There I met Sarad-bhai, Mr. Sarad Patel, an Indian of Gujarati origin. He used to be an engineer, a knowledgeable person and a man of varied interests. We chatted a lot and in the process he revealed his experiences in America. He came to America in 1970, at the age of 29. He obtained a Permanent Residence visa under P3 category, riding the crest of opportunity that was opened to migrant Asians after president Lyndon Barry Johnson signed the INS Act in 1965. Before that there was a quota system, allowing only a selected few, students and high-skilled professionals, to come and live in America.

In the early 20th century, between 1899-1914, a major wave of immigration took place in the California region: shiploads of people from rural Punjab reached there and ultimately were allowed to settle as labourers and agricultural field workers. The first Asian who was given US citizenship was A.K. Mazumder, a Bengali, who pleaded his Caucasian origin and inheritance on the line of linguistic heritage: but that was revoked by US Supreme court in 1923.

Another wave of immigration followed in 1950 and onward, which mainly included students and high-skill professionals under a quota. Elimination of quota system with the INS Act of 1965 spurred immigration successfully during 1970-85.

With the boom in technology in 1990, the largest influx of Indians came to USA during 1995-2000, often termed as “brain drain” in India. But due to some economical and political compulsions, the boom subsided a bit since the early 21st century. Still the later group of Indians has surged ahead in applications for various immigration benefits (H1B, Green card Student visa etc.) This resulted in long waiting periods for immigration seekers. There were 3,33,000 Indian applicants in the visa wait list till 2012. There are also about 2,00,000 illegal immigrants of Indian origin who trail behind only the Mexicans, Latin Americans and Filipinos.

Let us go back to Sarad-bhai’s tale. Sarad got his P3 Immigration visa in October 1970 and immediately left for America. He landed in Boston in November 1970. He came alone, leaving behind his young wife and two kids in India, as he was not sure he’d be able to provide for them immediately upon reaching a foreign land. His wife’s cousin brother was living in Boston at that time. He could find a job, though not in the line of his expertise, within 15 days of his arrival. He struggled there for a while but ultimately found a job as an engineer in a firm within a year. He then brought his wife and kids to America. His third child was born in America. The couple and the two kids applied for citizenship and became US citizens in 1976, the third being a natural born citizen. Since then he was living here, in Burlington, a small town of 15,000 people, 30 miles away from Boston city on Atlantic shore, he bought a house in this town in 1976, but changed address thrice: each time the size of their house got bigger. His three daughters got their education here in USA; one is a computer engineer from MIT; another is a qualified nurse. The youngest had attained a Master’s degree from Boston University in social services and at present is working as an outreach officer in Burlington Town Council. One of his daughters married a white American; another was married to an Indian American, a Bengali. The youngest is still single.

Though Sarad has lived in the US for almost 45 years, he is more Indian than American. He has a definite American accent but speaks Gujarati at home. His wife and daughters also speak Gujarati and Hindi fluently, but his grand children do not speak their ancestral native language. Till 1999, he frequently visited his native country to see his parents who refused to settle in America permanently. After their demise in 1999, his urge to visit India subsided considerably. Sarad boasts that he was instrumental in bringing all his brothers and sisters and other relatives to USA, totaling about 45 persons as immigrants in different quotas. He is not exaggerating on this account as is evident from the fact that I have met many of his relatives who corroborated his accounts. Sarad also referred, in this connection, to one Mr. Khaliph, a Gujarati Muslim, who had migrated to the US at the same time as Sarad, helped his kinsmen totaling 55 persons to settle in America. The people who came to America in these ways are mostly from lower-middle class background and not that educated. Many of them were small traders, shop keepers and village folks in their native country. But they grabbed the opportunity to be in the US and the country opened to them doors to dreams. Most of them are settled now comfortably, owning grocery shops, boutiques, motels, gas stations and other type of small and medium businesses.

This is not the story of Gujarati immigrants only, but of all Indians in a broader sense. The story of the Bengalis is a little different in this regard. Most of the Bengalis I met here in USA are well educated high-skill professionals and are very well settled, but few of them have brought their parents or brothers and sisters to settle in America, unlike the other Indian communities. It’s probably for their attitude — Bengalis have six associations in Greater Boston area, each competing with each other, while every other Indian community is assembled under one association only.

The picture of immigrants who came to USA during or after 90s, coinciding with the technology boom, is somewhat different. Most of them are high-skill professionals in the field of IT, biotech, finance and other branches of economics, medicine, science and technology. Unlike earlier immigrants, they came here with jobs or projects in their respective fields. They were younger too. That made a huge difference in their style and approach to cope with the American life. Their spouses are, in general, professionally more educated than their predecessors and most of them are engaged in higher-level jobs or research. Their children were born and brought up in America and hence, their culture, behavior, food habits, and way of life were more directly influenced by the values of the countries they live in.

My daughter and son-in-law are living in America since early 90s. They are highly skilled professionals and their friends and social circles comprise almost the same kind of people who are cosmopolitan in nature. I have attended many of their parties and social gatherings as well as those of older generation immigrants. Hence I could make out the differences. The younger generation of immigrants, unlike their predecessors during the 70s or before, is less shelled in their cultural and religious heritage. They too follow traditions and very much aware of their cultural heritage, but in general, their approach is different. They adapted the American way of life in an open manner. Not that they are less Indian, but they are more westernized than the earlier generation of immigrants. The social circle of the older comprised mostly of their counterparts, in language, religion and culture, while that of the tech-savvy immigrants include multicultural motley, different ethnicities, cultures, religions and traditions mingled together.

In Burlington Senior Centre, immigrants hailing from all parts of India assemble together for a short period everyday. There, the Gujaratis and Punjabis talk in their respective native languages among themselves even in the presence of other linguistic people, and seldom in English. Only the Bengalis and some South Indians talk in English in public. My daughter once mildly rebuked me for talking in Bengali even for a short while in a party where people from different regions of India were gathered. She thought it was discourteous of me.

There are another type of immigrants of Indian origin, people who were previously settled in other countries like Canada, Australia, African countries ,which were once colonies of western powers but got independence towards the end of 20th century, Asian countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and also Island countries like Mauritius, Fiji , Guinea, and the West Indies. They came in the US in different periods and timeframes.

Indian Americans continuously outpace every ethnic group socio-economically to reach summit of the US census chart. Indians have attained the highest educational level in the US. 71% of the Indians have a bachelor or higher degree. (Compared to 28 per cent nationally in the US and 44% average for all Asian American groups) Almost 40 per cent of all Indians have masters, doctorate, or other professional degrees which is five times the national average. Thomas Freidman, In his recent book The World is Flat explained this trend in terms of brain drain, whereby the best and the brightest elements in India emigrate to the US in order to seek better financial and other opportunities. (IPA Service)