My Great American Dream and Everything After

I first felt the excitement in the third year of engineering. The hostel was abuzz with activity. Suddenly everyone was watching English movies, talking in English and carrying around small cards with words written on them. You were considered a fool if you weren’t carrying the cards around. It was time to start the preparation for America, the country of riches and well being. It was time for GRE and TOEFL. I was just a mute spectator though. I was without sponsorship for my trip to the US. And thus a dream was born; a dream of travelling to the country of dreams and riches.

The Lure of the West

Throughout my struggle to find a stable job and be well off, there was that one thing at the back of my head. I had to get to the US somehow. Some of my best friends were there driving BMWs and Hummers. And here I was in a country that got flooded in the rains and dried up in the summers. I realized early enough that the easiest way to get a ticket would be to join an IT company. You just had to wait for a couple of years before they offered you a ticket.

In the IT Company though I realized I was not alone. The entire company wanted to go “onsite”. Now onsite in actuality means working at the client site. But in India’s IT world, the word has come to mean an assignment to the US. It was a tough fight. People who did manage to get in to the US never wanted to come back. There would be fights, threats and dire consequences faced, but never the chance of losing hope. All of us got there. I did too.

A Dream Come True

Spellbound. Astounded. Flabbergasted. Astonished. Dumbfounded. The list of words to describe my first brush with the US is endless. Elation made me forget the backbreaking 24 hour flight and the fact that I was only traveler’s cheques enabled. There was no cash on me. The trouble I had to take to finally reach the hotel seemed so insignificant compared to the magnificent roads and the high buildings had my eyes wide open for the rest of the journey.

But it was the people that impressed me further. Everyone was so polite and no one was thrifty like back in the home country. People lavishly had juice and fruits in the morning, sponsored parties and the work culture was as casual as ever. And then there was pizza. As much pizza as you could eat. I liked this country.