A few years ago, I found myself in South Korea, seated in a grand concert hall at a world choir competition. Choirs had flown in from everywhere: Ireland, with its haunting Celtic harmonies; England, bringing in its stiff-upper-lip baritones; the Philippines, with voices that could make angels jealous and the US, belting it out with Broadway flair!

Each choir sang pieces from the great masters—Mozart, Bach, Vivaldi—the kind of music that makes you feel underdressed even in a tuxedo. And when it came time for the results? The Chinese choir swept the first prize. With precision that would have made Mozart proud. They sang with discipline, clarity, and yes—heart.

That moment stuck with me. It was about how seriously nations take excellence. Real excellence—not the chest-thumping kind that talks about ancient history, but the quiet, consistent discipline that’s demanded when you want to compete with the world and win against what the world excels in.

Now fast forward to New York—I was at two Broadway shows, last week and again yesterday.

Not some side-stage production with two lights and a fog machine, but with Times Square neon lights blazing down on it. And who were the stars of one of the shows? Not John Smith or Mary Jane, but Adi Roy and Sonya Balsara—Americans of Indian origin with talent that had pushed through packed casting rooms and made it to top billing, against the world’s best.

And that’s when it hit me again.

We Indians can make it. We’re not genetically tone-deaf or creatively handicapped. We can compete—on the world stage, in music, in science, in tech, in literature, and yes, even on Broadway—if only we don’t have leaders telling us that there’s no need to.

Because back home, it’s a different concert altogether.

“Don’t speak in English, we’ll mock you!”

“Don’t sing Western music, it’s not ours!”

“Don’t aim too high, we’ll lower the standards for you!”

And I want to yell—Stop! Stop dragging us into a third-world mindset while handing out plastic flags to wave on Independence Day!

Tell me, how will the next Sonya or Adi rise if we tie their dreams and drown them in mediocrity?

This isn’t about West versus East. It’s about excellence versus excuses. About recognizing that every time we applaud mediocrity in the name of tradition or reject ambition in the name of nationalism, we’re killing another genius in the cradle.

So, here’s my plea to you, the travelled, the educated, the once-silent: Raise your voices! Defend aspiration. Celebrate those who dare. Support the young ones reaching beyond borders—not with visas, but with vision.

Because we don’t need leaders who tell us to shrink.

We need leaders who say, “Go ahead, and make the world listen…!”

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