The way we honor ourselves is not to speak about ourselves in generalities, to avoid (in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s words) “the danger of the single story,” but rather to engage in our many stories.
As a first generation Indian-American who has lived all over the world, and who has family in India, I am concerned about the COVID outbreak in India. I’m also concerned about the way we are talking about India.
Indeed, the COVID crisis in India is severe but I’m not going to be silent while lies with a colonizing subtext are going “viral.”
India isn’t slammed because of a supposedly “subpar” healthcare system. India is the leader in medical tourism. India is the largest producer of vaccines globally. India has also produced some of the world’s finest doctors. India is a leader in medical technology. And before we get carried away, I’m not saying that India is better than any other country. That would be counterintuitive for me to say as a global citizen. I’m challenging the narrative that India is inferior. India is not.