胡主席在印度，我却在中国.docVIP

胡主席在印度，我却在中国 　　Today, Sunday morning, I sit thinking and typing at my computer. My thoughts are in my homeland, India and my body is in China. The body is here and mind there for a good reason. Mr. Hu is president and I am resident and both are in each other’s countries (what a difference the absence of one small letter makes!). Mr. Hu will return in a few days and I will stay on longer. Mr. Hu is important to the world and I am to my family and hopefully, to friends and students. 　　Mr. Hu discusses economics and politics and other important worldly things with his counterparts across the globe and I ruminate on life, love, nature and other sundry things that sometimes have some meaning for some students and friends. My actions and decisions drive a microcosmic economy of a family. Mr. Hu’s every word and actions drive the economy of a large, growing nation and billions of people across the world and what he will say or do in India may affect me, too, perhaps in significant ways. 　　There is a lot of excitement in India these days about the potential of these two ancient nations and the growing cooperation between them (bilateral trade expected to surpass US$20 billion this year). In India, the excitement is not merely limited to businessmen and politicians but spans across the nation and touches the hearts of the common man, too. Some canny and forward-looking students are taking up Chinese with the same enthusiasm that many Chinese students are showing for English. They know that knowledge of Chinese will give their careers a huge push and that little advantage which often makes so much difference, like the lack of a “p” in my resident status. 　　Today, I am a foreign teacher, and a little more, in China and some time later, I imagine, many of those reading this article might be “foreign teachers” in India, Europe, the US or perhaps in Brazil, Russia or Africa. Foreign teachers are like mini ambassadors who help build small bridges of understanding, cooperation