Living in the US

It feels strange and not in a good way - Living in a foreign country populated by a strange people who believe that their country is God's greatest creation on earth and is therefore superior to the whole world, and who therefore, sadly think of our Asian countries as extra terrestrial places meant to be intimidated, or which are teeming with colored third world natives trying to steal their jobs, some of whom have even immigrated into their country! - Living in such a place where one is just an alien, alien in appearance, language and habits, and where one's social interaction with the local inhabitants is limited to the office, stores and malls and public utilities - All this does feel strange.

But I suppose the greater monetary advantage compared to India compensates for the temporary loss of self-esteem.

But what about India? Hearing a pack of gujarati traders shout loudly in public trains "Marathi log baddhu Harami chhe" isn't very self-esteemy either :) Try earning money and buying a house in Walkeshwar - First of all you can never earn that much, and second of all, even if you do, you will be told, that there is nothing available. Its known as ethnic exclusion and is shamelessly practiced in India. I can relate it to racism in the United States and also to caste-ism in Hinduism. In the modern world, Maharashtrians have become low-caste, who worship different gods. In the US National Geographic edition, there was an interview of some gujarati builder called Mukesh Mehta in Mumbai and he actually told the interviewer (who directly wrote it down without any verification), that "Ganesh" is the "God of the Working Classes". What does THAT mean ??? Is even God going to be ethnically excluded now?

Perhaps it's better to be treated like an immigrant in a foreign land (where one is literally one) than be treated like an immigrant in your own home. There's not much self-respect either way. But the disgrace at least, is less in the former than the latter.

Thanks for patiently reading this rave/rant. Your comments are welcome.