Are we quick to reclaim the Indian connection?

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Just as American astronaut Sunita Williams plans to go into space again, so begins the frenzy of highlighting her Indian connection. It’s an old story that rears its head whenever a person of Indian origin makes it big on the global platform.

So, why are we so quick to claim these people as our own while we may have done nothing to contribute to their achievements?
“It’s not fair to claim their success as our own because we have often made no contribution to their achievements. Just because an achiever is born in India, or his or her parents once lived in India does not give us the right to proclaim them as our own,” feels Dr Quaisar Alam, a Ph.D. scholar, based in Delhi, adding that it’s better to control the excitement till the achiever himself expresses a desire to highlight his or her Indian connection.
Agrees advertising professional Shikha Sharma, who fails to understand why we are so eager to ‘reclaim such achievers’, when they choose not to live in India. “While many of them may have Indian roots, some were not even born in India, like Sunita. They never even attempted to display their affection for India. Then what is this frenzy about?” questions the 23-year-old.
Many feel that those like Indra Nooyi, Salman Rushdie and of course Sunita Williams wouldn’t have been who they are if it hadn’t been for the success they achieved and the accolades they received. “It’s not fair to bask in their glory. We must introspect about what contribution they could have made to the country had they been living here,” says Aaliya Bhabi Balasinor, former royalty and rights activist.