Day 25: Pune (Pronounced, POO-NAY)
Story-Time and Reflection:
Soooooo.......I made these friends in Ooty, a young couple. They seemed nice enough, and mostly my impression was that they were entertained with the fact that I was a foreigner. They insisted that when I made it up to Mumbai that I contact them. So after buying my ticket to Mumbai, I let them know that I will be in their neighborhood. Ends up, they don't actually live in Mumbai, and not even all that close (3 hours by car, without stops). However, they are on the way, between Goa and Mumbai, and invite me to stay with them. I'm not terribly excited about this idea, I was really hoping our meeting again would be for dinner one night, not a full 24 hour period. But like I have said before, I'm trying to keep myself open to the possibilities and to connecting with other people. So I agree to stay with them.
So some background on these two. The wife is absolutely delightful. The husband......the husband, to put it nicely, is like an over grown child, a child that ate too much speed and thus behaves erratically and has zero filter. He is exhausting to be with. One major factor is we really have nothing in common. He comes form a tiny little indian village, doesn't have a lot of education, and is very extroverted. I think he would go crazy if he couldn't talk to anyone for 24-hours. I know I sound harsh, but I tried so hard to appreciate his "energy" and "child-like playfulness." But at the end of the day, we can't expect to be compatible with everyone. For the record, he was very hospitable, but sometimes he was just so overbearing, I felt badgered.
Anyways, it was certainly a new experience. I showed up early in the morning, and him and his wife took the day off to show me around. They only have a motorcycle, so they ask their landlord if they can barrow his car. Not only does he agree, but him, his wife, and their son, all take off of work to show the foreigner around. His landlord and family were delightful. Before we took off to see some sights, they invited me into their home, gave me some snacks and tea (no one else was having tea......the spot light was clearly on me). Once I finished my tea, all 6 of us pack in to the 5-seater car, and we were off. It was fun bouncing around town with them, we were like a little family.
One interesting thing I discovered on my Pune pit-stop is that people still fantasize about moving to and working in the US. While the american dream seems to be dying at home, it is still very much alive abroad. Over lunch, both men started asking work visas to the US. It was a difficult conversation for two reasons.
First, I really know nothing about visa's to the US. I was born there, I live there, I have not close friends or relatives who have had to immigrate to the US, I have zero experience, firsthand or secondhand, about this topic. But for some reason, since I live in the US, they have the impression that I have golden tickets to hand out for entry into the US.
Second, these people, while some of the most friendly and hospitable people I have met anywhere, are not particularly well educated. They might have taken some courses for the industry that they work in, but they don't have a well rounded education, their english would not suffice to work in a US office, and they don't have what would be the equivalent of a 4-year degree. And while they are the most lovely people, I just don't see their resume warranting an easy visa into the US. How do you tell the people who have treated you like family that they don't have what it takes to fulfill their dream? Or that they'd need several more years worth of a lot of education to maybe have a chance?
Part of me was kind of surprised to hear that they were so eager to the move to and work in the US. Neither of them are particularly poor. They both had good middle-class jobs in India. What exactly do they expect to find in the US? Honestly, they are probably better off, regarding the standard of living they can sustain here in India then in the US.
It used to be that people moved to the US to give their children an opportunity at a better life, but now of days, if you are a middle class Indian, you can afford to send you children to good schools, where they will receive a well rounded education, where they will learn english starting at an early age, and ultimately, where they will gain the things they will need to become well-to-do doctors, lawyers, engineers, or businesspeople, even on an international scale.
If we are talking about the advancement of these two men and their careers, moving to a more educated and industrialized country is not going to help, based on what they have to offer. They have the impression that if they move to America, then they will automatically have more material wealth. (Quick side-note: While we look toward the east and wish we had their cultural and spiritual riches, they look at us and wish they had our material wealth.......the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.) They think that if they can move to the US, they will instantly become a rags to riches story. Yes, the US is a land of opportunity where you can come from nothing and make millions, but this is still only accomplished by being a valuable commodity to big business or consumers at large. Hard work is only the first part of being fiscally successful, most of it is about what you have to offer, and how much someone is willing to pay for that.
It was a very uncomfortable conversation. They want to move to the States so bad, but they didn't even know that the mainland US is split between 4 time zones, or that Chicago is not really at all close to either New York or California. This is not to say they're stupid, it's to demonstrate that I just really don't think they know what they're asking for. What they want, is not what they'd get if they could move to the US. They have a dream, its the american dream, but this is not a possible reality in this case.
