r2i forum

anand1;30705I always wondered whats the life like for Indians living in UK. This is not about general lifestyle which I am guessing is pretty much like US. But the question is about how do they feel about living in a country that had once ruled India. This is a genuine question not to offend any one.

We know how we treat the Britons in our history books like how they humiliated and looted India, how do the British depict their heroes in history particularly people like Robert Clive who won the first war against an Indian Kingdom. Do they have a holiday for "India-defeat day" just like we have a holiday for India independence day ? I am thinking those days must be the ones particularly hard for Indians to face their history particularly when there are enactments of history all over Britain.

Are there any references to the history particularly their rule in India during the conversations ? Any insults and insinuations in this regard ? If so, how do you guys cope up ?

Though it is never easy to live like an alien outside your country of origin, sometimes I am glad to live in a country like USA whose history is not connected with India even remotely (except the native Indians part :)).

Sorry for my ignorant rants, please enlighten me..[/quote]

The people that ruled India during the days of the Raj are long dead and gone and its history. We learn from history and try and better our selves. Sure you are glad to be living in the US which has no history of rule on India, but ask the native Indians how they feel about it. Every country has its good and bad. All Germans can't be bad cause Hitler was from there.... India if it wasn't ruled by the British, may have been divided into several smaller countries. We have had alot of good come out from the British rule, lets not always look at the negatives and pessimism, times have changed and that narrow minded attitude has no place in this small world.
We as people of Indian origin have as much and as many rights in this country obsessed with political correctness and India today is one of the largest investor and employer in the UK.

HAKUNAMATATA;30833The people that ruled India during the days of the Raj are long dead and gone and its history. We learn from history and try and better our selves. Sure you are glad to be living in the US which has no history of rule on India, but ask the native Indians how they feel about it. Every country has its good and bad. All Germans can't be bad cause Hitler was from there.... India if it wasn't ruled by the British, may have been divided into several smaller countries. We have had alot of good come out from the British rule, lets not always look at the negatives and pessimism, times have changed and that narrow minded attitude has no place in this small world.
We as people of Indian origin have as much and as many rights in this country obsessed with political correctness and India today is one of the largest investor and employer in the UK.[/quote]
I think the OPs question is "how is the history of Indian invasion and occupation depicted in UK's history books?". No one is denying what you are saying but that is not what the OP may be looking for. The OP's question is related to the perspectives and treatment of history by 2 countries that were in opposite sides. I know that Bhagat Singh is an extremist like Bin Laden for UK and is a freedom fighter appearing in text books of India. To be more precise how are people like Bhagat Singh, Netaji Bose portrayed in UK history? How are people like Genl Dyer, Robert Clive portrayed in UK history? I know Iraq war was called war for WMD and war for freedom and what not. What is the perception of UK born CDs about Indian occupation by UK?

I was touring UK and one British lady spoke to me and apologized for the occupation of India by UK and the subsequent ill treatment of Indians. A lot of Indians settled in UK I spoke to felt that the British Raj should have continued in UK. They were fascinated by the idea of India being part of UK. I do not know that whether it is a coincidence that I met such people. This was about 12 yrs ago.

desihometown;30949IWhile visiting UK, One thing I was pissed off with was the number of artifacts & jewels the Brits have looted from India and display in the British Museum,
(tons of stuff from the golden throne of a Punajb king to Tipu Sultan's stuff)
Tower Of London (Kohinoor), Victoria Albert Museum. (gold and silver ware)

I dont understand why they still cant return the loot back to India. Particularly when they know that their forefathers stole & looten all this stuff
from Indians.[/quote]

I don't feel that strongly about them returning that stuff to India. At least they are not putting up that stuff for sale in the market and making money off of it.

The thing is - all that stuff is probably not monetarily worth a whole lot to either country. More than anything it has historic value. By placing it in the British museum they have done their best to preserve that historic value.

I think the sentiment is "this is a part of our history - for good or worse - that we acknowledge and want the world to know", rather than "hey look what we've looted!"

It's a very mature thing for both countries to realize this sentiment rather than fight over it. It helps in putting history behind us - where it belongs - and not in front of us.

RRK;30972If Kohinoor had been given back to India, we would have no Kohinoor by now, only an enquiry commission investigating how it was stolen in day light when 100's of guards were guarding the museum. In fact, Indian museums can give their very important articles to London to preserve, and renovate the places to provide call centres...

I recently visited Chennai Museum and Kolkatta museum. Kolkatta one was much better. I think Maran should turn the Chennai Museum to be one of the IT or telecom SEZ.

Indians are hypocrtic when it comes to heritage and saving old values. We only give lip service.[/quote]

Good Point. Agree