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Would you want to be reborn in your country? Unlike Chinese, Most Indians Are Affirmative Rema Nagaraj | TIG New Delhi: Given a choice, most Indians would like to be born as Indians again. In an exclusive poll conducted by The Times of India, nearly 90% of people in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad opted to be Indians in a hypothetical next birth. Those polled were in the 18-35 age group, and their overwhelming preference for India cut across religious and gender divides. This contrasts sharply with a recent online poll in China that asked the same question. According to The Guardian, 64% of the roughly 10,000 Chinese polled said they didn't want to be reborn as Chinese-that is, before the authorities shut it down. TOI's poll, conducted by leading market research agency TNS, showed that despite Indians' strong love for their country, their religious affiliations were very strong. Among those favouring rebirth as non-Indians, a majority (75%) wanted to follow their present religion. Mumbai was the only exception with a significant 40% seeking rebirth as foreigners wishing to be born into a different religion. THINK INDIAN, LIVE ANYWHERE Unity in diversity cited as key reason for love of India New Delhi: An exclusive fivemetro poll conducted by TOI reveals that an overwhelming 90% of citizens would like to be reborn as Indians. What's the reason behind this strong love for India? 'Unity in diversity' was cited as reason number 1, proving the power of cliches. More than a third said that's why they wanted to be reborn Indian. Now, here's a twist-the one big reason why some didn't want to be reborn as Indians was that the country was divided along caste, community, linguistic and regional lines. Diversity, as you can see, cuts both ways. After unity in diversity, the second big reason for staying with India in the next life was the country's 'rich spiritual heritage'. Among other reasons cited for sticking with India were its 'rapid economic progress', its 'intellectual capabilities' and its 'great human resources'. Unity in diversity was the clincher for 60% in Delhi, 42% in Hyderabad and 33% in Kolkata. The big reason in Mumbai was, however, different-40% said they would like to remain Indians in their next life because of its rapid economic progress. The margin between the materialists and spiritualists didn't seem very big in Mumbai-after economic progress, the big reason in the city was India's spiritual heritage, with 30% citing that as the clincher for wishing to remain Indian in the next life. In Bangalore, too, India's spiritual heritage was the clincher at 33%. The belief that Indians have better intellectual capabilities was the main reason for 21% in Hyderabad and 23% in Kolkata. Only in Hyderabad did a significant portion (17%) rate India as becoming the biggest country in terms of population and human resources as their main reason for remaining Indian. TOI-TNS tossed another question to those who wished to be reborn as Indians-would they rather live in India or in another country? A little more than half said they would like to stay in India. But there was no uniform pattern. For instance, in Delhi and Hyderabad, more than 90% chose to live in India, while in Kolkata and Bangalore, almost all the respondents wanted to live in some other country-an interesting case of identifying with the civilisation but not with the nation-state. Among the different religious communities, it was only among Sikhs that those wanting to be born Indian but staying somewhere else outnumbered those who wanted to stay at home. There were some variations across gender too. Nearly 70% of women wanted to be reborn as Indians and stay in India, as against 47% of the men. Not surprisingly, the US was the first choice for those wanting to be reborn Indian but opting for residence in another country. Britain was the second choice and Switzerland a surprising third, with Canada, Australia and Singapore behind the top three. Innumerable Bollywood movies shot in picturesque Switzerland could possibly be the reason why it's a dream residence for many. The same Bollywood influence could be behind the choice for Australia and New Zealand. In Delhi, an overwhelming 83% opted for the US, the rest for the UK. The pattern is similar in Mumbai-first choice is the US, but its second choice isn't the UK but Dubai. Expectedly, nearly half the Sikhs wanting to be foreigners in their next birth chose the US. Interestingly, except for 5% from Bangalore, no one wanted to be born in China. Among the Muslim respondents, too, the US was first choice, followed by the UK and Dubai as joint second. As to the reasons for not wanting to be reborn Indian, divisions over religion and caste were reason No 1, followed by corruption and the "low importance attached to human life''. For Mumbai, corruption seems a bigger concern than divisions among people. In Bangalore, the top reason for nearly 60% was the difficulty in achieving social mobility in India. For all minorities except the Sikhs, people being divided on issues of religion and caste was the biggest issue, with more than half the Muslims and Christians who chose to be reborn outside India citing this as the reason. Among women respondents, too, the divide among people was the main reason. Among men, it was corruption, followed by the lack of opportunities to realise one's full potential that were the most cited reasons. For Hindus too, India not giving enough opportunity to people to realise their full potential was the main reason. Would those opting to be born as foreigners want to live in India? A significant 36% said they would. In Mumbai, that figure was as high as 73%. Among Muslims too more than half of those opting to be born foreigners said they preferred to live in India, the only religious group for which this was true. Muslims-and Jains-also seemed most open to switching their religion should they be reborn as foreigners. Again, it was the younger lot who seemed more attached to their religious identity. In the 18-24 age group, 82% of respondents preferring a non-Indian rebirth chose to continue in the same religion. The 24-35 age group in comparison had only about 70% who said they wanted to continue with the same religion. URL : http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDA2LzEwLzAzI0FyMDAxMDI=&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom |
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