I blame Cleveland.

They should have picked Salt Lake City, Utah. ;)


That said, let me add…

MORONS!

Don’t want to be exposed to another culture? Don’t bloody move then!

You said it, MadMan - I really don’t get these whiners.

Agree with you, Shanti! These are first rate MORONS. Can’t do anything but whine. People like this will never be happy anywhere in the world. If they were in India, they’d be complaining about corruption, unclean surroundings in cities, rising prices, riots, etc. Their spouces or other loved ones should slap them and make them do something other than whine.

Parag, I wish I could slap them and make them shut up - my son whines a lot less than these cry-babies.

Well, with a billion or so Indians in the world, statistically you expect a moron or two.

That’s ok. We balance them out

:mad:

It’s her husband’s fault:

“Her husband’s extended family was already in the United States and he felt obliged to take a shot at the American Dream, even though he already held a decent job in India.”

I don’t know why they don’t go back. It’s not the end of the world if they don’t like living here.

Of course, if they are staying for the money, well then, you get what you pay for…..

As John Irving wrote “Immigrants are immigrants all their lives”

Sachin

This is so common with so many cultures.
Some people fight to keep their children Indian or Serbian, or whatever.
In my case, my family was living in the culture of the time in which they left.
In my case, Serbia has moved on and progressed. My family has not.
They are stuck in the small village mentality of over 20 years ago. The best example would be on meeting a recent immigrant, she was absolutely stunned that Serbs over here knew how to Kolo (an old traditional dance). She said that she had never seen the dance except on TV…the struggle to preserve culture in a foreign land will always be a big one.
How can they compete?
How sad it must be for those people who long for and romanticize about a country that even they themselves would not be able to return to without being seen as an outsider.
Once you live somewhere else for a decade, you know longer belong where you were…if you get my meaning.
To be stuck in a cultural limbo is a sad thing…they don’t fit here, and they no longer fit at home.

I mean that they no longer fit back home.

MD - making the second-generation Indians “fair and balanced”! :tongue3:

Sachin, you are right - they think they want something and it isn’t enough to keep them happy. Now they don’t want to give it up anymore and they don’t even want to miss whatever they had back home…

Radmila, you are absolutely right. What most of these Indiaphiles don’t understand is that India itself has changed over the years and it is not in the least the way these people remember it to be.

These Morons would invent reasons to whine regardless of where they are. Geography is of no concern

Which is precisely I thought these cases actually undermined the conclusions of immigration reform offered up by the article, Nilu.

When I first came across Little India a number of years ago, I thought it was a promising effort to portray a fresh perspective on Indian-Americans. Over time, it’s become yet another whiny and tiresome webzine that insists on telling us how crappy life is in America. And yet, you still have long lines at American consulates in India with people seeking to get here. And if we are so naive as to believe that life is filled with challenges and promise, well, we just haven’t pulled the wool away from our eyes.

Anytime my relatives get a bit too critical of America, I utter three words, “Hot running water.”

KXB, heh. ;)

KXB…hahaha.
That reminds me of the young hyper nationalistic kids of my culture. While the US was bombing serbia, they were flag waving and picketing the American Embassy all pissed off…meanwhile, few of them could speak the language without being laughed at for all the serblish…and I laughed because not one of them would last in a serbian village when they’d have to go outside to use the facilities and wipe their bootys with the pages of the Illustrana Politika.
They would have been begging to come back to Canada…to their Gap, and Starbucks.
LOL

Radmila,

Here in a Chicago, there is a sizable Serbian community. A couple of years ago, my old boss invited me to his wedding to a Serbian-American woman. The ceremony was held in the last remaining Serbian Orthodox church on the Far South Side of Chicago. He told me that it was often tradition to fire guns in the air after the wedding, but that may not go down to well in the city, so they banged a drum instead.

With the war in the Balkans still in the papers, a wedding was not the place to bring up a war, especially when the bride’s family is Serbian in origin. Sorry to say, the wife of one of my co-workers brought it up with the bride’s cousin. You could hear the other table guests silently utter a Homer-style “D’oh!”

Aren’t people fun, KXB? :mad:

To quote from Seinfeld:

Elaine: People suck.

Jerry: They’re the worst.

KXB,
I’m sure that it caused an awkward moment.
Strangers often don’t know what to say to one another and sometimes the choice of topic is not properly thought out.
Like the uncomfortable white person who, when seated next to a black person, blurts out: “My neighbour down the street is black”. or some such out of context thing.

I’m sure that the co-workers wife was searching for some common ground of knowledge to start a conversation, insensitively not thinking that it wasn’t an appropriate time to bring up the subject of war, with people of a nationality who were being vilified by the media at the time.
If I start bitching about how serbs were portrayed during that time, you’ll get bored, and I’ll blow steam out of my ears.
I’m sure you understand what I mean.

Such people are neigther here or there. In other words, they are on umbartha (a nice marathi word that denotes a small wooden bump at the boundary of the front door of the house).

You are right, Ashish - it makes for a very unhappy life indeed.

Ashish,
What a wonderful description.

Chanced on this blog only today, so sorry for the delayed entry.

I have not read the Little India article, but here are a few links that might apprise you and others who are reading this blog about the problems that H4 visa holders face. Importantly, being on H4 worsens the situation as it creates a “power differential” between the man and his supposedly “equal” partner, the wife.

http://www.jamwa.org/index.cfm?objectid=1814AD40-D567-0B25-5243F6ACFAD68ED0

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/02/AR2005100201377.html?sub=new

http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/000573.html

http://www.ilw.com/articles/2005,0826-Shah.shtm

Until a few years ago, permanant residencies came within a few years of arriving in the US. However, the current situation is very lengthy and frustrating, and keeps qualified women stranded at home for much longer. The recent uproar about the H4 visa is absolutely justified.

You can’t fight other people’s hysterics with those of your own.

Grow up- different strokes for different folks!

What is your definition of hysteria, Mythili?

You know, its easy to pass a judgment about these ‘whinning’ people unless u know what they are going through. Till i came to US, i thought the same - why whine, why dont such people just come back? It cant be that bad….they probably arent qualified enough. Sorry to say folks, but you guys really need to opYou know, its easy to pass a judgment about these ‘whining’ people unless u know what they are going through. Until i came to US, I thought the same - why whine, why don’t such people just come back? It cannot be that bad…they probably are not qualified enough. Sorry to say folks, but you people really need to open your eyes to the reality and stop seeing this as a personal attack on America. As one friend put it “It’s not that I feel lonely. I feel unnecessary”. Most women here are qualified and talented to take on a good job and earn more than their husband - but they cannot. Actually its not even about the money. Its not that I don’t like the country, or my husband is abusive or I crave for Indian culture and hate the culture here, its just that i and many of other women crave to have a life of their own, or simply have a life-geography doesn’t matter. Try moving to an unknown place where not only you do not have a social circle, there is little opportunity for you to develop a circle - where will you develop it. You don’t go to a work, your neighbors are busy with their lives, your family and friends are too far.en your eyes to the reality and stop seeing this as a personal attack on America. As one friend put it “It’s not that I feel lonely. I feel unnecessary”. Most women here are qualifed and talented to take on a good job and earn more than their husband - but they cant. Its not that i dont like the country, or my husband is abusive or i crave for indian culture and hare the culture here, its just that i and many of other women crave to have a life of their own, or simply have a life-geography doesnt matter. Try moving to an unknown place where not only you dont have a social circle, there is little oppertunity for you to develop a circle - where will you develop it. You dont go to a work, your neighbours are busy working, your family is too far.

Shruti, I never even live in a hostel back in India - I left the country at 23 and came over here all by myself as a student. I have met tons of such people who didn’t even have their husbands feeding them. I know what it is to be completely uprooted from a system.

The difference? I understand I am alone responsible and work to create a new support system for myself instead of crying myself to sleep….

Last time I checked we live in USA!!
USA- a land where we do not pass judgment on anybody and give everybody a freedom to speak and act (even rant or lament).

Nobody is forcing anyone to read those articles.

People grow up. Its easy to call others morons and whiners. Well… its their choice and we should respect that. I think its your own insecurities that make you go hyper on such mundane issues.

every person is different and have different tolerance levels and threshold. I think its perfectly alright if they do not get comfortable immediately.

I think the problem with the ladies on H-4 visa is a real one. What is wrong with the desire to work and earn? These are bright women who came to USA with big aspirations.

Its easy to criticize………. Shanti!! Hope it is positive criticism next time you post something!! Till then I will enjoy my independence to enrich other lives.

Those who are really interested in helping or get helped go to

http://www.h4help.org/joomla/about-h4help.org.html

kabir!!