Unwelcome Exports

“Manners are often more

important than laws. For

on them, in good measure,

the laws always depend.”

— Edmund Burke

Soliloquy: In a Texas suburb, the newly-arrived Varmas set out to recreate Diwali in all its Indian splendour. Lights and diyas glowed to vaunt rangolis and lines of sweets boxes on the porch. For neighbours, the evening began in curiosity and fascination. It turned to chagrin when the Varmas, clad in silks and bravado, came out with firecrackers. In minutes, the street became a party zone. Bombs burst, rockets screamed skyward and smoke billowed, sending the neighbours running inside their homes. Somehow, a stray spark landed in a garage lined with clothes and dry leaves. The alarm wailed and fire trucks soon drowned the festive din. By the time the smoke cleared, the once-pristine street was strewn with burnt casings and ash, the air acrid with embarrassment. The Varmas, who had meant to cheer up their new world, stood amid the wreckage, bewildered and sheepish… strangers once more in the land they hoped to call home.

There was a time when Indians abroad were admired—industrious, academically-gifted, law-abiding and courteous. That image, burnished by decades of diligence, diplomacy and discipline, now faces erosion, changing how Indians are being perceived around the world. For this new breed is not just relocating, it is attempting to replicate. It reaches faraway lands not to integrate but to impose, not to adapt but to assert. In doing so, it also exports an annoying trait—the inability to respect or adapt to the culture and norms of others. From New Jersey to New Zealand, its actions are leading to a belief that Indians are by far the loudest guests at the global dinner table, the least willing to listen.

Clearly, India is exporting a problem, one that is turning its national cultural pride into an international public burden. Take the recent Diwali festivities in the United States, when hundreds of families like the Varmas lit up the skies with firecrackers, not using open fields or community parks, but residential areas. The act was illegal, unsafe and inconsiderate, prompting police complaints and public outrage. Long-settled Indians, mortified by the spectacle, expressed dismay. “We have lived here harmoniously for decades. Now, people are pointed fingers at us and whispering,” one long-term Indian resident in Texas said. For him and many others, the line between celebration and nuisance has been blurred beyond recognition.

Behavioural Spill-Over

What happened in the United States is not an isolated incident, but part of a broader pattern. In the United Kingdom, local councils have been compelled to repeatedly caution Indian residents against using fireworks and loud sound systems during religious festivals. In Canada, Holi gatherings have spilled into streets and parking lots, leading to sanitation messes and traffic chaos. In Australia, student groups have turned varsity dormitories into festival venues, awash with drums, chants and midnight revelry.

Even outside festival times, new Indian immigrant behaviour is often found grating. They frequently ignore basic civic norms, talk loudly in public spaces, jump queues and argue with airline staff. Social media clips show Indian travellers treating trains, buses and airports as their own living rooms or spittoons, devoid of civilized etiquette. These images are painting a crude stereotype… that Indians, no matter where they sail, bring disorder in their wake.

At the heart of this problem lies a cultural confusion. Many emigrants seem to have left home but carried India with them, hellbent on recreating ‘little Indias’ wherever they settle. For instance, in Canada, public parks and rivers have been used for religious immersions, complete with idols, flower waste and amplified music. In the US and Europe, housing complexes are now hosting full-blown processions and noisy celebrations, leaving local residents dumbfounded. It is almost as if cultural colonisation is being waged.

The intent may be innocent—even a yearning to preserve tradition—but the acts reek of entitlement. The world doesn’t object to culture, it only frowns on its excesses, especially if they are indulged in with blatant disregard for local norms. Festivals meant for joy and reverence thus become spectacles of defiance, while heritage is seen as a weapon of assertion. The result is resentment from local communities and older-settled Indians, who now find themselves being measured by the in-your-face bravado of newcomers.

Cultural Carryover

What is worrying is how Indians abroad are importing domestic divisions into other lands, replaying India’s political and religious tensions on foreign soil. Groups are forming around ideology, while social events are turning partisan and places of worship are morphing into conduits of political mobilisation. Where older generations of Indians once united with a shared cultural identity, the newer diaspora is mirroring India’s internal fractures… They are noisy, divided and visibly (and verbally) intolerant.

This export of aggression and strife is drawing alarm from governments and communities alike. For nations that saw Indian immigrants as peaceful and industrious, this new taste of imported discord is just not hitting the sweet spot. Indians abroad, once a beacon of integration, now look like cultural campaigners, all but demanding acceptance on their own terms, rather than earning it through empathy and achievement.

The fallout is not confined to perception; it has diplomatic and policy consequences too. In some nations, immigration rules are being tightened and visa rules revisited. Deportations are becoming commonplace even for minor public misdemeanours. Given this backdrop, any further perception of Indians as disruptive or disrespectful could have severe repercussions.

Culture Needs Restraint

India’s global reputation is a delicate asset. For years, the Indian abroad has served as a soft-power tool, a living advertisement for the nation’s civility and competence. If that narrative shifts toward disorder, the damage will be severe, for once goodwill erodes, rebuilding it is tough. New emigrants who consider their host countries to be a free-for-all stage for self-expression should realize they are guests, not conquerors.

Some argue that these are small incidents, a mere display of joy and cultural pride. But pride is no excuse for bad manners. Culture is not proved by celebrating it loudly. The ability to blend in while retaining one’s individuality is not a weakness. Indians abroad must view cultural adaptation not as defeat, but evolution. Long-settled immigrants argue that the new wave confuses noise with nationalism. Some ‘oldies’ view India not as a memory, but as baggage, unwilling to see that it is ultimately a nation with its own rhythm and codes. Their argument is that ‘newbies’ are trying to force-fit India in a new land from Day One, without earning the spurs to do so, and without having the sensitivity to do it in a civilized manner.

If the diaspora wants to reclaim its stature, the reset must begin from within. Indian associations should lead awareness campaigns, promote civic sense and fan responsible celebration. Community centres and temples can serve as controlled spaces for festivities, ensuring that traditions flourish without disturbing public order. Older residents, especially those who have navigated the crossing from identity to integration, must mentor newcomers on how to honour both heritage and host.

Of Pride and Arrogance

This debate is not about fireworks or festivals; it is about the erosion of reputation that took decades to build. The challenge is not of assimilation but of attitude, and to remember that respect is reciprocal. Any culture, however rich, loses meaning when it ceases to respect others. The world has long admired Indians for what they are. It now seems to fear that Indians are beginning to impose. That the new Indian emigrant is casting sensitivity and sensibility aside, opting instead for misplaced pride and overvisible arrogance.

Travelling Indians must remember that this nation’s reputation rests not just on its economy or diplomacy, but on how its people conduct themselves beyond their own borders. The diaspora too needs to redeploy the humility and strength that made ‘Indians’ equal to ‘integrity’. The greatest tribute an Indian abroad can pay to his nation is not to make foreign lands resemble his own, but to make India and Indians proud. End of story, when settling in other nations, Indians need to not just go, but grow.

He can be reached on narayanrajeev2006@gmail.com. Views expressed are personal. The writer is a veteran journalist and communications specialist