Christopher McCandless says it well: “The joy of living comes from our encounters with new experiences, and therefore there is no greater joy than having a horizon that changes without ceasing, that each day has a new and different sun.”
As a teenager, the West, as always, seemed like the epicenter of possibility and opportunity. Through this article I want to share my experiences as a young immigrant in the western world during the last 20 years. I was only fifteen years old when my parents decided to move our base from India to the United States of America. Being a young teenager, like everyone at that age, I was very excited by the idea of Immigrating and becoming a US citizen, exploring that part of the world that I had read so much about in books. Coming from an Armed Forces background, my life has always been adventurous and fast moving with exposure to many states, cities, cultures and the wonderful diversity that is India. Like all Fauji (army) kids, as they are called, I lived in a very adventurous yet protective environment where we are somehow pampered to the core with comfort, security and down-to-earth joys of life. I loved that life.
I finished my board exams and we traveled first to the UK for a holiday which was wonderful and fascinating being my first international exposure and then I made it to the dream destination of the entire US. The first few weeks were like a dream, where everything was perfect, we spent the holidays in Washington, Orlando and Seattle. Then little by little we got deeper into the realities of life and the challenges of new immigrants. I joined a school where I felt lonely and strange because my accent was different from most and I couldn’t understand many students’ spoken language well and vice versa. My way of thinking and also the concept of my education in public school was very different in India, but soon my teachers began to understand the inherent strength of my educational knowledge base, including the grammatical correction of my written English which was lacking in my classmates. . Along with this, I joined a summer job at the airport where we were supposed to help passengers in all aspects, language, disability, location guide, etc. The first day I helped a passenger to a particular destination at the airport, she tipped me $5. I took the money but as soon as I got home I cried my heart out to my father telling him that in India we tip the poor and here I am receiving a tip. I felt small. My father tried to explain to me that it’s the culture here and that there’s nothing wrong, that’s the way to show courtesy, but I was too upset to understand. So this was my first experience in the new western culture. My work continued through the summer, and I still remember that at the end of the summer, if I didn’t get a tip, I used to get mad because I didn’t earn enough pocket money. I met an elderly gentleman, a co-worker who, I learned, had just retired as a senior manager at Boeing.
He told me that he didn’t necessarily have to work, he could sit in his big house and just garden. She came there just to have fun. In another case, we found a war veteran, a US Navy officer, driving a taxi. He said that he did it for pleasure since in no other occupation does he meet so many strangers with whom he enjoys interacting. There I learned the value of human dignity. No job is small, and no job makes you feel bigger than your natural size. The political and business class here have a lot to learn from them. Then I went back to my school. Little by little I was adjusting to the new environment, but I was missing my life in India very much. At any opportunity, he would be ready to rush back to India. Over the next few years I experienced many aspects of the new society, some of which were good and others that made me think. We often traveled to Vancouver in Canada, just two hours into a wonderful scenic drive. Another thing I learned is that when living abroad, Indians are more consistently Indian than in their homeland, where they remain rudderless.
My life continued with seasons in India and America. People in India envied me while I envied them. Then came a time in my life where I moved on, got my bachelor’s degree, and joined Bank of America in the Investments branch. I was doing well professionally and for now I had no conflict with Western life. We usually traveled to India once a year and now I have also started to see the positivity in my new country of residence. I began to realize the scope of the opportunities there. The quality of life, whether you are rich or poor, is essentially the same, as you eat similar foods, you get all the basic comforts of life quite easily, there is dignity in work, dignity in whatever work you do, and most importantly , not corruption at the level of life of the common man. It took me many years to understand this, but now I know for sure that what I am today is due to the multiple exposures I had in my life. I’m not saying that as an immigrant there wouldn’t be problems, there definitely would be because we come from different cultures and upbringings and go through the pains of transformation. But that’s all a phase, like the first time a small child is admitted and cries under a sheet.
Today, my family members are well established in the United States, their children are doing very well, and they are receiving the best education and opportunities. I lived in the US for 15 years and have had many opportunities to see the world, West and East, both of which offer a quality lifestyle for the enterprising fortune seeker. I am back in India, just as comfortable and running my own Immigration and Visa company after completing my Masters in International Business. Myself, as an immigrant who has seen the best of life in India and then the experience of a new immigrant’s struggle, a phase where one wants to return to life in the country of origin, now in a phase where that I love both the worlds equally for what they have given me and my family.
today I am the General Director of AKKAM Immigration and Related Services that provides solutions and meets all the requirements related to immigration, student visas and related services to multiple destinations around the world. I feel that all immigration advisors and agents can authentically guide clients if they themselves have experienced the realities, challenges and opportunities in immigration business. I would always advise all my clients, friends and family that life is a unique blessing, spread your wings and experience the movement towards the Horizon, a lot awaits you, distant dreams, some dark clouds and wonderful colors beyond the Horizon.
