Do Americans treat us differently?

Hi friends,
Just I want to share my own thoughts. Before 9/11 incident (or accident)
wherever we go people used to say HI or HELLO. After 9/11 I can feel the hostile attitude of Americans especially in East coast towards the Asians(mainly brown skinned people). We went to Longwood gardens,PA soon after
the 9/11. There everybody is either starring at us or trying to avoid our eye
contact. It was very obvious. But we cannot blame the individuals, the scar of terrorism is very strong.
Everybody`s experience is unique and we cannot generalise any opinion.
Like you friends said even Indians are also behaving in a strange manner,
OK that is life, we have to face it.

 

Hi friends,
many talked about foreigners and other Indians. My own sister always irritates me, whenever she comes to Chennai, saying that I am living far away from Chennai. I reply to people that I live in a farm house in Ambattur.
Each place has its on plus and minus points. City may be very reachable etc. but suburbs are more pollution free.
Last week, I had been to Mylapore. I enquired the price of the long yellow banana (not nendran). The vendor said it is Rs.3 per fruit. I get the same banana for Rs.2.50 in Ambattur. Likewise, vegetables are also cheaper and the local variety of vegetables are more taste as they come from nearby farms where no fertilizers or pesticides are used.
Most of the city people shop in departmental stores, where MRP is charged for all branded items. Here my local grocer gives me a discount ( Rs.10 off per half kg of Complan).
And even if we live in T.Nagar or Pondy Bazaar, we cannot go and shop everyday, isn't it?

 

I am very proud to say, my house is in a village. I hate city life. I have seen some people say they prefer to live in cities. I do not understand, why do they all want to miss the fresh atmosphere of our villages for some facilities available in cities?

 

Butting in..

Dear Safa...

Villages are beautiful and less polluted, I agree. When I see the way a village is depicted and picturised in some Tamil movies, I want to shift there and live...Chinna chinna aasai, siragadikkum aasai!
I am a city person. Lived and know only Bangalore, while in India. Often visited Madras where my grandparents lived. Have also visited a small village in Tamilnadu which is our ancestor's home. Those days, there was nothing in that village. My main problem was with the bathroom! Ofcourse, the people did treat us with love and would just gather in front of the house for no rhyme or reason, just to see and talk to the family. No pretensions and no airs.
But I would be terribly worried to live there and make it my home. There are no modern facilities like hospitals and schools. One will have to travel out of the town for every need. That would be time consuming and difficult.
In the west, it makes no big difference. Every facility is available even in the smallest of villages. I myself have lived in a place which is no more than a village. But it was safer and the life cozier than in a big city. Ofcourse, the children had to move out of house for further studies soon after schooling, that was the only big disadvantage.
Maybe being a city bred, my priorities are wrongly placed. But these are my thoughts.

L, Kamla

 

Dear Sujata,
you are right in one way, the small villages may not have good medical and educational facilities. And one may have to travel long ditances for these which make it very difficult.
My place Ambattur is around 17 kms from the Chennai Central and has almost all the facilites. May be there are no big silk saree shops or 5 star hotels. And I have to go to the city for our medical needs.
But it is not very day that we go a hospital or go for an elaborate shopping. And a person may stay in a place because of various reasons. It is not right to look down upon a person just because she is staying in the suburbs, don't you agree?
One thing is, even the villages of India nowadays have all the other technical facilities and we can get anything done there, if money is not a constraint.

 

Dear Varloo...
There, you said it...the key word is "Money"!
When you have that 'M' vitamin, you can live anywhere and you will not miss anything.
When I was talking about a small village, I meant the small village. Ambattur and Villivakkam are the suburbs and I can guess you have almost all amenities nearby and it is even more comfortable than in the centre of a city. But Varloo, almost every city in the world have these discriminations...there are those much tauted postal codes which means the well off and the rich live there and that part of the city attains its reputation and the snobbish attitude of people who live there. Even here in America, certain zip codes are most desirable, they automatically suggest that you belong to that exclusive bracket!
What is really desirable and exclusive is for any one's common sense to discern. But from these, stems the snobbishness of people. Ultimately, home is what you make of it and it is better to be happy and content regardless where you live. Afterall, no one will tell you what their inner insecurities are. Each to his own. But then, all of us face these discriminations in society at one or the other time in our lives.
All we should remember is, a smile costs nothing

L, Kamla

PS..With sweet you and your lovely blooming garden, your place in Ambattur must feel like a million dollars!

 

Dear Kamla,
I agree with you, since the villages as you have mentioned would be difficult to live for a person, especially who used to live in a City. My village is totally different , which have all the modern facilities like schools,colleges, hospitals etc. Now a days it's face is getting changed with many new houses built with modern look. But it is strange that many of the people send their children to far away schools, even if there are many schools providing good education. In Malayalam we say " muttathe mullakku manamilla" ( no smell for the jasmine flower in my courtyard.But my neighbour's is different.)I believe people might think like that.

Long ago, it was difficult to stay in village places, have heard my father says. He would say , he has walked miles to get bus. Would there be any place in India which remains without any change?

 

hi...
i just wanted to pen down my thoughts n exp regarding this ......i have been in US frm past 5 yrs..have been to many parts of the country and did see racial descrimination .........when ever i have been to higher end shops in the mall they dont respond in a friendly manner .......worst exp was in olive garden in nj ......the waitress wasnt fndly n didnt even bothered to get a high chair after requeting too she was frndly n polite with other americans but not to us ..i culdnt take it so did inform the manager but still i feel there is always a wall between us n americans ..at the same time not all r same but some how i end up with these incidents ...

 

One reason that I can think of why I keep Indians (not everyone, but those who are over-friendly in the first meeting) at a distance when I see them in public places like malls etc is because of Amway. I learnt it the hard way though.

When I first came to US I used to gladly exchange contact numbers whenever I saw any Indian in public places (inspite of my hubby warning me about Amway). Then when I started getting junk phone calls I realized that I should keep unknown people at a distance...