Sunday, November 29, 2015

Why would anyone want to leave comforts of US and return to India?

My Quora answer:

I started working for an Indian IT service company 11 years back. Had no idea about importance of on-site travel until one HR tried to downplay it and say life is not all about money...bla bla . I was not getting it, why would anyone want to leave their place to work ? so my friend then explained the $ numbers.

After 4 yrs, finally I got the opportunity. What a time, I had 3 personal loans on me by then and supporting my family that is not the usual nuclear type, have 4 siblings. Had my crush engaged with someone else recently then. 

I loved America, all the infrastructure, order, public services, most importantly the vacation options to travel around the many states. I made it to most of them except Florida in my 2 years. Especially when you start driving yourself, America is a triple awesome place. I saved just enough unlike many other colleagues who saved every penny possible. Like I never cooked on work days, spent at food court, took 2 coffees at office daily, weekends at an Indian restaurant or cooking with friends for fun. But I had no booze or smoking habit. 

Every 9 months l took 3 weeks (total 2) vacation to India, am very sure I was probably one of the 100s to travel home like that who worked for an Indian IT at onsite. 9 months gap so that I get good 3 weeks, I didn't even bother when some colleagues warned me about possible end of my onsite trip if I took vacation. Most of the stay, I shared my apartment with only one other person so that I got enough privacy.

All was well, even work wise though I had my rough times like spending 15 hrs, I got comfortable later. And then the emptiness slowly started swallowing me. Your friends keep changing, though I never worried, I could not understand what am doing for my life at US and why am doing it. Because once the original debts were done I had no idea why I was there. Most others planned about saving for buying a house. Fortunately or unfortunately I never thought about that till then. And there were problems at home as well, so I had to plan my home trip. But the dryness was so high, I decided I will not come back again. I didn't tell you, had felt so bad to stand in line at the US embassy for my VISA, had not realized it until I went and stood there in line and all the stories you hear about the VISA allocations and approvals go around your brain bothering you. Never once I felt it as home. Its only a place for vacation. 
I planned to come home and take a better paying job so that I could earn enough to pay the seed money for the home loan. 

After I returned, with no money at hand except a cheap plot for less than 3 lakhs at home town as the only saving, it took more than 3 yrs for me to buy a home on loan, while my other friends had got second by then. I have no regrets anyways, life is all about living not about accumulating wealth. A friend after spending years at US says, he couldn't imagine living in India, the garbage, public apathy, infrastructure deficiencies ...I can understand him, I don't have a problem with his choice. To me, life is not about living the most comfortable way, its about how you survive/live every moment . There is no way I could take my parents and live in America, I have to face the challenges living with them in India. That's what is worth living to me. Life is not just about me. While I had watched how my parents burnt themselves every minute to grow the 5 of us, it is naturally the choice for me.

Every moment I missed sitting at US was indeed a loss , but for a reason. And that reason doesn't exist for now. Its not just the family, its the soil, the sun light, the air everything I missed, I realized my yearning for the land whenever I landed at chennai from US be it vacation or for good. 

I do miss America, for a vacation

Twisted Intolerance Debate

Whole Intolerance debate is twisted to have the wrong premise. It is not the nation that is protested against, but the elected government, which has only 5 years mandate. Read it again, protest is against the government, irrespective of whether they made it explicit or not, I mean the protesters.

Why are they protesting government? Because all those so called sporadic events are triggered by miscreants who identify themselves with the ruling party. And the supreme ruler, the elected representative, gives very reluctant condemnation (?) without any significant impact . the ruler even felicitates the Twitter abusers who abuse any critic of the ruler, check with his party mate Arun shourie on this.

Why is it twisted? It is twisted so that you get mass appeal, defame and demoralize protesters, and any one who wants to support could be defamed and character assassinated as well. This is simple and same logic they follow for any criticism. Any criticism of ruling party or candidate is twisted as against nation, and ask them to go Pakistan.

Again, it is not the number of incidents, it is the people behind those incidents and who stand along with them.

Why only this govt? Did miscreants of past incidents before this govt had so much of strong and open allegiance with the ruling party? May be individuals who did business malpractice did have but not any national level organization capable of triggering incidents across the country.

So the last govt was great? Hey you just throwed it out giving it a historic defeat, that too after so much of public protests against. Unfortunately for that govt they couldn't twist the corruption context as against the nation, though they still tried an extent.

Does the protesters have any right to protest? Govt runs by the tax every citizen pays and are bound to criticism and condemnation. Government is the servant of the public, including the prime ruler, unfortunately!

Edit based on FB discussion:

Did the same people protest against intolerance in 1975?
1975. - emergency period. Are you saying ppl did not oppose Indira? They dint throw her out? Again at any point of time, there is a critical issue that is amidst multiple issues to which focus naturally gets to. When was the last time, a govt is seen openly supporting activities of fringe elements? When your own govt running on your money , is seen standing along with fringe elements, wouldn't ppl be scared irrespective of any violence happened or not?

Why aren't people asking respective CMs?
They neither explicitly mentioned PM either. In fact couple I know clearly said both state and central govts should restore confidence

Why all this intolerance protests are only in 2015?
Ppl do protest and oppose any or every govt on any critical issue. It was about corruption last govt, now it is intolerance. Why don't you question your reasoning which thinks only this protest as manufactured. Just because every opposition party tried exploiting the protesters, doesn't mean the protest is invalid

How can you conclude which is manufactured and which is not? based on facts or based on perception or biases?
By history, only the winners write what is fact and what is not. And people are aware so they pick resonance, I mean that wavelength which they agree with .