Thanksgiving , a taste of the Indian and American: Perspectives on Indo American community

source:http:\\www.wikipedia.org

Tonight I am at my aunts in Chicago. It’s a place that I can call home within a thousand mile radius of the university. A few hours ago we had a very good meal of turkey, potato, sauce and pies. Right now I’m watching the New York jets demolish the Cincinnati Bengals, albeit with some sorrow. That’s not what I am going to write this blog over, I rarely write on games. Today I will write about family, food and what I see as the identity of people of Indian origin in America. The family I met was my own; relatives who’ve been here for a rather long time. Some are American citizens, other are well on their way to being one. Given this context some might consider the meeting to be akin to meeting outsiders, alien to my usual way of life. That is certainly not the case.

After 2 months of university life, surrounded by my friends and work, meeting indirect family (Not my parents) in such a situation can be discomfiting. I mean where is my real home here? India is too far away and so is the answer Chicago or Columbus? That answer will still need some debating. So when an uncle I have not met in like 8 years picks you up on the 5.5 hour long drive to Chicago. When you move from the two month familiar university campus to somewhere else in an unfamiliar country it can be frightening. Yet they are family. See the paradox? Regardless of my fear or inhibitions the evening did turn out to be fine. We had a very Indian celebration in the afternoon called Raksha bandhan. Like thanksgiving it celebrates the unity of family. The dinner as I said was resplendent. At its end I was left with a very delectable impression. South Asian Indians in America are not very different from their counterparts back in the old world. If anything what makes them different is superfluous and frivolous. I attribute them to cultural differences over pop and movies and maybe the skill with the English language. The real difference lies in how they integrate the best values of the American society while retaining the timeless values that come with being a good Indian. 

So today got me thinking about home and I decided to write a bit more about it. About what it is like back there and what makes Indian people despite their sordid condition, inheritors of a brighter future. India today, as the villages go, is poor hungry and populous. Child mortality and the development index in five states are as low as in Sub Saharan Africa. A simplistic reasoning would be that things from here can only go up. A more logical explanation would be that this harsh world creates a strong drive for improvement in its people. People often argue that Dharavi, one of the world’s largest slums is also a tremendous school in entrepreneurship and resilience. So the engine of the Indian economy runs on the intense competition and the sheer bulk of a billion people. I go to college in America and the relative lack of competitiveness is very perceptible. Advantages present here however are tremendous, such as better infrastructures and superior experience based teaching.

So let me tie up the previous paragraph with the rest of the blog. People of Indian origin in the United States play a vital role for both India and the relationship between our two countries. With time and India’s rising status differences in American strategic interests over Indian ones might become irksome. It will be the responsibility to a large extent of the expatriate community to soothe the nerves. It will also be important for them to build bridges of understanding between the two cultures. One such understanding would be individual competition and strive to succeed (Rationalize the reality of outsourcing and compete to survive). American corporate success has been driven by its fierce competition. This competition among individuals died down soon enough in view of the economic boom that swept the country. This complacency is why fewer Americans went to college and the American economy lost the edge of its strong asset; its people. That is the same asset which for so long was India’s burden and that is now being put to good use. The global economy is changing and the isolation of individual competition from America is coming to a close. It will be more important now than ever for those who never stopped competing to seize opportunities and reinvigorate this trait back into the American ethos. Hard work is respected and always pays.

To do or not to do... -from experiences in the new world

•  ·        Never ask the person next to you to move over on a transatlantic flight.
• ·        Never hold the urge to pee till you land.
• ·        Never appear lost and keep an eye on your baggage, especially in Heathrow airport, London.
• ·        Always keep your passport on you even if you have an overbearing but well meaning parent insisting over its custody
• ·        If questioned by immigration police over absence of passports point at said parent and hope they don’t laugh too loud.
• ·        Always be polite, even (maybe especially) in the face of an irate policeman with a handgun
• ·        Accept the complimentary wine (if under 21) with decisiveness and be nonchalant.
• ·        Pretend to be a kid if sitting next to a highly testosterone fuelled man with a gleam in his eye
• ·        Flirt with the air hostess. You get perks
• ·        Shake firm and if your hands feel crushed, bear it with a good countenance.
• ·        Gather your bags and get out of the airport as soon as possible. They can cancel your visa as     long as you are in the airport.
• ·        Talk to the cabbie and give him a tip.
• ·        Never take a bath in a motel, only showers if you must.
• ·        Swallow the fact that your kid cousin knows more about American football with good grace (erst it gets unpleasant)
• ·        Never give in to an American what football is. (it is NOT SOCCER!)
• ·        Love the country; it’s beautiful as are the people.
• ·        Walk as much as you want the sidewalks are heavenly.
• ·        Cars ACTUALLY yield to pedestrians.
• ·        Talk to the people because most of them are waiting for you to do just that.
• ·        Never picture the national cuisine from the food in the cafeteria.
• ·        Party for all the good and right reasons.
• ·        Live with moderation and toleration.
• ·        Do not dimension to hidden lines
• ·        Relationships are verrrrryyyyyy sloooowwwww. Go SLOW!
• ·        Be friendly and cheerful most Americans are and strive to be just that
• ·        Live your culture but respect theirs (its more than just Hollywood)
• ·        Never call hotdogs WIENARS.
• ·        Forget about good bangers and mash. Fish n chips aren’t too great either.
• ·        They have a weird cellular system why do phones cost so much and why cant I cancel a plan without a fee!
• ·        Opportunities abound but you need to ask around. Americans are very independent to the point that asking might look embarrassing, but do it. No one cares
• ·        To try not to jay walk. I’ve done it on occasions but I really do not want to check the effectiveness of the Columbus City police.
• ·        ESPN 3 has live and replay feeds of most football and cricket matches (YAY!!!!). it was an easy find, kudos Google.
• ·        Have fun and work hard. People respect both and love both.
• ·        Be social it’s your one good bet to take tons of green home. You could either marry rich, make rich friends strike rich contacts or strip a rich passed out drunk.
• ·        Always help a drunk passed out girl home SAFELY. You feel good about it even though it might mean you have to tolerate entering the girls toilet to pick her up.
• ·        There are classical Americans who still read books and like writing poetry. (There’s hope). No stereotype is ever right and none are.
• ·        Don’t be evil

 

Grasping the notion of being American.

Affirmation-Savage Garden

I am a student of the Ohio State University in Columbus OH, Midwest region of the United States of America. I am a student in one of the largest university in this country. I am an international student in a foreign land. In this blog I will write about how I try to make, this New World my home.

There are no true ways to measure people. No arbitrary generalization or stereotype can serve as an absolute definition of a society, not the least in diverse America. So to get a feeling of this place I needed to understand my own feeling and analyze my experiences. So through my story at OSU, I try to bring out what my new home, truly means.

I am an engineering major and this makes most of my classes Science or Math based. Additionally as an honors student I end up meeting most of the smarter people in the college. The classes are liberal and the students self dependent. So, one stereotype of Americans as being fiercely individualistic is proved to an extent to be true. It is almost as if no one wants to know much about anyone else s business. This might be in a way good, but I fail to see how ever competition might arise if no one seeks out rivals. The best answer I can offer myself is that they compete with themselves and use averages or numbers as targets. Sounds weird but this is the norm of a new world.   

Then again the society is as dynamic as the American stock market and this justifies the saying, “only in America”. From college students pioneering research to underage binge drinkers who completely lose control, the college society is plagued and yet gifted by some of the most vicious and virtuous traits. This mess can only be characterized as sardonic or regretfully amusing by an outsider. The conflict is caused by less of an issue of lose morale and more of the need to keep an external prudish image. For all the fun they strive to have, college kids strive equally hard to maintain a crisp image that might be diametrically opposite to their character.  

Cultural differences to what I am used to is abundant. Relationships for starters are treated much more carefully and if I care to add ‘properly’. Unlike the laissez faire I was used to for most of my life, America where everything seems to go, also has some unsaid rules of its own. Learning the ropes have been hard, painful even and managing the complexities of relationships challenging. For what can be considered proper or even apt somewhere else in the world, can and is probably considered weird on this side of the planet. So as I feel my way through this intricate but gossamer web of society I hope to come out at worst with a bruised eye and a broken heart. Nothing too permanent I hope. At worst I could always do what the French do; Parley! 

Are we human?


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