The Fear Factor

Prasad and I were reading about the bomb that was found in New York this past week and that everyone was evacuated in the near vicinity.  We discussed how much more cautious the US is compared to India. Multiple bombs were found  at the cricket stadium in Bangalore and the game went on. The Indian public although disappointed with the Bangalore police, did not question why everyone was not evacuated. Given the panic it may have caused, perhaps it was the right decision but I doubt this is the decision that the US would have taken. The US public is far more demanding of the police and its security. The threat of terrorism is higher in India yet I think people live in less fear of it here compared to the US.  Maybe the Indian public accepts that it is part of life. The papers have numerous articles on crimes and terrorism but I think the biggest fear Indians have is of their children namely their girls being kidnapped or violated.  In the US, we  live with irrational fears and cannot have our children out of our eyesight for more than a few minutes. Perhaps this is because there are far fewer people on the streets or because we don't know our neighbors.  The chances of something happening to our children on our front lawns in the US is far lower than what could happen in a gated apartment complex in India  and yet our children roam free on the playgrounds here. In our defence, there are a bazillion parents and children and everyone is looking out for each other. I don't know what's better, we've definitely become less cautious here but  I bet we'll revert back to the way we were in the US when we go back and I wonder why.