Monthly Archives: June 2009

10 most common business ideas to consider abroad!

NRI Tips: Common Businesses to start overseas!

There are many ways to make a good living abroad, owning your own business is one of them. A business operation and ownership is not for everybody, you have to have an aptitude for ventures, willingness to take risks and understanding of different aspects of operating a business. Depending on your ambitions and circumstances, it may become an around-the-clock effort that comes with equally big rewards and big downsides. Along with the day-dreams of prosperity to follow, you and your stakeholders – family, partners, and investors – should also understand the possibility of losing your shirt.
For those, who have done their homework and understand the pros and cons of opening a business, here are some of the most common ones to consider:
1. Indian Grocery store: In the USA, Canada, England and other courtiers with Indian diaspora, there is quite a bit demand for Indian supplies and common grocery items used in Indian cooking. This kind of business is ideal for the area with high concentration of Indian population. Continue reading →

Bollywood Quiz : Know your Bollywood? The Old Days!

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Do you know your Bollywood?
Test your Bollywood knowledge of old movies with this quiz!

The other quizzes on this site can be found as linked below:
Bollywood Quiz 7 – Evergreen Playback Singers of Bollywood movies :A quiz on popular playback singers.
Bollywood – Do you know their real names? The Bollywood actors and actresses were not born with these popular and stellar on-screen names. Wanna test your knowledge of their given names? Try this quiz!

Bollywood Quiz 1 : The yesteryears!

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Live your life like a kids’ lemonade stand!

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Personal lessons & self-improvement tips from kids’ lemonade stand:

You most likely have driven by many lemonade stands in your neighborhood, where young kids are selling lemonade on a roadside or from a street corner. But, have you been to one of them lately? If not, you should. You can learn a lot from them, we all can. Here are some of the life lessons to take home from a kids’ lemonade stand:

Kifds’ Lemonade Stand

1. Keep it simple: One table, one or two chairs, disposable glasses, a container for money and lemonade supplies- that’s the most of it. That is all they need to meet their objective. Still, it looks so complete, as if nothing is missing. Everything that is required is right there.
2. Welcome with a smile: The young kids always have an enthusiasm about their endeavors, always welcome you with a smile. The minute you walk in (or drive in), you feel at home.
3. Entertaining and interesting: It is never boring at the lemonade stands. While you enjoy your lemonade, kids are busy with something ‘cool’, something refreshing. They may be telling some funny story, singing carelessly, running after each other, reacting to the tip they just received, performing some cheers/ dance-routines, juggling lemons or doing something else to attract the customers. Continue reading →

Iran: Humanity, freedom and the choice of right over wrong!

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India has had its fair share of problems originating from religions and races. The politics combined with religion has been very troublesome for India for decades.
However, what is going on in Iran is much bigger than day-to-day politics. It is not a simple case of disputed election, even though the election results and suspected voter frauds were the trigger. What people of Iran are dealing with is something greater than politics, something much more important. An average human being is fighting for his or her rights; the basic rights that a country owes to its citizens; the basic freedom that you and me are so used to. They are demanding a change.
Continue reading →

Do you ‘think’ in your mother tongue?

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The ‘unconscious adaption’ to the foreign culture and language.

When the mind is thinking it is talking to itself. ~ Plato

I talk to myself all the times, I always have. Bigger the dilemma, more I talk; this is also another way of my brainstorming and mulling over new ideas.

Be it a thinking out loud or in whispers or in silence, thinking is part of being human. Thinking and logic is what separates us from the animals. We all think, it is a part of our problem solving nature.

For those living overseas or away from the place of your childhood, do you ‘think’ in your mother tongue or the adopted foreign/new language?

Back home in India, my train of thought was always in my mother tongue. It was natural; speaking the same language as my brain, thinking something and then saying it loud during the conversation. It was automatic -without noticeable delays.

And then, I came to America.

When I first came here, I recall that I continued to think in my mother tongue, even when talking to my American colleagues - in a meeting at work or any other social settings. I used to think in my mother tongue, and then I would translate my thoughts it into English for the verbal exchange. At times it slowed me down; It was no longer automatic. I used to re-phrase a lot. This is how it was; I never thought it would change much.

However, lately I find myself thinking in English more and more often. Continue reading →

How to make a good living abroad! – $$!!

Expecting a boy or a girl? Test baby-gender at home!

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Over-the-counter product to predict baby gender

It is the nature of science and its followers– to keep coming up with new inventions and new discoveries. How we use them is a different story. :)
Intelligender, a Texas based company, has created a ‘boy or girl gender prediction test’. The expecting moms can use this test on a urine sample as early as 10 weeks after the conception to determine the sex of the baby. The accuracy rate of the test is at 78-80%.

The manufacturing company specifically suggests not to make any emotional or financial decision based on this test, and to continue to rely on the traditional and more reliable test from your doctor at later stage in the pregnancy.
So, what is the point of this test?
Well, it provides additional piece of information ahead of time, for those who cannot wait, the company says.

While this test is a way to address the curiosity of the expecting parents, its ‘side-effects’ could be significant. As we all know, in many cultures and countries including India, a baby boy is often welcome more than a little girl. That is how it is, especially among the older generation. So, if the test predicts a girl, the news may not be so good in some families.

Also, there could be opposite preference in many cases. For example, a mother with already two sons may want to conceive a daughter instead; this could apply anywhere in any culture –India or US, white or brown. So this could be feared to become a screening test, even though the accuracy rate is nowhere close to 100%.
Continue reading →

Overseas hate crimes on the rise?

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The strong racial biases affecting minorities all over the world

Any topic related to ‘hate’ is no fun to write, but someone has to say it!…

An average human being is a decent and caring person, without major biases against any color, cast or creed. However, there also exists a small %age of individuals who do not fit into this category. There are some who have strong feelings and biases against other social groups or races, to the point that those feelings are churned into hatred over time.

The problem is that these extreme groups or individuals have acted on their feelings of dislike or hatred more often in recent days. Lately, we have seen racial violence all over the places that can be related to hate crimes including the following incidents: Continue reading →

An open letter to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh

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Global issue of racial bias against NRIs and Indians abroad

Honorable Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh,
This letter is on behalf of the social commentary site ‘The Indians Abroad’ based out of USA. The letter is prompted by the current incidents of racial attacks against Indians in Melbourne, Australia. However, this long overdue request and suggestion is more towards the need of general awareness of negative bias against Indians abroad, and finding ways to minimize it.

Most of us go abroad for the main reasons of education or for finding better opportunities for ourselves and for our families. The challenges of adapting to the foreign culture and the social issues of minority status are part of our daily living. These issues are often discussed and well understood by most of the Indian communities. The recent incidents of violence against Indians in Australia have exposed the tip of this iceberg – the often ignored racial biases against Indian immigrants that exist in most of the Western society.

The day-to-day racial violence is not-so-common in the developed countries in this day and age; however, the related discrimination is everywhere. The social perception of Indians in the Western society is pretty negative. A large number of NRIs settled abroad are highly skilled professionals – doctors, engineers, scientists and so on…., but the overall view of the Indian community abroad is that of a low class society.

While Indian Govt. is looking into a possible policy to address racial violence abroad, a similar policy or steps are needed to address ever so prevalent racial biases and discrimination. Continue reading →

How to lose your accent!

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Communication Tips: Accent softening & accent reduction methods
Accent improvement for effective communications is a key part of personal growth and personal development. As I said before, changing the way we speak is equivalent of breaking a habit.

How to lose your accent!

To break one habit, we need to develop a new one -to ultimately affect the way be speak. This is not going to happen overnight, but you will see an improvement right away, that is if you are serious about losing your accent.
Here are some of the routines to help reduce, and ultimately lose your accent:

Plan ahead: If you are still in India, in the planning stage of immigration, one of the best thing to do is to expose yourself to the spoken English language, Western style and slang, as much as possible. Some of the simple suggestions include: Continue reading →

13 Unlucky reasons to go abroad!

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NRI Tips: Worst reasons to leave India and go overseas!

As discussed in a previous article, there are many good reasons to go overseas; but there are plenty of bad ones too. Going overseas is not a guaranteed golden ticket; there are lots of sad stories of broken dreams and heartache. Some of the worst reasons to go abroad are:

1.Illusions of Paradise: The overseas land of riches may be rich, but it is no paradise by any means. Adapting into new culture and a new place is not an overnight thing. So, especially for a new immigrants, the challenges could be overwhelming.

2. Blind Job hopes: With global recession everywhere, the unemployment rate in Europe and America is highest in decades. The job and career opportunities have diminished significantly. The demand for foreign work visa is actually down; people are starting to realize the the challenges abroad.

3. Second try might work: If going abroad did not work the first time and nothing has changed, the chances of better encounter on second try are minimal. Many people keep trying again and again, wasting their entire savings; it is just sad! Continue reading →

Accent softening and accent reduction Tips!

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NRI Tips: Language barrier -the issue of ‘thick’ accent!

Many surprises await a new immigrant. The challenges of adapting to a foreign country can be very discouraging.
One of the main hurdles that the NRIs face in the Western world is the language barrier and the Indian accent of spoken English. Even if you have a graduate degree in English from India, you are bound to have this problem. The issue is not the knowledge of language, but the way we speak English – the Indian accent; the inability to communicate effectively while talking to a native English speaking person.
The Indian way of speaking English is often branded as a ‘thick’ accent. That basically means that it is not refined for the American/Western ears; it sounds very foreign, like an ‘outsider’
Yes, the spoken language barrier or thick accent is an issue, but it is not your fault. It is a part of the journey; a part of new culture and new rules of living abroad. It is a part of adaptation into the local culture abroad.

The spoken English in India is heavily influenced by our Indian language – our mother tongue. In India, the English teachings mainly focus on grammar and spelling with very little focus on actual pronunciation. Continue reading →

10 jobs and occupations in high demand!

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Job Tips- Top jobs and best occupations for today and tomorrow:

The job market in America is in a bad shape, and keep getting worse. The unemployment rates at 9.7% is the highest in decades. However, as always, there are some bright spots; many occupation continue to be in demand. Based on the Occupational Outlook Handbook from the US Department of Labor, here are the some of the fastest growing job markets:

Network systems and data communications analyst
Physician assistant
Medical assistant
Computer application software engineer
Physical therapist aide
Personal financial advisor, and financial analyst
Skin care Specialist
Veterinary technologist and technician
Dental hygienist
Pharmacy technician

Continue reading →

Top ten reasons to go abroad!