BE proud

　インドにいる友人から、こんなメールが送られてきました。私はインド人ではないけれど、彼らの間ではこんなのが流れているのかしらん。”be proud Indians"というチェーンメールなのですが、ちょっと面白かったので載せますね。

>We should feel proud to be an Indian!!!
>Please forward this email to all known INDIANS................WHY??

>
>FACTS TO MAKE EVERY Indian PROUD
>
>
>Q. Who is the co-founder of Sun Microsystems?
>A. Vinod Khosla
>
>
>Q. Who is the creator of Pentium chip (needs no introduction as 90% of the
>today's computers run on it)?
>A. Vinod Dahm
>
>
>Q. Who is the third richest man on the world?
>A. According to the latest report on Fortune Magazine, it is Aziz Premji,
>who is the CEO of �Wipro Industries. �The Sultan of Brunei is at 6 th
>position now.
>
>
>Q. Who is the founder and creator of Hotmail (Hotmail is world's No.1 web
>based email program)?
>A. Sabeer Bhatia
>
>
>Q. Who is the president of AT & T-Bell Labs (AT & T-Bell Labs is the
>creator of program languages such as C, C++, Unix to name a few)?
>A. Arun Netravalli
>
>
>Q. Who is the GM of Hewlett Packard?
>A. Rajiv Gupta
>
>
>Q. Who is the new MTD (Microsoft Testing Director) of Windows 2000,
>responsible to iron out all initial problems?
>A. Sanjay Tejwrika
>
>
>Q. Who are the Chief Executives of CitiBank, Mckensey & Stanchart?
>A. Victor Menezes, Rajat Gupta, and Rana Talwar.
>

>Q. We Indians are the wealthiest among all ethnic groups in America, even
>faring better than the whites and the natives.
>There are 3.22 millions of Indians in USA (1.5% of population). YET,
>38% of doctors in USA are Indians.
>12% scientists in USA are Indians.
>36% of NASA scientists are Indians.
>34% of Microsoft employees are Indians.
>28% of IBM employees are Indians.
>17% of INTEL scientists are Indians.
>13% of XEROX employees are Indians.
>
>
>
>
>Some of the following facts may be known to you. These facts were recently
>published in a German magazine, which deals with WORLD HISTORY FACTS ABOUT
>INDIA.
>1. � � India never invaded any country in her last 1000 years of history.
>2. � � India invented the Number system. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.
>3. � � The world's first University was established in Takshila in 700BC.
>More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60
>subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4 th century BC was one
of
>the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.
>4. � � According to the Forbes magazine, Sanskrit is the most suitable
>language for computer software.
>�
>5. � � Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans.
>6. � � Although western media portray modern images of India as poverty
>striken and underdeveloped through �political corruption, India was once
>the richest empire on earth.
>�
>7. � � The art of navigation was born in the river Sindh 5000 years ago.
>The very word "Navigation" is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH.
>8. � � The
>value of pi was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the
concept
>of what is now known as the Pythagorean Theorem. British scholars have
last
>year (1999) officially published that Budhayan's works dates to the 6 th
>Century which is long before the European mathematicians.
>�
>9. � � Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India. Quadratic
>equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11th Century; the largest numbers
>the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Indians used numbers as
big
>as 10 53.
>10. According to the Gemmological Institute of America, up until 1896,
>India was the only source of diamonds to the world.
>�
>11. USA based IEEE has proved what has been a century-old suspicion
amongst　academics that the pioneer of wireless communication was Professor
Jagdeesh Bose and not Marconi.
>12. The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra.
>�
>13. Chess was invented in India.
>14. Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health
>scientists of his time conducted surgeries like cesareans, cataract,
>fractures and urinary stones. Usage of anaesthesia was well known in
>ancient India.
>15. When many cultures in the world were only nomadic forest dwellers over
>5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley
>(Indus Valley Civilisation).
>16. The place value system, the decimal system was　developed in India in 100 BC.
>
>
>
>
>Quotes about India.
>We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no
>worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.
>Albert Einstein.
>
>
>
>India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the
>mother of history, the grandmother of legend and the great grand mother of
>tradition.
>Mark　Twain.
>
>
>
>If there is one place on the face of earth where all dreams of living men
>have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of
>existence, it is India.
>French scholar Romain Rolland.
>
>
>
>India conquered and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries without
>ever having to send a single soldier across her border.
>Hu Shih　(former Chinese ambassador to USA)
>
>
>
>ALL OF THE ABOVE IS JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG, THE LIST COULD BE
ENDLESS.
>BUT, if we don't see even a glimpse of that great India in the India that
>we see today, it clearly means　that we are not working up to our potential; and >that if we do, we could　once again be an evershining and inspiring country >setting a bright path for rest of the world to follow.
>I hope you enjoyed it and work towards the welfare of INDIA.
>
>
>Say proudly, I AM AN INDIAN.
>
>

　なんとまあ、探してみると色々あるものなんですねー。hotmailの創設者がindianだったなんて知らなかったよ(笑）　私の中では”０(ゼロ)"という概念を発見したというだけでも、インド人はかなり偉大です。だってこれって人類史上、ものすごい事ですよね！アインシュタインの引用によると数字、数学というのもインド発祥なのでしょうか・・・。（無知ですね、私）
インドは中国についで人口が多いし、比率から言えば優秀な人材を多く輩出しても全然おかしくはないですよね。もちろん、実際はそう単純にはいかないでしょうが。でも全体的な活気というか、巻き込まれそうなほどのエネルギーがあるのは事実。同時に、かなり混沌ともしてもいるのだろうけど。ここでふと私の出会った人々を思い出すと、やる人は徹底的にやるし、やらない人は徹底的にやらないようなイメージもあるかなあ・・・と思い、笑えてしまいました。

う〜ん、でもこれって、何だか妙にナショナリズムを煽ってる？いいところを自覚するのはとってもいい事なのだけど、ちょっっぴりこのメールの意図は？？なんて思ってしまいました。

　”be proud Japanese"を考えてみるのも面白いかしらん。普段気づいていないけれど、考えればたくさんありそうです。結構楽しい作業かもしれません。
どうでしょう？日本人として、客観的に世界に「こうなんだ！」と発信できる誇りを持ってる？