Where the mind is free........

Monday, December 15, 2008

Should we stay put or migrate

Migration

The age old dilemma appears when one thinks of migration. The safe and sure way of looking at it is to see who did migrate so far. Obviously the ones who migrated did so since the place they belonged to did not fit them or vice versa. It would mean that there were conditions that disallowed them to stay where they were born. May be there were no opportunities, economic or they ran into some trouble that made them flee.

There seems to be a third category who looked for opportunity to apply themselves better. They were willing to work hard and they wanted more by way of returns. They were unhappy with the existing conditions in their home country in its ability to provide them.

It also turns out that the ones who migrated were also more adventurous. They were able to take risks . They were able to jump into the uncertainty that the migration required them to.

This brings us to the question of whether one should migrate. From an ecological footprint perspective there are countries with a favourable balalnce of the available resources/landmass per capita. In that sense India stands at the bottom. The population is so high in comparison to the available land and resources. Some others do stand more favourable. Australia , Canada, New Zealand. All these countries can also be considered the new New world.

Nevertheless one needs to decide whether one should migrate? There are instances when people come back due to reasons of incompatibility with the culture, with the climate and so forth. There are comments by others that if one has a chance of a reasonably good living then it is better to stay put.

Of course there is the question of temperament. Are you willin gto be in a multicultural setting or do you like to be in th eplace of your ancestors?
Do you have reasons to run away or are you in a situation where you are better off staying put. Or are you also having to look after an older generation. What is your qualification and age. Do you have a reasonably long time in front that gives you opportunity to earn and build life in the new home?

Balancing these questions is tough and neertheless are the right questions.




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