To a Friend Planning to go Abroad
Ahmedabad
16 April, 19…
Dear Kailash,
I am glad you have won an Indo-US Exchange Scholarship to go to New York State University to study ‘Post-Gorbachev US-Russia Relationships’. You are a scholar of American Literature and Culture and this will be a golden opportunity for you to have a personal account of the more customs and political systems of the world’s largest democracy and the richest country.
From my own experience of the American people which I obtained during my stay for two years there, I can say you will love the Americans. They are warm, fun-loving, and hard-working. Remember the earliest Europeans who settled there around 1600 had to build their economy from scratch. They did it the hard way using their own muscle power. America has a do-it-yourself culture. Lazy people have no place there. Intelligent people with innovative ideas are welcome to contribute and if one stays back one can make a fast buck.
You may not be able to approve of permissive sex and consumer materialism. There is the dark side of freak cultures and the struggle for supremacy and power, racial discrimination, etc. But as Nehruji said, no culture is entirely glorious.
Keep me informed of your reaction once you are in the US.
With all best wishes.
Jacob Anthony.
