American Dream/Desi Consulting

As the air hostess handed over the immigration forms, Rajat felt a daze from the blood rushing to his head. His dream was coming true, at last.

Ever since he had gotten into engineering and heard all those stories of Indians going to America to live out their american dream, he had had only one goal in life.

Rajat wanted to live in America. He wanted to bathe in american water. He wanted to eat american eggs and drink american milk. He wanted to work in America.

He got that golden chance two years into his job with one of the leading consulting firms. Once he lost out on that onsite opportunity, there was only one way out.

Rajat found a consultant who would file for his H1 visa. Once that came through, he would go to the US, and be assigned to work on a project for some fortune 500 client.

This was too good to be true. He paid $2000 towards the visa filing fee, and another $2000 as a deposit to the consultant, just as security that he wouldn’t chuck the consultant as soon as he landed on the hallowed shores.

Luck was on Rajat’s side. He got the visa.

With bravado unusual for him, he bragged about his plans to friends and colleagues, and virtually spit in the face of his supervisor while resigning his job.

He didn’t mind burning this bridge. He was never coming back.

You and your stupid Indian consulting business. I am a big game player now. I have wasted enough time working with morons. This is going to be the big break i need and deserve.

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Filed under: American Dream, Desi, Humour, India, Stories, Thoughts, sarcasm, satire , American Dream, consulting industry, indian, indians in america, Short Stories

Pranab Mukherjee – True Son of India

Pranab Mukherjee is a great son of India who has had a long and distinguished political career. Ever since his accidental inclusion in the union cabinet to achieve an auspicious count of ministers way back in 1973, he has worked tirelessly towards making India a better place to live.

But after all these years of service to the nation, maybe it is time for him to take a break. He isnt getting younger and watching him suffer from the burden of his brilliance makes us feel bad for him. And for poor mother India.

After Sardar Patel, he is the new Iron Man of India. Check out the strong words as the external affairs minister urging Pakistan to act on evidence shared by the FBI. No mention of the evidence supplied by Indian agencies. What humility by this great man!

“We have been told the FBI has strong evidence which they have shared with Pakistan. They (the Pakistani government) should act on that evidence and hand over the perpetrators of Mumbai to us,” the minister said.[link]

Mr Mukherjee’s contribution to Indian society is laudable. It is thanks to his efforts that the country is as peaceful and united as it is. He remains committed to maintaining the secular fabric of Indian society and continued communal harmony in the nation. Speaking at a recent program to mark 200 years of the Bengali translation of the Quran in Kolkata, here’s what he had to say.

“Not only is this expression Islamic terrorism unacceptable, there should be protest against it.[link]

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Filed under: Desi, Happenings, India, News, politics, sarcasm , congress, external minister, general elections, India, indian politics, parliament, pranab mukherjee, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi

H4 Wives

Asha got off the Continental Boeing 747 with a constipated stomach and a flutter in her heart. She had just crossed the proverbial seven seas over a fifteen hour non stop flight from New Delhi.

She was in America.

The past two weeks had been a whirlwind. She had met Ravi on 20th Nov, and ten days later they were husband and wife.

Ravi was a strapping 30 year old vice president at Goldman Sachs. He had been lapped up from NYU’s Stern school where he had been among the top performers in his MBA class. He had managed to hold off his mother’s insistence for the past few years, but now that he had gotten the promotion he so desperately wanted, there was no stopping her.

All he had to do was take a picture with his Lexus in clean clothes and send to his tech savvy mom. She set up his profile on Shaadi.com and set about finding a suitable match for her son. A shortlist of 25 was prepared and Ravi was summoned to headquarters in Mumbai.

Of all the doctors, engineers, and finance types that his mom had shortlisted Ravi liked Asha most. They got married a week later. There was no time for a honeymoon in a two week leave.

The newly weds were in New york.

Asha used to teach math to high schoolers back in Mumbai. She would have to find work once she was in America. Alas, she didn’t know jack about the visa and related vagaries involved in living the American dream. Ravi was still a few years from getting his green card, and as his dependent, she was in the US on an H4 visa.

She was not allowed to work. Not for money. Not legally, at least.

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Filed under: American Dream, Desi, India, Stories, Thoughts , Desi, h4 visa, immigration, immigration problems, indian, uscis, visa

Spreading the holiday cheer

2008 was an eventful year.

America went into an economic depression. Indian firms started feeling the heat, and layoffs are a routine affair now. Mumbai saw the worst terror attacks India has ever seen. America got a new and very dynamic leader in Barrack Obama. India sent a mission to the moon. India managed a nuclear deal with the US despite the left’s best efforts to disrupt the deal. Manmohan Singh managed to last his entire term in office.

In sports, China celebrated its coming-of-age party in the shape of the most lavish Olympics ever. India managed to win not one, but three individual medals. Vishwanathan Anand became the undisputed world chess champion. Recently the Indian cricket team walloped England.

Hopefully 2009 will be a little less eventful. Hopefully the economic situation will improve. Hopefully India’ will keep going on the road to progress. Hopefully the elections will give us a stable, strong government that will work on improving the infrastructure and keep up the GDP growth. Hopefully the terrorists will get jobs that lead to retirement and give up their guns for keyboards and mice.

Happy New Year everybody! Hopefully the new year will bring cheer and good health to our lives.

Here’s some pictures taken from all over New york city to brighten up otherwise dull times.

Holiday decorations at Macy’s

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Filed under: Happenings, Newyork, Travel , christmas tree, happy new year, holiday decorations, holiday lights, macys, Newyork, rockefeller center