The American Dream

Turn the clock back 10 years. A young girl waiting at the airport to board a flight to The United States of America. She is filled with excitement and anticipation. This is her first travel to foreign shores. What is it going to be like? What should she expect? Her mind is racing. She still doesn't know that she is going to be testimony to the fact that The American Dream is not just a dream, but a reality for many people like her.

Fast-forward to present. I am that girl who has been fortunate enough to live in The United States of America and experience the dream that millions dream about. I can't begin to tell you what an enriching experience it has been. My life can be divided into two parts - before America and after America. When I left for America, my mind was filled with numerous preconceived notions about the country that I was going to live in. I must admit that not all of them were positive.

It was difficult to adjust to the American way of life in the beginning. It was so different from the culture that I had been raised in. My first freeway ride from the airport to my new home was a blur. And I mean that literally. Our car was going so fast that I could hardly see what we were passing by! When I reached home, and tried to open the door to my apartment, I wasn't able to put the key in the keyhole until I realized that it the keyhole was upside down. After entering the apartment, I searched for the switchboard and found that the switches worked in the opposite way! My biggest and most pleasant surprise was when I saw that the apartment was covered with wall to wall carpeting. My feet had never felt this pampered!

The next morning, it was time to visit the supermarket. As my husband (I had to still get my driving license) pulled into the parking lot of the store, I couldn't believe how big it was. But, the biggest surprise was yet to come, and that was the size of the supermarket itself. It was huge! The aisles were as wide as the roads back home, and the shopping carts were enormous. Who needed shopping carts this big, I wondered. When I was done with my shopping, I pushed my half-filled grocery cart to the nearest cash counter. I say 'nearest' because there were about 10 counters in a row! When the clerk behind the cash counter had finished scanning my items, I handed my credit card to him, which is what we did in India. The clerk then told me that I was supposed to swipe the credit card myself, and pointed at the swiping machine. I was terrified! I had never swiped a credit card in my life, and didn't know how to do it! I felt really embarrassed to ask the salesperson to show me how to do it, but I had no choice. After that was done with, I was pleasantly surprised to hear the salesman wish me a good day. I proceeded with a smile on my face. That was my first customer service experience in U.S.A. Next came the malls. They were amazing. However, I had a really hard time finding out whether the doors opened inside or outside. There were no signs which said 'push' or 'pull', and I always ended up doing the wrong thing.

Next came the dishwasher and the washing machines. I had never cleaned the utensils or washed the clothes back home. Everything was done by the maids. Here you had to do everything yourself. Luckily for me, my husband, who had come to America before me, knew how to operate these things, and passed on this precious knowledge to me. This was one small paradigm shift.

There were many paradigm shifts yet to come. Some of them would be small and some of them fundamental. After I had gotten used to the initial differences in the way of life, I started enjoying being a part of this new culture. Everything was so neat and clean. Life was as smooth as could be. I was yet to make American friends, and that happened when I joined a university to pursue my post- graduation. Initially, I felt intimidated by my new surroundings, but slowly I began to get used to being in them. Everybody was so friendly, including my professors. Everything was really informal. People were interested in knowing where I came from. They were all aware of India and Indian culture to an extent. Some wanted to know more. Being in Silicon Valley, which was the IT hub of the world, the people I was studying with, came from all over the globe. It was a true melting pot. People from such diverse backgrounds, all coming together because of their common interests and goals. It was amazing to see. As I got to know them more and more, I began to realize that however different, we might be in terms of our backgrounds, we were all essentially the same. We were human beings first, bonded together by our common human nature. Everybody had a family, and people they loved. Everybody felt happy, sad, angry, in different situations. This experience was the most enlightening one by far. All my preconceived notions about various cultures broke down as I realized that in the end we all belonged to human race. Gone were the days of comparing and judging. I was in a new place where there was peace and harmony and mutual respect, with all our similarities and differences. It was a happy place. And it brought me tremendous joy and satisfaction.

Some years later, my son was born. He would be an American citizen with parents who were Indian. This was really a country of immigrants. A beacon of democracy, and a symbol of infinite possibility. It was truly what it claimed to be - "The land of the free, And the home of the brave."