Non-Resident Indian and Person of Indian Origin - Research Paper Example

Non-Resident Indian and Person of Indian Origin Everyone has a desire to live a prosperous life which allows them economic independence and provides them a quality life, when people fail to see such a life in their own home country or when another country shows them a path where they can fulfill that dream, people migrate. America has been the most favorite choice of the people, due to its diverse culture, uncomplicated migration laws and the freedom that it offers. Some people choose to migrate due to oppression in their own country, or some other turmoil such as famine, drought etc. Still others might not find appropriate job opportunities in their homeland and a good prospective job abroad might be exactly what one needs, of course after getting a nice education. The latter being the most common thread in leaving one’s own country especially in the Indian subcontinent which is considered to be the ‘rising third world slum’. Given the background of the East India Company’s taking over of the major princely states and depriving the indigenous people of their rightful share of ownership, the Indians of the pre-partition era had left with no choice but to migrate to the ‘land of opportunities’. Being brainy and hardworking, since they were farmers, Indians excelled at whatever jobs they could find even at the cost of being ridiculed and discriminated due to their race and color. This resulted in a major shift over the years of the status these Indians achieved. The greatest manifestations could be seen in recent times, where Indians possess a somewhat distinguished status in the social and intellectual circles, be it being business tycoons, cutting-edge scientist or brilliant students and professors. In the seventeenth century the British arrived in India and formed British East India Company to break the Dutch monopoly over spice trade. However, with time East India Company started to enhance its powers and controls over the country and started possessing its resources, depriving the natives any ownership, which was severely opposed by the Indians, giving way to revolts against the company. “The British captured many princely states, forming their own laws and policies; gradually taking over the entire India”1. The Indians were treated as slaves in their own country. Nevertheless during this process they established communication services such as railways, telegraph and postal. This was their scheme to win vote of confidence from the Indian people. The leaders openly condemned the British rule and inspired the people not to lose hope or give up. The British believed in the concept of ‘divide and rule’ and they decided to create misunderstandings between the Hindus, Muslims and other different religions which once lived in India mutually in a peaceful manner, without defaming each other’s beliefs. The Muslims and Hindus both fought a war to gain independence from the 200 years of British rule. They won the war but many people lost their lives, families and properties because of this divide. On the Western side of the world, United States of America had just emerged as the new international superpower and it was considered to be ‘the land of opportunity’. “With this change, America had to modify its existing regulations and policies to accommodate displaced Europeans within its boundaries. Several legislations were passed to make this arrangement more systematic, which encouraged other nations too; to take advantage of this opportunity. The US government at that time had a global vision and it wanted to demonstrate to the world the ideals of free speech, democracy and prosperity”2. Everyone had an American dream to fulfill. So the oppressed nations or individuals who had lost hopes in their own countries started to migrate to US, in lieu of its attractive immigrant laws. There were jobs for almost everyone who was looking for one. “From 1940 to 1950, 1,035,000 people immigrated to the U.S”3. American program was the only plan for displaced people of the war that seemed practical in terms of humanitarian efforts. The wealthy Indians also decided to migrate to America, ‘the land of the free’. The immigrants were men between 20 – 55 years old; students and workers. They left their wealth and properties in India and migrated to US in small groups of cousins and village neighbors. These people were mainly farmers, whose land had been possessed by the British, leaving them no control or ownership or businessmen whose businesses had been destroyed due to independence war. With more and more people migrating to US, the Indians realized that life in America was more challenging than that back home. Initially, there were not many jobs for them to take on because of their background and racism against them which resulted in taking jobs that no one else would take. When Indians first entered the US, the other minorities such as Japanese and Chinese already dominated the place. “Later such laws were introduced which excluded the Chinese laborers from immigrating to US and halted the Japanese immigrations too, making things favorable for India”4. Most of the Indians who migrated to US originally came from the Punjab province. They were generally farmers who either lost their farms back home or didn’t have a farm of their own. But being farmers made them hard workers, willing to do strenuous jobs. “They came as indentured servants to British Columbia, later immigrated to Washington, Oregon and California, working in the mills, farms or railroads”5. They contently worked at low wages and were often appreciated for their commitment and hard work; the immigration rules for them were relaxed as America was looking for cheap labor. This gave way to contempt in the hearts of Native Americans because they saw their own jobs being compromised for an Indian. They were not ready to assimilate and held hostile views against Indians. During the process of settling down in US, the Indians faced lot of prejudice and racial discrimination, however that didn’t destroy their morale or determination as the Indians still believed that the life in US was much better than the life they had left behind in India. The Whites would taunt them on their color, language they spoke or the clothes that they wore. Upset by this situation, the Indians decided to set up their own businesses with the little wealth that they had or the skills that they possessed. Usually the whole family would be participating in running the business. Due to their will power and strength of the mind, soon the conditions improved for them. They were now in more control of their lives and had more freedom. Many Indians came to America with the hope that one day they will return to their homeland. However, with the passage of time the Indians witnessed progress and development, which resulted in making US their permanent abode. Indians did not singly enjoyed this progression and advancement; their hard work and keenness also brought success to America and contributed to the country’s overall wealth, making it richer day by day. After coming to America, the Indians did not solely focused on increasing their wealth but some of them also did not miss the prospect of accomplishing a higher degree or improving their education level. Some of America’s best and the brightest students are Indians. They usually excel in the field of Science, Music and Engineering. Some of the Indians are the world’s renowned scientists, doctors, researchers, writers, musicians, engineers and teachers. According to Socioeconomic survey, “Asian Indians have the highest educational attainment rates – approximately 64.4% of them possess college degrees whereas 12.5% have an advanced degree (a law, medical or a doctorate degree)”6. Today, the employment and occupational status of Indian migration is a reflection of the immigration laws which have assisted and encouraged the migration of skilled and professional people. Obtaining permanent resident visa has also become convenient and easier for the skilled professionals. The doctors and engineers are better paid and less stressed in American than they were back home. “Indian immigrants in New York have accomplished positions that require high levels of educational achievement. This has resulted in economic reward for them that they could have ever dreamt of while living in India”7. From farmers the Indians now represent the most advanced ethnic communities; they are performing high-tech jobs in major multinational companies, working as physicians at prestigious hospitals, scientists and students at internationally renowned universities, “owing 50% of all economy lodges and 35% of all hotels in the United States. Some of the names worth mentioning are Amar G.Bose former professor of Electrical Engineering at MIT, Vinod Khosla co-founded Sun Microsystems, Pradeep Sindhu co-founded Juniper Networks, Raj Chetty appointed as professor of economics at Harvard and the list continues. According to a survey conducted in 2002, there were over 223,000 Indian owned firms in the US, employing more than 610,000 workers and generating more than $ 88 billion in revenue”8. Indian Americans today are the third largest Asian American ethnic group following Chinese and Filipinos. With the world becoming a global village, when people meet other people from different cultures they tend to hold some standardized concepts with respect to their literature, history, theatre, music etc. For example, the Americans hold certain Indian stereotypes such Indians eat too much rice, whereas in reality the Indian cuisine is so diverse that many Indians themselves might not have tasted all the foods that it has to offer. Indians speak lousy English, Indians speak English that is different from Americans but that doesn’t mean they speak incorrect English. Elephants, lions, tigers and damsels with pots carrying water still roam the streets today in India, which is so not true. India is one of the emerging economies and it is fairly progressing, most of the Indian women are now seen in Western clothing than what a damsel might wear. Indians are very attached to their families, the men don’t leave their parents even after they get married, not all the sons stay but generally it is part of Indian culture to stick with the parents and take care of them when they grow old and are unable to live on their own. Monkey brain eaters, the fictional depiction in one of Steven Spielberg’s film has given a valid opinion to some American teachers since Indians score usually very well and are considered to be brainy. Slum dogs/ Slums another stereotype based on a movie, most of the Americans believe India is largely based on slums and that is its true identity; slums exist in all kinds of societies. There are many well-to-do Indians who own mansions, eat at the finest restaurants and can afford luxury vacations9. No one approves of stereotyping when it crosses tolerance, as long as it stays within the boundary of humor, people will not find them offensive. However, we must learn to respect each other’s backgrounds, history, culture, religion and work on living in peace. Credit should be given where it is due, Indians have come a long way and made many contributions to America’s economy and general development, despite coming from a much smaller country with little resources at that time. They were refused jobs due to racial discrimination, they didn’t stop, they created businesses from themselves and also provided employment opportunity to other Americans, they took any kind of job that was available and could provide them economic independence. They displayed commitment to their work and with the passage of time were able to win jobs which were refused to them earlier. And it did not end just over there, some Indian Americans also made it to the high levels of the government. Many Indians raised or born in America are famous and well-known today for their achievements and accomplishments. From Silicon Valley to Washington D.C. Indians made their way up the ladder with sheer determination and focus. Indians have also been titled as model immigrants by some individuals due to the prosperity and perseverance that they displayed by their work. The following paragraphs discuss how Indians contributed as employees in American Companies, making them capable enough to jointly establish some of the best organizations of the world, at the same time holding authoritative positions at American Universities and Government offices. One thing to learn from these success stories is, Indians amazing willingness to pay back to the land which provided them the platform and freedom to achieve their dreams and gain financial independence. This attitude enables them to focus on continuous development and progress, so that living conditions in third world economies could also improve, thereby gaining respect for the United States. We see that some of the best high-tech companies of US have been established or co-founded by the Indian Americans. For example, “Vinod Khosla who studied from Louisiana State University co-founded Sun Microsystems. The creator of Pentium chip is an Indian named, Vinod Dham. The founder and creator of Hotmail is Sabeer Bhatia, again from an Indian origin. Indians have enjoyed good reputation across the country and have held responsible positions working for large companies such as GE, AT & T, HP, Citibank etc”10. Shashi Seth; Lead Product Manager for Google Search, is an Indian who came to US in the year 1988, to enhance his educational level at University of Miami, Florida. In 1999, he took a job with a contractor for NASA and worked on various projects at NASA for subsequent years, building futuristic avionics and flight simulation software. By that time internet boom had begun and that is when Shashi started providing consultancy in e-commerce and internet technology. He helped GAP launch their online stores and later he created the eBay Platform. In May 2005, he got the opportunity to join the largest search engine, Google search. The American Indians display their success in almost all walks of life, but particularly academia, information technology and medicine. There were over 4000 professors and 33,000 Indian students in American universities in 1997 – 98. In year 2000, the Fortune Magazine estimated wealth generated by Indian Silicon Valley entrepreneurs at around $250 billion. According to Merrill Lynch’s Market Study, one in every nine Indians in the US is a millionaire, comprising of 10% of US millionaires. “A University of California study reported that one-third of the engineers in Silicon Valley are of Indian descent while 7% of valley hi-tech firms are led by Indian CEOs”11. Most Indians were not involved in the American politics until 1990. An India Abroad centre was established to create political awareness. It didn’t lead them win any senior positions in the government but it did make the US government realize equal opportunity to all minority groups. The minorities form a substantial percentage at lower government levels. A few Congressmen argued absence of minority representation at high levels meant discrimination as their view points were not taken into account while taking a decision. In August 1969 President Nixon signed an Executive Order 11478, discouraging prejudice and promoting full realization of equal employment opportunity. However, most dramatic steps were taken by President Clinton to ensure minority representation at senior levels. “During his term approximately 25% of sub-cabinet positions were held by minorities”12. In 1918, Bhagat Singh Thind was the first East Indian descendent to be recruited in US Army, who also went to fight in World War I and later was promoted to the rank of an Acting Sergeant. Dalip Singh Saund was elected to the US House of Representatives from California in 1956, he was the first Asian immigrant to be elected to Congress. President Reagan appointed Dr.Joy Cherian as the 1st Indian Commissioner of the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1985. “Bobby Jindal is the first Indian descendent to be elected governor of an American state; he is historically the highest ranking Indian American in a US government”13. The Indians today hold many important positions in America, working towards creating a difference. Interviews were conducted with the Silva family which migrated to America in the year 1969, when there were not many Indians living in US. The findings provide us an evidence of Indians’ success stories, their contribution to the growing economy of America and it also discusses their role in increasing its GDP. One interesting thing to note is their humble attitude, their contentment with their work and acknowledging that America truly fulfilled its promise of being a land of opportunity for those who really made an effort or are willing to take a chance. Brian Silva age 49 holds a Bachelors degree in Mathematics, Masters in Economics and PhD in Agriculture Economics all from Iowa State. He was born in Bombay but later moved to India with his family in 1969. At that time, not many Asians lived in Iowa or in US in general. The only other Asians that he came across during his student life were either Chinese or Japanese but not in a very large number. However, when he entered in PhD program, he met people from diverse cultural backgrounds and identities and it was then that he decided to help eradicate poverty and improve standard of living in developing countries, mainly those in Africa. He presently works for USDA in Washington D.C.; focusing on development and improvement of farming and food cultivation in and around Khartoum, Sudan (Africa). His work involves coordinating with other nations in building infrastructure. He feels in doing so, he is gaining respect for US, because wherever he travels, he is representing America and not India. America holds strong meaning for him; it’s not just a word but a way of life. Brian considers America a land of opportunity and freedom, a melting pot of cultures, religions, languages and traditions but still has a single identity of power and freedom. When asked if he witnesses other Indian Americans in a similar job, he told that there were plenty of them playing various roles, mainly focusing on improving third world nations while building a tight relationship with the United States. He clarified that not all Indians are doctors or IT professionals but there are tons of highly educated Indian Americans who are teachers, lawyers, politicians or work in non-profit organizations. Collin Silva holds a Bachelor and Master’s degree in Engineering from Iowa State University. He found very few other Indian Americans but a large number of Japanese, during his days at the campus. After finishing college Collin started up his own business in 1980, by the name of CTEC in Omaha Nebraska. The company specifically worked on plasma coding and development. It was sold off around 1998 but it still exists and employs around 50 employees. He later established another company in California known as Transgenomic, which is a global biotechnology company that furnishes unique products and services for automated high sensitivity genetic variation and mutation analysis. Their offering includes systems, products, discovery and laboratory testing services to the academic and medical research, clinical laboratory and pharmaceutical markets in the fields of pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine, it employees around 300 people in the United States. Collin feels pleased to be contributing to the American economy by establishing companies and creating jobs for hundreds of Americans. According to him, the scientists that they bring from abroad all moved their families to the United States and settled here, which means an increase in revenues for US government. He believes by practicing good business, companies overseas will be more willing to do business with American companies in the future thereby increasing America’s total GDP. When questioned, if he met other Indian Americans at his workplace, he informed that since his company is categorized as a scientific company, there are a lot of Indian Americans who work for him, not only in science related departments but also in accounting, marketing and communications department. To him, the word ‘America’ means, a land of opportunity, with freedom and the pursuit of happiness in capitalistic setting. He believes that America has a significant role to play in his success. Adrian Silva age 50; moved to United States with his family in 1969. He did his Bachelors in Economics from Iowa State and later did Masters in International Business from Thunderbird, Arizona. Adrian works for the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, heading a division that mainly looks after bank regulations and standards in the entire USA for the prevention of another economic meltdown and creating financial awareness in ordering citizens. He timely pays his taxes, votes every four years to contribute as a functional American citizen, at the same time feeling contentment towards his job or the position that he holds. When asked what does the word ‘America’ mean to him, he humbly replied, it’s a land of opportunity that holds no preconceived identity of skin color, religious view, culture. It’s the land of freedom and opportunity. It’s the only place in the world where if you work long and hard enough you can do anything (within reason). I personally don’t even identify as an Indian-American but only as an American who was born in another Country. Indians having faced hardships and trials in their lives have proved that little effort and hope pays a long way. Being abused and discriminated because of the dark skin color, funny accents, wearing turban or saris, growing beard or the food that they chose to eat, Indians didn’t gave up their struggle to attain financial independence or quality education and work at authoritative positions. The sacrifices that they made, in leaving their homes and properties behind, rewarded them with a high standard of living many years later, fruits of which are being enjoyed by their generations and other generations to come. The second generation of Indian Americans is children of highly educated, professional, English speaking parents, who themselves came to America when they were very young but energetic. Indian Americans have created many success stories across the world, by their constant efforts and determination. Not having many opportunities in their own homeland, they made the most of what they were offered in the land of opportunity. Some Americans feel that Indians are eating up their jobs or employment options but that is not true. During the initial years of their immigration when Indians were refused jobs at some places due to prejudice or discrimination, they didn’t turn down odd jobs that other nations would not take. The Indian Americans really contemplated America as the land of opportunity and freedom. They had the determination to overcome obstacles as they were raised in families where emphasis was given on hard work and education that is one reason why they do exceptionally well in academics than most of local Americans. Surprisingly enough, the migration of Indians didn’t result in ‘brain drain’ as the successful Indians kept in touch with their roots and developed strong business ties between America and their home country. This link between America and India assisted in establishing call centers etc and obtaining cheap but educated labor. Many Indian Americans prefer to call themselves Americans than Indians because they believe America has provided them with everything that it promised when they first came here. Because of their entrepreneurial spirit, the Indians have been contributing to America’s economy by setting up businesses and creating jobs for all Americans. They don’t discriminate people according to color, language, religion, clothes etc. They believe everyone must be provided an opportunity, later it depends upon them how much benefit they take from it. Indians have created their name in the fields of medicine, engineering, academics, literature, law and politics. They have won Nobel award for their achievements in United States, not only this but although being one of the minorities Indian Americans hold positions at high level of government office. It is because of the trust of Americans in the capabilities and potentials of Indians that they have been able to hold responsible offices. The Indians have displayed humility and commitment in fulfilling their American dream, they ignore the tough times that they witnessed when they first landed in America. They want to spread knowledge and awareness to all parts of America and the rest of the world. In doing so, they hope that it will enable America in gaining respect and being viewed as an inspiring superpower. Many university professors and businessmen, remembering their own stories do not want other Indians to bear adversity and trouble. Therefore, networks and communities have been set up to gather all Indians at a forum and address the issues faced by them. Indians have definitely proven themselves to be ideal immigrants, they didn’t surrender when their hopes were being shattered or dreams tarnished. They overcame the hindrances that came in their way and humbly and with determination made their way up the ladder, excelling in every field that they entered. At the same time, not isolating themselves from American culture but calling themselves Americans born in a different country. They feel pride and pleasure in considering themselves a responsible American citizen, who is just working towards a better economy either by creating opportunities for others or working for their American employees with commitment to achieve the set goals. NOTES Read More