Monday, February 27, 2012

Safety: Just a leap of faith

Since the internet revolution took off in 2006 the world has largely become a global village. In this global village migration from one part to another has almost become a phase in one’s life. You need to break away from your cozy Indian home at some point and spread your wings.

It maybe because of this, and due to the competitiveness that is instilled in students since they learn the alphabet that many students in India prefer to go abroad to study. The presence of Indian students abroad is quite sizeable as well; over 100,000 Indian students are studying in the US as of 2011. An Indian student at Harvard even joked that the last time he had heard that much Hindi was when he was in Mumbai.

And since we have a large part of our population studying abroad, we would be concerned if something was happening to them, or if their safety was jeopardized. In our concern we tend to overlook certain details and pay attention to only the fact that Indian students are being attacked.

We need to look at the bigger picture to realize that it isn’t just our students that are getting ‘attacked’, but students of all nationalities face equal threat to their security. Students prove easy targets for people who commit crime, as they are often out late and can take no major action on their own.

Students that come to India face the same danger as the Indian students that go abroad to pursue education. Therefore it makes more sense to look at why students are targeted, and remedy that, instead of crying foul play and sensationalizing the news.
We can take a leaf out the book of foreign governments, when the smallest incident of crime takes place in a country they issue a warning to their citizens. So when students are applying to study abroad we should make them aware of the dangers they might face, if there is reason to believe they might.

Colleges and schools should also take it upon themselves to set up a counseling center for students that wish to study abroad. Try and have programs that will educate them about the culture in the area. Parents also need to realize that the instance of crime in the UK and the US are higher than India, hence the chances that their children might be hurt or be victims of crime, is not necessarily due to their racial identity.

Students also need to be aware of which areas they should and shouldn’t visit at different times of the day. If you look at the Anuj Bidve case, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was not a racially motivated crime. No place in the entire world is safe at all times of the day. Students need to be aware of this instead of going wild when they have flown the coop.

The Indian media also has an important role to play in informing parents and students of what really happens. If they publish sensationalized reports that will increase their viewership, they will generate unnecessary paranoia. This is exactly what we see happening today. An Indian student is as safe as any other student in that country. There may well be instances of crime against Indian students, but if you look at India you see it is no different, foreign students are targets of crime here.
I do not think it is fair to say that it isn’t safe only for Indian students.

Everyone runs the same risks; you need to be aware at all times and realize what you can and cannot do. It is crazy to live your life in fear of what may happen. We are all continuously taking risks, so if you have a dream or goal then take that leap of faith and be prepared for the free fall.

“All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous unpremeditated act without benefit of experience” said Henry Miller and he was right. If you wish to live your life with no regrets or opportunities lost then I would encourage you to do the same.

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