Tag Archives: Indians Abroad

U SPECIAL – Your FREE ticket to travel abroad

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Not too long ago, good grades and a decent scholarship used to be all you needed to go abroad for higher education. Now-a-days, with cost of studies sky-rocketing, the students are looking for every penny they can get to meet their dire financial needs. Here is one of the opportunities for those who want to venture overseas.

Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. [TCIL], India’s leading integrated travel and travel related financial services company recently announced the ‘Thomas Cook Wings Scholarship’. This is a unique offer for students traveling abroad for further studies.

TCIL is currently introducing various programs under the brand name ‘U SPECIAL.’ One of the main programs – the Thomas Cook Wings Scholarship is a great opportunity for students heading overseas. The students can potentially win an education scholarship worth an air ticket to go abroad. 10 shortlisted students can receive a scholarship up to Rs. 35,000/- each.

So how do you participate in this competition to win the air ticket? The main requirements are quite simple: submit a 2 page University statement of purpose (SOP) and email to uspecial@in.thomascook.in. You can also submit the SOP at any Thomas Cook branch in your city. The 10 best SOP’s will be short-listed based on the following criteria:
a) Correct usage of English
b) Clarity of thought
c) Overall flow. Continue reading →

Many Indians abroad dating exclusively whites only!

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19:19 Me
Are u okay if I use this ‘chat’ for a blog post…a post on ‘Some Indians abroad dating whites only’ ?

19:19 Neelam
No, not really! Plz!

19:20 Me
my loss :(

19:20 Neelam
haha….sorry

19:21 Me
:(

19:21 Neelam
may be..you can change the name and place…a little

19:21 Me
I should do that.
Why though?

19:22 Neelam
haha I don’t need publicity..or hate mails…lol

19:22 Me
okay cool, thanks

19:23 Neelam
haha np

…………

“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” said Shakespeare.

A friendly warning: take this post with a grain of salt, if you get indigestion from racial mix and deviations from the social norms. :)

Well, looks like you decided to read on! The ‘chat’ above is the ending portion of the conversation below.

Now, what the heck am I talking about? :)

Luckily or unluckily, I ran into someone online, someone who is a part of this ummm … trend! This ‘chat’ on the social network site is a quick glimpse into the psyche of the new desi generation abroad.

The ‘chat’ spans over multiple sessions, you may notice from the time-stamps. The mundane conversation started something like this:

15:19 Neelam
hi

15:20 Me
Hello Neelam, how r u?

15:20 Neelam
haha gud, n u? Continue reading →

After-school daycare

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The daycare facility closes at 6PM. It was already 5:20PM, and the traffic is stop-and-go. His GPS navigation system estimated ‘the destination arrival time’ of 5:40.
“I will make it”, he said out loud, to himself.
“Come on, keep moving! My daughter is waiting for me!” As if the cars in front of him could hear him.
He had recently read somewhere that speaking English more often helps with improving the English accent. Instead of Hindi, he now tries to speak English as much as he can, even when he is alone.

“I don’t wanna go to the daycare after school”, she had told her mom again last night.
“We will pick you up soon after you get there. I promise.” Mom tried convincing her.
“I don’t like it there.”
“I am sure you will make new friends.”
“I already made two new friends – Hailey and Shira,” she said in a less complaining, and more of a bragging tone.
“See, I told you! Now get some sleep.”
“Goodnight mom. Love you.”
“Goodnight Isha, love you too.” Continue reading →

NRIs and the duplicity of life

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In India, NRIs – non resident Indians, are always looked up to; NRIs are often envied for their prosperity and the riches. NRIs hold a special status in all walks of Indian life. They are well recognized for their deep pockets. There is no debate that most of the NRIs are considered very successful among Indian society, regardless how they make their living in the foreign land.

And how are the NRIs and Indians perceived in the foreign land? What is their social status in the county they live in? Well, exactly the opposite in many cases. There are no stories of special stature to write home about. For example, in the American society, you can find lots of successful NRIs, lots of middle class Indians who are well settled, but there is nothing to envy about their social standings, at least not in the adopted country. They are just a part of another minority group. Continue reading →

NRIs and the Distance

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NRIs: Living abroad and the distance between families/friends

The long distance relations, the long distance friendship, the relatives far away and the families scattered around the globe – it is part of living abroad. ‘The distance’ is a part of the journey for most of the NRIs. The distance may be one of the variables depending on where and how far you live, but it is a constant – it is always there. When it comes to the overseas’ life, the distance is what identifies the lifestyle of majority of the NRIs.

Most of the Indians living abroad have what you may call ‘an international family’. The parents may live in one country, the kids in another place, and some of the siblings yet somewhere else. Most of us travel to the faraway places for opportunities – the financial opportunities, the chances for career growth, better jobs and so on…. We explore all around the globe looking for something better – better schools, better jobs, the better places to raise kids….

Along the way, while searching for a better life, come the compromises and the sacrifices. One of the obvious results of all these relocations is the distance.

At the heart of all this running around, at the bottom of all this hunting all over the globe is the search for a better life. The whole thing – the living abroad – revolves around the idea of finding a better life. Continue reading →

Cross-culture understanding – It is a culture thing

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India Abroad: The multi-cultural living – it’s a culture thing

It’s human nature; we have opinions; we carry biases in our head all the times, even when we don’t want to. The way we are raised, the way we have seen the world growing up, affects the way we think. We always look at everything and everyone through the eyes of our own culture.
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One of the common biases in any culture is the self superiority complex – every culture considers itself superior or better than others. For someone from India who is new in America, for example, it is not an unreasonable belief that Indian culture (or subculture based on the part of India one belongs to) is far better than any of the local American cultures.

One of the key reasons for self superiority is that fact that we don’t know as much about other cultures. We try to judge and perceive everything and everybody from the viewpoints of our own culture.
Why?
Because that is the only reliable reference we have. We know our culture so intimately; we are so used to our own social standards. Everything outside our society has to measure up to our cultural norms – good or bad, true or false. That is why we are always comparing different aspects of a newly acquired foreign society to that of what we are so used to – our own India culture or sub-cultures. Continue reading →

Canadian Living – A multicultural society by default

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We are always busy comparing stuff around us. We compare apples to oranges, Bollywood to Hollywood, old music to new music….It is human nature we compare our experiences with all sorts of things all the time.
If you live in USA or Canada, you most likely have heard this from your desi friends:
“Canadians are much friendlier!”
“Canada is a much better place to live”…
Or something similar…

I have heard the same so many times from many Indians who either travel through Canada or have lived in Canada. Many of them have lived in both Canada and USA at different times of their lives, so they speak from their experiences.

Recently, while traveling through Canada, I got the first hand opportunity to explore the local living and local cultures. There are some things that stand out in Canadian cities:

Canadian cities are much more multi-cultural and diverse:If you walk through the streets of Toronto or any other major Canadian city, you will notice one significant difference compared to major US cities – you are surrounded by a very ethnic and diverse crowd. The brown skin seems much more mingled and much more predominant. Continue reading →

Chumma Stuff

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Neal had a biology exam that day, right after the lunch hour. So, he was in a rush from the very minute he walked into the cafeteria.

The place was crowded more than usual, it seemed. Looking for a place to sit, so he could gulp down the chicken burger, he scanned all the sitting area. That’s when he saw an empty spot next to her.

She was sitting alone, lost in her own world; eating and reading at the same time.

Their previous interactions were brief, nothing more than ‘hello’, ‘hi’ or ‘how are you’? He mostly saw her in the library, sitting in a corner, minding her own business, always busy with her books. Sometime she would sit alone but most of the time, her American friends surrounded her.

There were only a few Indian girls on the college campus, Henna was one of them.

“Hi Henna”, he said approaching the vacant seat.

“Hi, how are you,” she said with a slight smile. Her eyes went back to the book after a quick greeting.

He started to dig into his burger and fried. She kept reading, and eating.

“What are you reading?” he asked, trying to break the silence.

“Chumma”, she paused, “stuff”, she added without lifting her head.

All confused, he waited but a silence followed. ‘What kind of stuff that might be?’ he thought to him self – ‘chumma stuff!’ Continue reading →

Happiness outsourced

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His house sits in one of the most upper-scale and affluent residential area of Chicago suburbs. As I walked inside the double-door entrance with marble sidings, I quickly realized that the inside of the mansion is even more impressive and pretty that outside view. There are two separate staircases leading to the upper storey; there are multiple bathrooms on the main floor; the open ceiling concept has a catwalk that overlooks the family room; the kitchen alone is bigger than decent size luxury apartment…

If you look at the size of house, you would think that some millionaire lives here. Maybe, he is a millionaire; it is hard to guess his wealth out of his humble disposition and very friendly nature.

After a brief chit-chat, I asked him about his occupation. I knew he was not working much currently, but I was very curious to find out where he got the big bucks to build that big mansion.

“One second, be right back”, he briefly went into the kitchen and came back with two cups of hot tea – steam still floating over the edges.

“It was a good job, a very good job. Only 15 minutes drive from the house,” he reflected on his past occultation, the cup of tea resting on his thigh as he leaned back in the easy-chair.

For 15 years, I found out, Ramesh had worked for an electronics company as a quality controller. He does not have any special technical education –engineering degree or anything else of the sort.
“I started on the assembly line, but I was promoted to the supervisor within years”, there is a happiness in his voice as he walks down the memory lane.
“Everybody appreciated what I did for the company. I used to get letters of recognition all the way from Japan – our upper management headquarters.”
“So, what happened?” I asked curiously.
“Outsourcing!” he did not feel any further need to explain. But then, after a brief pause, he spoke with a sad tone, his voice lowered, “they did not need us anymore, they found cheaper ways to do what we did, in other countries!”
“Oh, I see!” I did not know what else to say.

For the past 4 years Ramesh has struggled to find a decent job. Most of the jobs that need his skills are outsourced. After trying for years, he gave up on the job market, and tried to do what one of his best friends does – real estate agent. Continue reading →

Indian head wobble – the desi nod

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The way many Indians and nod their head is often described as the ‘Indian head wobble’ or ‘Indian head bobble’. If you live outside India, it is not a widely understood body gesture.

What is Indian head wobbling?
For those who are not familiar with the term, the head wobbling is a motion that is somewhere in between the up-and-down nod, and the sideways head shaking. So, it is somewhat rotational motion of the head – a light head shake combined with a head roll.

What does it mean?
Does it mean yes, or does it mean no?

Simply put, it means ‘yes’, but is it really that hard to understand??

Well, for those who are not exposed to Indian culture and desi body language, it is a confusing response. Continue reading →

10 Best Movies with NRIs and India Abroad Theme

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There are lots of movies – many made in Bollywood, some abroad – that explore the lives of NRIs and Indians living overseas. There are lots of films with ‘India Abroad and NRIs’ theme. However, not all the NRIs stories of overseas are well told, well played or worth the time. Some of the best movies that actually leave a lasting impression of the life abroad include:

1. Monsoon Wedding:Directed by Mira Nair, this is romance, comedy and drama – all together – depicting the lives of NRIs and the NRI weddings. An extravagant Punjabi wedding and the family traditions are beautifully directed throughout this movie. The touch of folk music is very refreshing. Naseeruddin Shah’s acting is solid once more, and plays a father who is organizing an enormous, chaotic, and very expensive wedding that involves NRI families coming together from different parts of the world.

2. East is East:This is a very comic and funny movie with a dark side of NRI story based out of England. Om Puri delivers one of the best acting of a conflicted father with double standards. Married to a white woman, the father forces his kids to live the traditional and strict desi lifestyle. The children, born and grown up in UK, see themselves as British and reject their father’s rules on dress, food, religion and arranged marriage.

3. Bend it like Beckham:Starring Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley, the title comes from the soccer player David Beckham’s skill at scoring from free kicks by “bending” (curving) the ball past a wall of defenders. It is a beautiful depiction of a Punjabi family’s life in England. The film explores the lives of Indians abroad and how NRIs ‘bend’ the social and traditional rules to adapt to the local culture. It has a lively music, with a touch of folk genre, including ‘Rabbaa Rabbaa Meeh Barsaa’.

4. Bride and Prejudice:This is a Bollywood style adaptation of the novel ‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen. It is filmed primarily in English, with some Hindi and Punjabi dialogue. The lead cast of Aishwarya Rai, Martin Henderson, Nadira Babbar, Anupam Kher and Naveen Andrews plays well in the desi adaptation of an old classic story of west. The wedding and party scenes, the complicated feelings of love, the dance numbers and culture depiction….are all nicely integrated. Continue reading →

R2I Surprises await the returning NRIs

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Everyone abroad talks about r2i – returning to India. Sooner or later, every Indian settled overseas considers returning home. Regardless how much you plan and how much you look forward to it, the real life experience always brings its own surprises – good and bad ones.

Most of the NRIs romanticize about the life in India. However, those returning to India have their own complaints about life back home:

Traffic: After living in American or Europe for a long time, we get used to the smooth flow of traffic and the traffic rules. Don’t expect the same after r2i. There are just way too many cars and bikes on the road, compared to what we are used to abroad. And remember, the more aggressive drivers make their own traffic rules, most of the time.
Not the same old neighborhood: I wrote a full article on this recently, the home we left behind many years ago is not the same, neither is the neighborhood.

Kids hate it: many parents return to India to raise their kids in Indian culture speaking Indian language. However, the whole experience is very hard on kids. The language, the new place, the new surroundings, the power cuts, the crowd….the whole thing overwhelms them. They like India for vacationing, but forget the permanent living part.

Faded bonds of Family and friends: Many of us return home to be with family and old friends. However, once you go back, it does not feel like the good old days. Everybody is on a different wavelength; they have their own lives to live. Continue reading →

Abroad, You never feel at Home

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Yes, it happened; it was bound to happen. I ran out of ideas.
I ran out of ideas to write about.

Not that my previous ideas were too special or too brilliant. Even the brilliant idea from last night – writing about a new-comer’s experiences – was very ordinary.
She is new student I recently ran into. From her experiences in America, I was hoping to get some new material for my blog.

“So how do you like in America?” I asked eagerly, hoping for a long story.
“Ah, it’s not all that bad, just about the same as I expected,” Dismissively, she said in a monotone.
“So, what is it that you don’t like it here, or dislike the most,” I rephrased the question, hoping to get something more.
“It is not much different; about the same as I expected,”

She was not helping out.
I paused. It cannot be; it is a new country, a new place all across the ocean.
“How about the language?” I pressed on.
“No, I speak English at home in Bangalore. I can speak many languages, but English is what we use the most.”
“Wow”, more disappointed than surprised, I did not know what else to say.

I was getting nothing’ no ideas, no new observations from the eyes of a new immigrant to USA.

“I liked the chicken burger”, she said with a light touch of satisfaction in her voice.
“What chicken burger?”
“The one from McDonalds, we just had, with French fries”
“Oh yeah, you like that kind of fast food?”
“I don’t like it, I love it!” she likes to say it. 
“So, you don’t get it back home?” I have not been back to India for many years.
“We do; you don’t know? We have everything there, McDonalds too?” Continue reading →

Why do NRIs return to India?

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Main R2I (Return-to-India) reasons for NRIs abroad

Over the years, a reverse trend is starting to take shape. More and more overseas NRIs are returning home, and others are considering the option. The reasons for R2I – return to India – vary from personal to business to emotional; some of the main ones are:

More job opportunities in a booming Indian economy: As Indian economy keeps on growing, year after year; there are more opportunities available in India compared to old days. The IT field continues to expand, creating demand for international professionals. The economic revolution that started in 1991 has reformed India into one of the major players on the world stage.

Slow down in America and other developed countries: The global markets are going through some of the worse economic recessions of all times. The unemployment in USA is at its highest in many decades. The bleak outlook in job markets and uncertain future abroad is one of the reasons for many immigrants to consider returning home.

Going back ‘Home’:The sense of belonging makes a big difference when deciding on the future path. It feels good to be back and going back to the roots - being a part of our own culture, our own society is a major psychological boost. Continue reading →

Tourist Visa-on-Arrival in India introduced

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In a rush?
Don’t have time to get Tourist Visa for India?
Well, there is a good chance that they might let you in, if you come from one of these five countries below.

The Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi issued a press release yesterday – on January 01, 2010, and introduced new measures to allow ‘Tourist Visa-on-Arrival’ in India. This is a welcome step toward facilitating foreign tourism and to encourage tourists who plan their trips on a short notice.

“Government of India has decided to introduce “Tourist Visa-on-Arrival” for a period of one year for citizens of five countries viz. Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Singapore on an experimental basis…” The Press Release says.

This is effective immediately, that is starting January 1, 2010. Tourists from these countries can also procure their visas from the Missions / Posts in the normal course, just as in the past.

The statement read, “The said “Tourist Visa-on-Arrival” with a maximum validity of 30 days with single entry facility shall be granted by the Immigration Officers at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata airports to start with.” Continue reading →