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Phirse Bhoot bangla???? Hawww... :/
According to the Census Board of 2011, in nineteen states out of twenty-six states, Asian Indians have emerges as the largest subgroup in the United States, following Chinese immigrants. California being the biggest magnets for Indian immigrants had the population increase of sixty-eight percent from 2000 to 2010 to 528,000 people. It is by far the largest Asian Indian community, followed by New York, Chicago and Florida. Few years ago, Indian when meet in America asked each other if they are from North India or South India, now they ask if they are from North America or South. The immigrants' list has only increased, and is still increasing.
Many come only with the purpose of studying and finding a good job. While many come in search for a better way to simply earn money in dollars. 1 dollar equals to 50 Rupees approximately. Indians are found almost everywhere. At the Seven-Eleven around the corner of your house, at a call center when you call for assistance with your device or at a huge company like Microsoft.
These immigrants come with dreams. Let it be an opportunity to earn more money, or education. In the year 1989, Mrs. Bhavana Patel, a twenty year old born in India, stepped on the foreign land at the LAX Airport in California. She was married to an American citizen, Mr. Dinesh Patel, who worked as a cleaner in a motel in California. Like every other Indian, Mrs. Patel had a dream too. She wanted to study and be a nurse. She had decided to put all her efforts into it. She achieved her dream, but it certainly wasn't an easy journey. She had to go through lots of ups and downs. But the hardest was to maintain her cultural value through-out.
The major difference between two countries is the change in culture. The cultural heritage and traditions are moved from one country to another. Indians who moved to United States has faced many situations where they had to compromise with their values and morals. Because India-Americans face aspects of both American and Indian culture daily, their culture is compartmentalized in a distinguishable form. This are the second generation and the first generation.
The second generation or the new immigrants are those who face the cultural obstacles in a very moralistic way, language being the major element. Language is the most important factor that sticks out like a thorn when on a foreign land. India has twenty-one recognized languages among one thousand six hundred eighty-three other languages excluding English. Though today many parents prefer to have their kids in an English school, the older generations still suffer from the lack of this knowledge. Mrs. Patel didn't know English at the tip of her tongue. It was her third language. "I remember my first few months in the town when I had no idea what people around me were talking about being the most challenging." She said. "I would have to listen to each and every word closely to understand as the pronunciations are so different and the accents thick."
The second generation are those who are in-between both the cultures. They have to keep their morals in mind but also adopt some necessary day-today life factors. For example, in India women are expected to do the house chores like cleaning, washing and raising children, while men work and earn money. After coming to America, women start working outside the house, however, they continue taking care of the house too.
Mrs. Patel had a hard life. She didn't only did job and house chores simultaneously, but also studied for her nursing degree. She lived in a very dangerous area where robbers with guns can break in anytime. She remembers looking at a mob of robbers broke into a store near the motel. She was scared out of her wits as her husband called the cops. "It was a moment I could never forget," she commented. She would wake up early to attend her classes and as soon as her classes end she would go work at Seven-Eleven. Late in the evening at around eight, she will come back to the motel, and help her husband make beds. "Those were the tough days." was all she said.
Keeping your values and morals intact is not an easy task. It takes a lot of self confidence and self determination to pass through the crowd of Americans in Indian attire. During Indian festivals, Mrs. Patel felt really shy to get out of the house looking like an Indian in front of the community. She personally loved being an Indian, wearing the beautiful jewelries and heavy dresses. But the fear of being mocked her had enveloped her. Eventually, she started getting used to the sly smiles and sometimes weird glances that people gave her. She knew this is where she belonged, and this is what she is.
Though looking back at the social differences in men and women in India one can easily say that India is patriarchy country, however, in contrary to the assumption, United states is more of a patriarchy than India. India has had its first woman president in 2007, while America still hasn't had one. However, this broad view doesn't affect the immigrants emerged in their daily lives.
Mrs. Patel wouldn't let her kids go out to watch movies because American would have bad influence on them. The cultural values and morals deny anyone from watching explicit scenes. However, they wouldn't mind when kids play violent games. While in America, along with education, extra co-curricular activities are given importance and value, majority of Indian parents look at the GPA alone. Not only movies and sports, but even food plays a huge role in culture. Being a vegetarian herself, she didn't let her children eat meat either. Every kind of food was fine, but no meat and chicken.
Though almost everywhere around the globe racism is banned, Indians families tend to see fair skin as superior. The pigment in the skin has nothing to do with the attitude of a person, but still, most of Indians will want to be fair. This stereotype will affect their day-to-day living among the whites. Indians tend to keep some distance from African Americans unconsciously. The way they are raised in India, it is almost impossible for them to completely accept everyone as one. On the contrary, the Indians born in America seem to mingle with everyone equally. The surrounding they are raised in acts as a great influence.
The first generation, which is born in Unites States doesn't face fewer obstacles either. They are usually compressed between family traditions and peer pressure. They are forced to follow may traditions that originated in a country foreign to them. Parent wanting to savior their traditions, values and morals, will try to pressure their children into following the customs. While on the other hand, the child's daily life is surrounded by America children who influence his or her mind easily.
When asked to Mrs. Patel's son, Kishan, how his cultural values affect his daily life, he answered without any hesitation. "It's tough! I am trained to follow my traditions and culture along with some American culture." He said, "If I have to go to my friend's house, I need to take permission, because my parents don't want me going to any wrong person's house. They know where I am." The children are under custody until they are married. Girls specially, are take special care of just because they are girls. The way of dressing is also determined by the parents. It is okay for a guy to go around in shorts and vest, but a girl cannot wear shorts and tank-tops outside the house. However, this is limited to only some houses.
The high school students who are imported to this alien country also faces a lot of challenges. First and former being fitting in. The Indian student of twenty first century might have the knowledge of the major components of the English language, but there are certain terms that come across as obstacle. For instance, the word color is written as 'colour' in India and the word theater is written as 'theatre'. The meaning stay the same, but the score is reduced. Similarly, the pronunciations of certain words defeat the sole purpose of a speech. Accent play a a very cunning role too. India's thick and sharp accent is very hard to understand for many Americans. Despite knowing English at a high level, a student feels dense due to the consequences. Sometimes, even a simple statement come as harsh and offensive.
Furthermore, the economic classes separate the households of Indian community. A child of wealthy parents wouldn't be sent to a house of poor child, because they think poor are bad influence. While, a poor parent would push his child to be-friend the rich kid around the corner because he is a great influence. The economic class divides not only the community, but even the group of friends at school. Most wealthy Indian prefer to live in a neighborhood that consist of wealthy Americans. They see them as a good example of being an upper class society. Despite that, these Indians are more likely to keep their children away from the the family functions and too much involvement with the Americans.
Americans have been seen as generous people. Bhavana Patel has made some really good friends in America, and Americans, unlike what she use to think, are very kind. "They are very patient when I try to explain what I am trying to say." She says, "I would always be grateful to few people who has made my life easier because of their kind co-operation." Americans are misunderstood for being judgmental and stereotypical. While the Indian families settled in America claims them to be dear friends.
Indian immigrants based in America try to be a part of the American society, but at the same time preserve the culture and values brought along from the native country. Despite the baffled state of these immigrants, United States is flooding with Indians. Engineering and technical corporations are investing capital for Indian students to attend Universities and work for them. Undeterred by these cultural and ethical challenges, the Indians continue to migrate to the States.
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