bombing. Carrying a bounty of $5 million, time and again he eluded the American forces. Soon he took a young girl as his wife which spelt doom for him.

It accentuated his fall, as the girl was tracked by US agents when she went outside of his hide house to procure her feminine needs. The Americans were able to track her. Ultimately, it was that girl who provided the clue to Zarqwai's location and Americans completed the rest of the formalities.

Osama Bin Laden's extended family of multiple wives and his brood of kids was the harbinger of his downfall. The courier who fetched stuff of their needs for them informed the Americans, leading them to their Enemy no 1. Al Baghdadi, the numero uno of ISIS is still uncaptured - probably his detractors haven't figured out an woman linked to him.

Vladimir Putin having headed Russia's dreaded KGB for long time knew a thing or two about laying Honey traps. He recruited a girl who exposed a Chechen rebel leader by exposing herself in front him, facilitating the upward journey of her paramour straight into heaven by poisoning him.

Rather than taking vengeance on their paramours, it might have been the typical case for women unable to keep secrets - knowingly, gullibility or inadvertently revealing them. Ever since Kunti kept the world's best kept secret by hiding the identity of his illegitimate son Karna, the entire woman race has been cursed by his legitimate son Yudhistir to be never able to keep a secret. It's said that an average woman can't keep a secret for more than 48 hours.

Coke has probably taken a cue from Kunti's Curse. It is no secret that Coca Cola's secret formula is only shared among 7 persons, not a single of them being a woman. The men who have the knowledge of the secret formula never travel in the same flight together to ensure its protection. They have managed to keep the secret till date.

If Coke ever breaks the rule, then this female will tell her female friend the Coke's secret with a Promissory Note extracted under oath - not to tell anyone. Then she will tell her female friend the secret formula, again with a small request of not to tell it to anyone. In less than a week the "Don't tell it to anyone" finds itself on the cover page of Atlanta Courier Journal.

Mike Pence - Trump's VP choice

Trump formally announced Mike Pence, the Republican Governor from the state of Indiana as his Vice President running mate. Pence comes from a solid Red (Republican) state which only once voted for a Democrat in 2008 since 1964.

Mike Pence is a classic American Conservative, committed to Small Government, strong on national defence, believer in a muscular foreign policy, Lower taxes and lower spending on welfare measures. It's a classic strategy by Donald Trump to bring those Conservative voters, who form the base of the Republican party and don't think Trump is conservative enough - back to his fold.

But a Vice president hardly matters and rarely helps a whole lot during a Presidential campaign. It's said that the lost of VP isn't worth a bucket of warm spit - a person who forever lives in the President's shadow and represents the President in the funerals of Third World leaders.

Only if and when the President dies or resigns from office, the Vice president is elevated to the President of the United States. Most recent examples are Lyndon Johnson becoming the President on the aftermath of Kennedy's Assassination in 1963 and Gerald Ford taking over the White house in 1974 after the resignation of Richard Nixon, post Watergate Scandal.

Both hardly left a huge mark as President. Johnson didn't opt for reelection in 1968 for his webbing polpularity. Ford lost to Jimmy Carter in 1976. Last VP who was elected as President was George Bush Sr., nearly 30 years ago in 1988. Al Gore, Bill Clinton's VP lost in the year 2000. Consequent Vice presidents Dick Cheney and Joe Biden refused to run for the office of President.

Will the selection of Mike Pence, a low profile Governor will help Trump. Only time will tell.

Coaching needed for the Odia sprinters qualified for the Olympics

It was so heartening to see two Odia girls qualifying for Olympics in Sprint. On of the girl's best timing in 200m is 0.39 seconds lesser than the Olympics gold medal winner in Woman's category in 2012.

Breaking that hiatus of 0.39 seconds at that level, when a fraction of a second can decide the outcome of the race may be difficult, but not mission impossible. What they need is access to professional coaching, diet and training.

If required they should be allowed sponsorship to go abroad and avail world class facilities as well as coaching to stay competitive. That includes but not limited to special training, diets to improve the muscles in calf and below the knees to give that extra burst and boost to propel them to the next level, may be towards winning proposition.

It's not unusual for many Carribean and African runners train in USA and Europe. As said in Odia "BANA MALLI, BANARE JHADIJAE", meaning, "The Jasmine of the forest wilts away, its fragrance unknown to others". To spread the fragrance, one has to go out of box. In order to earn that competitive edge, one needs to get exposed to state of the art training. Raw talent can only take you this far.

The rush for health care abroad

Recently millions of Rajnikanth fans were in quandary when they found out their PURATCHI THALAIVAR (Revolutionary Leader) has suddenly gone to United States. Rumors started flying high and thick around him getting some surgery done in the Coke land. Before it manifested further, his brother came out giving a statement - the real reason behind the Megastar of Tamil cinema's Coming to America was to get some routine Medical Checkups done.

Rajnikanth is not new to ailments. A few years back when he went to Singapore for his treatments, his crestfallen fans conducted PUJA (worship) in temples pouring thousands of gallons of milk on SHIVLINGS (Phallus statue of Lord Shiva). many goats were sacrificed and heads shaved off shaved off to save their hero's life.

Celebrities and folks who can afford, rush abroad at the drop of hat for treatment - America being the most favored destination. Examples are many - amongst politicians Vajpayee and Sonia Gandhi had their knee and stomach surgery respectively done in USA. The cricketer Yuvraj Singh removed his cancerous growth in Boston.

Rajnikanth as I just mentioned preferred Singapore, being closer to home, having arguably the best health care facility in Asia. Only Manmohan Singh did his heart surgery in India - probably Madam Sonia did not give him permission to travel aboard, without whose permission he could not even visit loo.

So why there is so much of rush to rush abroad for treatments, even for nominal checkups, even if the same can be done at a nominal price in India ? Though privacy is one of the factors, but certainly not THE ONLY factor.

It's mostly due to lack of trust in the system. Though the quality and quantity of Hospitals back home has gone up manifolds in recent years, the health care may not have caught up to Global standards to earn enough confidence for the men and women who matter most.

It's akin to India's performance in Olympics games. From previously not winning a single medal, we have come to win 5 to 10 medals in aggregate, though still languishing behind the global standard. Our health care probably follows the same pattern - good, yet not good enough when it matters to those who matter.