1983-2011 Posted January 3, 2013 Posted January 3, 2013 As the dream of almost every parent, ôameer acquired a degree in Software Engineer and joined a company based in USA, the land of braves and opportunity. When he arrived in USA, it was as if a dream had come true for him. Here at last he was in a place where he always wanted to be. He decided that he would be staying in this country for about Five years in which time he would earn enough money to settle down in India. His father was a government employee and after his retirement, the only asset he could acquire was a decent one bedroom flat. He wanted to do some thing more than him. But sooner he started feeling homesickness and lonely as the time passed. After 2 years, he decided to get married. Told his parents that he has only 10 days of holidays and everything must be done within these 10 days. Was jubilant and was actually enjoying hopping for gifts for all his friends back home. If he miss anyone then there will be talks. After reaching home he did spent one week going through all the photographs of girls and as the time was getting shorter he was forced to select one candidate. In-laws told him, to his surprise, that he would have to get married in 2-3 days only, as he will not get anymore holidays in near future to come back to the country again. After the marriage, it was time to return to USA, after giving some money to his parents and telling the neighbors to look after them, he returned to USA. His wife enjoyed this country for about two months and then she started feeling lonely. The frequency of calling his home country increased twice in a week, sometimes 3 times a week. His savings started diminishing. After two more years they started to have kids. Two lovely kids, a boy and a girl, were gifted to them by the Almighty. Every time he spoke to his parents, they asked him to come to India so that they can see their grand-children. Every year they decided to visit their country. But part work part monetary conditions prevented it. Years went by and visiting their own home was a distant dream. Then suddenly one day he got a message that his parents were seriously sick. He tried his hard but he couldnÃÕ get any holidays and thus could not visit his parents. The next message he got was his parents had passed away and as there was no one to do the last rights, the society members had done whatever they could do. He was extremely depressed. His parents had passed away without seeing their grand children Aah ? After couple more years passed away, much to his childrenÃÔ dislike and his wifeÃÔ joy they returned to their country to settle down. He started to look for a suitable property, but to his dismay his savings were short and the property prices had gone up during all these years. He had to return to the USA. His wife refused to come back with him and his children refused to stay in their fatherÃÔ home country. His 2 children and he returned back to USA after promising his wife that he would be coming back for good after two years. Time passed by, his daughter decided to get married to a citizen in USA and his son was happy living in USA only. He decided that had enough now and will wound-up every thing and will return to his own country. He had just enough money to buy a decent 02 bedroom flat in a well-developed locality. Now he is 60 years old and the only time he goes out of the flat is for the routine visit to the nearby temple. His faithful wife has also left him and gone to the holy abode. Sometimes he wondered was it worth all this? His father, even after staying in their home country, had a house to his name and he too have the same as of now, nothing more than that. He lost his parents and children for just ONE EXTRA BEDROOM. Looking out from the window he sees a lot of children dancing. This damned cable TV has spoiled the new generation and the children are losing their values and culture because of it. He get occasional cards from his children asking if he is alright. Now perhaps after he will die, it will be the neighbors again who will be performing his last rights, God Bless them! But the question still remains the same ÃØas all this worth just for an extra bedroom flat finally? He is still searching for an answer©å©å?!!!! http://academictips.org/blogs/one-bedroom-flat/
zen Posted January 3, 2013 Posted January 3, 2013 Every year they decided to visit their country. But part work part monetary conditions prevented it. Years went by and visiting their own home was a distant dream. Then suddenly one day he got a message that his parents were seriously sick. He tried his hard but he couldnÃÕ get any holidays and thus could not visit his parents. The next message he got was his parents had passed away and as there was no one to do the last rights, the society members had done whatever they could do. He was extremely depressed. His parents had passed away without seeing their grand children Aah ? This is mostly like you reap what you sow: he left his parents for to earn more money, did not have the courage to demand a leave from his employers when his parents were seriously ill, did not even go there to perform their last rites .... Now he is in the same position. Others in his family have higher priorities than him Sad story though but as they say "family is always first. You don't work for your employer, you work for your family". This is a lesson to take away
Desi Cartman Posted January 3, 2013 Posted January 3, 2013 Firstly I dont believe this story and secondly, I have never met anybody who wasnt able to get leave to attend to his sick parents. this is all BS
veer Posted January 3, 2013 Posted January 3, 2013 ^^ very blunt.. Shades are not just black and white as author is mentioning. There are lot of grey areas. I can relate to this story a bit since I am living in USA and contemplating to move back to Swadesh. Lot of people back then move to states for better future without knowing ins and outs of what will hit them. I moved here with my parents and now my parents like it here but I want to move back. It is funny/strange that my dad left a good job (L&T) in India and pulled carts at Wal-Mart here but now we are at the stage where we are making good money. But the question still remains if it was worth it.. I want to know opinion of someone who lived in US for years and went back.. It will be interesting.
Desi Cartman Posted January 3, 2013 Posted January 3, 2013 Have you ever worked in India ? if not then I suggest that you try it out for a few months before the big move
Clarke Posted January 4, 2013 Posted January 4, 2013 Firstly I dont believe this story and secondly' date=' I have never met anybody who wasnt able to get leave to attend to his sick parents. this is all BS[/quote'] Its one of those forwards, I read it when I went to US as a student and am reading it again many yrs later after moving back to India. Its been a few weeks but essentially, you have to accept India for all that's right/wrong about it. I always knew that and adopting another nation as a permanent home & leaving all my family behind was never an option. The extended family does whine about traffic, pollution, govt hassles etc whenever they visit and frankly, so do most of us.
veer Posted January 4, 2013 Posted January 4, 2013 Have you ever worked in India ? if not then I suggest that you try it out for a few months before the big move No, I have not but that is one of the factors that I've thought about. I know pay won't be as good and work environment wouldnt be the same but I can live with that or, atleast, I believe I can live with that.
veer Posted January 4, 2013 Posted January 4, 2013 Its been a few weeks but essentially, you have to accept India for all that's right/wrong about it. I always knew that and adopting another nation as a permanent home & leaving all my family behind was never an option. The extended family does whine about traffic, pollution, govt hassles etc whenever they visit and frankly, so do most of us. Yup, that's the attitude I've when I visit India.... There will be time when I'll get frustrated, irritated but will have to take things in positive way. So you were on H1 and went back?
Clarke Posted January 4, 2013 Posted January 4, 2013 ^ Yea, was maybe halfway through GC but that was never the goal. I didn't want to give them the impression that I didn't have long term plans with the company.
Laaloo Posted January 4, 2013 Posted January 4, 2013 ^ Yea' date=' was maybe halfway through GC but that was never the goal. I didn't want to give them the impression that I didn't have long term plans with the company.[/quote'] back to Rajkot? :woot:
Clarke Posted January 4, 2013 Posted January 4, 2013 back to Rajkot? :woot: Not exactly, but yea Western India.
Texy Posted January 4, 2013 Posted January 4, 2013 This article must have been written by an imbecile on a toilet paper that he later used for wiping. I believe any reputed company would give him emergency leave to visit his parents unless he's cleaning toilets at Burger King and the desi manager there is an a-hole. In that case, you can always quit, go home and then come back and find a similar job. Just because you go to vilayaat doesn't mean you lose your humanity or common sense. Off course there are people here with dubious visa issues and they don't want to risk leaving the country as they fear they might not be allowed re-entry.
EnterTheVoid Posted January 4, 2013 Posted January 4, 2013 So you moved permanently back to Mumbai? I take it you are living there right now?
Lurker Posted January 4, 2013 Posted January 4, 2013 Yup' date=' that's the attitude I've when I visit India.... There will be time when I'll get frustrated, irritated but will have to take things in positive way. So you were on H1 and went back?[/quote'] It comes down to your relationship with your spouse and parents (seriously). Yes life would be tough in some ways. But also rewarding in many. You do have to travel longer every day to work. And once you reach there be prepared for the usual politics (read Marathi coterie vs Tamilians vs Bengali and so on), then come home to a crammed up 3 bedroom flat while passing through noisy traffic. But you will also know before hand when Holi/Diwali/Durga Puja is going to happen. You will be able to enjoy pakoda when it rains. You can catch cricket whole day long and not cuss ESPN to showing the Annual Golf thingy. If your parents fall sick you have people you can reach out to. And of course if you want to woo your wifey you can take her to Haldirams and see her eyes widen as she sinks her teeth into Raj-kachauri. Probably also the best time for you to tell her that big ass TV has been put on hold as you dont have money :haha: It all depends on what you want. And how your family will deal with it. I think you would be fine personally.
Lurker Posted January 4, 2013 Posted January 4, 2013 By the way not sure how of the article is true but please stop having a go at it simply because it is a bit brutal in nature. Considering that the protagonist is supposedly 60 years old it is fair to say he would have made to US in 70s/80s. And nobody here would perhaps have the idea how easy immigration was back then. I wouldnt be surprised if US was very racial back then, still was to some extent in late 90s when I landed. And I wouldnt be surprised if his travels abroad was hindered. Although it might have been a bit of stretch to say he was stopped. We just dont know.
punjabi_khota Posted January 4, 2013 Posted January 4, 2013 Well if your aim in life is to have an extra bedroom (or n-extra bedrooms), you have got more issues than just being away from India and your family.
Clarke Posted January 4, 2013 Posted January 4, 2013 By the way not sure how of the article is true but please stop having a go at it simply because it is a bit brutal in nature. Considering that the protagonist is supposedly 60 years old it is fair to say he would have made to US in 70s/80s. And nobody here would perhaps have the idea how easy immigration was back then. I wouldnt be surprised if US was very racial back then, still was to some extent in late 90s when I landed. And I wouldnt be surprised if his travels abroad was hindered. Although it might have been a bit of stretch to say he was stopped. We just dont know. Its total BS. For starters, he was a Software Engineer and now he's 60+ ? Did the world (forget India) have this position called software engineer then? If you believe the above story of a software engineer from the 1960s, he should be really well off and not quibbling about a room. I do have some relatives who immigrated in the 80s, high school passouts who got greencards in a year, 100% legal no jugaad required :haha:
EnterTheVoid Posted January 4, 2013 Posted January 4, 2013 You lot are missing the forest for the trees. He is trying to say that most NRI's have one foot in their home country and another in their adopted country, which in large part is quite correct.
Lurker Posted January 4, 2013 Posted January 4, 2013 Its total BS. For starters, he was a Software Engineer and now he's 60+ ? Did the world (forget India) have this position called software engineer then? If you believe the above story of a software engineer from the 1960s, he should be really well off and not quibbling about a room. I do have some relatives who immigrated in the 80s, high school passouts who got greencards in a year, 100% legal no jugaad required :haha: Like I said, we just dont know. In 70s and 80s yes the software engineer position existed. Thats how TCS and PCS started really. Infosys, Wipro were later built on that platform. And I am not sure how much salary was paid in 70s/80s. I do know that in 1999 the going abroad salary for a TCS was 1800 bucks, which is not a lot. Of course for a single guy who had just been here it was still a jackpot. But by the same token I would expect salary to be a lot less in 70s/80s. We dont know enough about the case, there are no details. Just dont be dismissive is all I am saying.
punjabi_khota Posted January 4, 2013 Posted January 4, 2013 ^ oye tau, assuming that software engineering positions existed, how the **** do you justify this statement: "As the dream of almost every parent, ôameer acquired a degree in Software Engineer and joined a company based in USA, the land of braves and opportunity" In 70s and 80s, this was NOT the dream of every parent. IT/software did not enter the middle-class conciousness till the 90s. Hell, 100% guarantee there were no software engineering degrees in INdia in 70s. This is a made-up article, and really poor piece of fiction at that.
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