"Bring me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free.." says the inscription on the statue of liberty. Who can turn down such an invitation? Well, so here I am. Tired from a year of studying for my USMLEs, broke from having paid my exam fees, and definitely a huddled mass yearning to be free! (a considerably larger mass than i ever envisaged myself to be, but a huddled mass, nevertheless)
America. Amrika. The US of A. The land of opportunity. The land of the free. The home of great people like Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Henry Ford, Donald Trump, Walt Disney, George W Bush, Paris Hilton and Angelina Jolie. The land of which I have read about in all sorts of places from history books to Archie comics. The country whose TV programs(rejected, delayed, old, rerun-whatever) we have been watching since Mr Murdoch conquered India. The place where Ross met Rachel, and where Kramer always got Jerry into trouble.
This was my first ever trip abroad and hence I had a lot of fears, some justified, and a lot of them quite unwarranted. The foremost among the latter being that I would feel like a village idiot, a complete 'dehaati' when I left India. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I didnt (except on one or two occasions like when I couldnt figure out how to lock or unlock the door to a restroom somewhere, and when I had no idea what some of the things offered to us for lunch at our exam center in Philly were, or how they were supposed to be consumed)
There were a few things that struck me about this place in the few days that i've been here. The cleanliness is undoubtedly one(except when I went to Jersey City, which is a totally Indian, and predominantly Gujju hub-it reminded me of Ahmedabad, on a bad day). The orderly and patient way everyone drove their cars was another thing. On our way from the airport, my uncle must have driven at least 20 miles before I could hear a single person honk(even then it was a rather exuberant sardarji who broke the silence). Another impressive aspect of the American lifestyle is the sheer magnitude of doing things. Everything is on a scale nearly as grand as the average Punjabi wedding. The buildings are tall, the cars are big and juice is sold by the gallon. Despite all this I am still yet to see what the big deal is. Why are people from all over the world drawn to the US like Mika to Rakhi Sawant? What is it that has made the US a dream for people for generations now? The promise of a "better" lifestyle and the US dollar is the answer I guess. There really is something about the US dollar. The very first time I put messrs Jackson, Hamilton, and Washington in my wallet at the Forex shop in Delhi, I felt a sense of power that the US currency brought to me(I felt totally powerless a few days later when I saw a slot machine at Caesars Casino in Atlantic City rob me of Mr Jackson in under an hour)
Whether I will ever see what the big deal is or not, I can't say for sure, but I'm pretty sure I won't stop seeing what the big deal about India is.
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Dont know budy...i have gone through some mixed emmotions when i read your YAnkee Doodle..at times i was dejected..a couple of days in US had made u compare our country to a place which has never been into a "Developing" category..Frankly US of A is bcouz each citizen here is proud to be one..which is the big thing about..Well dont u worry having spent a year here i can assure u that India is the best(as thats wat burns inside me)..even though the americans will make u eat roasted chicken with a fork..at the end the hand is wat fills the tummy..All the best for all ur endeavours here..keep ur eyes open and ur heart pumping for we are indians.. hope my comment doesn disappoint u.. But to tell u a few days hve given u a lot of Power..time to try some VISA ;-)
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