"the family background of those Indians in America as described here by the author, may have played a factor, they have such a "desire for success" in the blood, and they have the "prior successful experience in life" and they have that family and social background behind them. those are important, undeniably.
however, there are other "factors" that also play important "roles", in their success.
from my observation of those Indians, some are pepole i work with, some are my neighbors, one thing i find is that, their English is better than many Chinese, because they went to English school growing up. they may speak with very heavy Indian accent, but their grammer, their choices of words, are usually correct. Their "expression" is very Americanized and smooth. They can be understood, and they understand others well too. It doesn't take long for them to respond to you, meaning they pick up quickly. that is the language factor.
now the cultulre factor.without the "language barrier", their grasp of the American culture is quick. With cultural and language as "support", they feel more comfortable and confident to deal with Americans of all levels, and Americans find it easier to communicate with them. As a result, those Indians understand well and are understood well. (it is important to understand first, then to seek to be understood).
So for those of us, who did not come from a "noble family background", don't be discouraged, we can beat that game, if we strive hard enough.
try to mix in with main stream culture, partipate, read every day, have some close friends of all cultures. Don't spend all our weekends time on dumpling wrapping, and Chinese opera (those are good, don't get me wrong), but spread our time engaging in different activities. Read news, politics and so on. Meanwhile, we still could reserve our own culture, we don't need to foresake our "root" to become an American. we just want to be familiar with the both cultures. that would help us. this is just my humble opinion, may not be politically correct. just to share my thought."
In US, Indians indeed fare better than Chinese. Language is their big advantage--a better way toward management level.
Another more important reason is that they do have higher expectation of themselves, always aiming at the highest positions and opportunties, like Jews. It is not to say they are smarter than other ethnic groups. But such a simple tradition can collectively become an amazing powerhouse. There are at least a few Indians among the world's richest 10 people. One Indian is actually the richest person in England.
By the same token, Jewish people are not necessarily born smarter than other peoples, but their tradition determines that they always seek the most challenging and rewarding positions in this world. While it may sound hard to take challenging positions, as it turns out, that's actually the smartest shortcut to high achievement.
Aim high. So should we.
999朵玫瑰 发表评论于
没看过电影，不敢妄加评论。但作者似乎对印度的种姓制度有所赞赏，我可不这么看，我觉得那是最不人道的制度，落后，野蛮，也制约了印度的发展。印度人在湾区混得比老中好点，很大程度是语言，毕竟是英语教育的，first language and 2nd language绝对是不一样的。还有就是他们被英国殖民多年。对白人文化比老中了解。印度人重教育没错，很多人住公寓孩子也要上私立，这是价值观的文题，无所谓好坏。老印都能干吗，不见得，多数老印有白人的影子，会吹会抢攻，老中这点是比不上。可和啥种姓没关系。
How do you define 老中? First generation or Chinese heritage? For the latter, there are 2 out 15 cabinet level this time: Chu and Locke (to be confirmed). 往上爬,你还要爬到哪去？
