The American Dream. Why does it attract so many Indians? Well, although I can’t speak for every Indian, I can sure speak for myself. The American dream is in general not for the very rich Indian or for the ones who are poorer. It is in most cases for the middle/upper middle class Indian, more so the educated white-collar working class and the non-business type.
Why does it attract us so much? It is simple. Everything for us revolves around education, more specifically engineering or medicine. If you are not much into studying, you will get in anyway because that is pretty much the only way for you to stand on your feet. Your parents have money but not the type of insane cash that can keep you afloat throughout your life. Plus they have expended most of their working years and the money saved is for your education and your further education. Working in India, if you have a degree it pays you a decent amount for you to get started, but it is difficult if you need to start a family and really look to settle down. You have two options: get an MBA from a good college, go through CAT; the second option, if you are not intelligent enough to crack it, is an MS. There is a lot if investment involved, but then life in America is great so why not?
The moment you land in America — it of course depends on which city you land in — you truly appreciate how good the Americans are at marketing!
If it is the John F. Kennedy airport, New York City, it may hit you immediately. If it is some other city, then it may take a while, but it sure hits you.
You think of it is as an amazing place from what you see online and on TV and in the movies. It has nothing to do with the marketing but more to do with where you come from. If you were stupid enough not to realise that you will soon, once you land here. There are lots of good things in the country in terms of its order, structure, opportunities and so on. But when I write I am more in the mood to rant, so maybe I might be overlooking some, but not to take anything away from the place. Then there are many other issues/problems. But then, every country has its fair share of these, every big one has more of it. But not everyone can cover them in the brilliance of marketing or focussing on the good and magnifying it to sell it.
All of us Indians who look at education as the way to come up in life are pretty much already sold to the American life/dream. Why not? If you look at education, the country has some of the best universities in the world. They do have many poor ones as well, which are again good at selling. But that does not take anything away from the kind of research and facilities that are there in the good ones and even in the middling ones. I believe the importance of research and the availability of funds are instrumental in bringing the best minds to the country and has kept it ahead of many others in terms of innovation.
Another thing is the way they look at problems and their approach towards them. Most of the professors will let you come up with the stupidest ideas and still you will be able to work on them — which is a good thing because it does not stop you from thinking. And among all the stupid ideas, you may as well come up with something new and innovative, which someone who has been working in the field might not have been able to. Then it is the work ethic of the people here that I really admire.
The second part of the dream is the opportunities. Yes, it is very tough to get a job, it is tough to get your foot into the industry without some luck and connections however good you might be. Then there is the problem you face when it comes to visas, the constant uncertainty of whether you will be forced to go back to your country without making up for what you invested and without living the ‘dream’.
However, despite that I wonder — where else will you be able to apply for a minimum of 10 jobs a day, that is, 70 jobs a week and more than 250 jobs a month of being unemployed.
I agree if you are from the mechanical/aeronautical/automobile engineering background many of these companies may not even consider your application because of your visa status. But there is no doubt about the number of opportunities.
I am no economist but if there is something that a true capitalist economy does it is that it allows so many businesses to function, which creates more jobs. In the end, the corporations really make a lot of money and that money can again be spent on universities and research. This helps keep the level of technology and innovation within the country, apart from the fact that the jobs bring more taxes for the government.
So, for a middle/upper middle class person, this mix of great education and the sheer breadth of opportunities to the educated working class is really a dream-come-true. As a person in the field of STEM, being at the forefront really makes you feel you are where you are supposed to be. Many of the R&D and technology centres are located here in the tech as well as sciences industry. But once you start working you are basically solving problems for the company, be it on the shop floor or working on some secret project in the research stage. However, the fact that you get to work on so many cutting- edge opportunities continues to attract people who are passionate in their field, or even the ones who want to feel more like they are actually building something new and not just maintaining it. It also attracts the ambitious types, as meritocracy makes sure you grow to the highest ranks, irrespective of your background.
Does all this come at a cost? Well, that is a rhetorical question, I guess. There is the economic cost, of course. Then there are the huge, almost life-long, sacrifices made by the parents. Then there is the sacrifice of staying away from home. I worked on-site in India for one year and I hardly ever got the weekends off. It drains you out (if you are as lazy as I am). You need those two days to recuperate. I would say this to myself and others who would listen to my whine (family, close friends, maybe Facebook friends as well). However, whenever I had the time I was just a bus ride away from home.
I get the weekends now but getting to go home is a whole different matter in terms of time and money. Then there are the visa issues, which ironically can get you back home without you having any control over it.
You have had a pretty privileged life back home, and you might end up feeling really hungry, probably for the first time in your life, in America. It’s funny that you face such a problem in a first world country even though you come from a so-called third world country. (I prefer the term developing country.) But it just makes you realise how privileged and blessed your life has been.
Then, I have read this somewhere on Facebook and I will just copy it here because I doubt if it can be put any better: ‘Food does not cook itself, clothes do not wash themselves.’ I think I would add, the room does not clean itself. But I think I already knew that before coming here because I can remember how much work my mother was putting into it. Not that she did not cook great food and washed so many of my clothes. But it was her constant cleaning and at times yelling that I never really valued — till I realised how dirty the room can get.
That also reminds me: clothes do not iron themselves either, and I do not have anyone living just below my house as I did in Kanchipuram to iron the clothes. So I need to go start doing that now, maybe will continue the rant sometime later.
(The author currently lives in Auburn Hills, Michigan. faraaz89@gmail.com )
