American experiences

Please NOTE THAt this is a posting from an old blog of mine.

Subject:		Indian experience
Name:		Raghunandan Jagdish
Date Posted:		Nov 1, 01 - 4:15 PM
Email:		raghuj@yours.com
Message:		hi himanshu, thanks for the views what u said is all true. The reason why these guys are so polished is cuz they have a high level of education and know a reasonable level of security at least.  U bet this experience will shake whatever values u r built upon. the value of responsibility, accountability, and attitude~!!! We learn how powerful we can be with our skill sets.. how to exploit ones special skill which would have rotted in India!! So it'll be a really great experience for WHOEVER comes.. either the "raahi" who stays for a couple of years or the settler!! and BTW: I took the liberty of including ur views in the discussion board of my website www.raghudon.com Do express urself there. Regards, Raghunandan Jagdish Research Assistant, Turbomachinery Laboratory (Tribology Group) Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77840 raghuj@tamu.edu http://photos.yahoo.com/raghuj79  http://www.raghudon.com  Ph: (979) 862-4748 (OFFICE)  : (979) 268-4296 (HOME) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Attitude counts more than anything else! --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Replying to: I would like to say that a lot depends on your orientation and your attitude.  Back in India you would always have to think twice before following your heart. Society and public perception does bear a lot of weight whereas here u r free to do as u like whenever u like.. nobody minds.. ( yah in other words nobody cares ) About gelling with people here.. it's all upto you. I'm not talking about feeling one with the nation and stuff.. that would be hard to do. But it's easy to make friends here..( acquaintances rather with whom u can chill out ). Forget about getting ppl on whose shoulder u can cry.. mebbe coz they arent' that type and mebbe coz this isn't a place for cribbers..  What epitomizes this culture is what Mark Twain said about life in America - "It's like american football where u r pushed around, fall down, get up again, grab the ball and get your goal" Everybody here has a sob story which in most cases you and I can't imagine but they never let it show.  Another thing I admire here is the effeciency with which people work. True they do only as much as they r paid to do but they do it real well. There r fewer ego hassles too. U won't find no paan chewing peon making u wait unnecessarily.  Wheteher you decide to settle here or go back to India is a different matter but this experience is really a must.( atleast for ppl from Mumbai univ.. who've been spoonfed thx to Jigar's and who've got through copying assignments) It shows u the other side of life where u really work hard and play hard. cheers to life himanshu --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Replying to: hi ANOTHER DISCUSSION MATERIAL TOPIC There are two clear ways (maybe not clear to anyone ... but clear definitely to me)  ONE: Life in USA... as u say dignity of "labour" in USA... Lots of money... but no warmth, no relatives, no feeling of oneness with the country!! u'll remain an alien for the rest of ur lif.. ur children will be ABCDs and will actually be confused!! TWO: u stay back in INDIA, earn less...spend less...have a standard of living less than u have in USA (what is a common thing here, eg car, is a luxury in desh!!) But u have ur near and dear ones... u have a righ to say its u country, u feel in place!! u willbe happy... even though u find "exploitation". Now its a highly individual view and so many different factors go into makig a CHOICE!!! And u can never know how good ur choice actually is!! u will NEVER have a benchmark to compare against except ur "judgement" So u have to be judicious in using these options at this stage in life. As far as the USA goes... this is undoubtedly a great country... the resilience of these people is astounding... its no suprise athey dominate the world. A country where the life of a "fireman" is as valuable as a poliician is a great country... but the fact is u were not born herte.  I find widespread sycophancy here (among Indians). People who in India never attended a Flag Hoisting ceremony after comming here post stickers of the ameican flag... "God Bless America" et al.... The World trade tragedy is supposedly the "WORST" tragedy to ever befall human race!! these are the exact words of a mail I read from a grad student, best forgotten. On the other hand.... if u feel that u have ur priority as career, money, et al... then do come here... oppurtunities abound here(at least better than India-- by this i mean that u have to searcher lesser) So i leave u back on square ONE,..... decide what u wanna do... its ur thing!!!!! Overall... I could have gone on... but its liable to be construed as saying that its my personal views i'm trying to impress... So if u have some viewpoints please present them forward..... This is a good academic argument!!!! Regards, RAGHUNANDAN JAGDISH Research Assistant, Turbomachinery Laboratory Texas A&M University College Station., Texas, USA raghuj@tamu.edu http://photos.yahoo.com/raghuj79