Indians in US

With the number of Indians in US expanding year after year, different views have come in about outsourcing and non-immigrants. However, that is not the topic of my conversation. I wanted to talk more about the impact left in an average Indian by the American society and some extremes I've seen and experienced.

To a first time (Indian) traveler, US is bound to be different in a lot of ways. Right from the way you turn a switch on/off (trust me they are opposite in India and US) to the way people behave is totally different out here in the US. Inside a professional setup, people wear an artificial 'good person' mask and they act as per the protocol defined for a diplomatic professional. Any stranger would fake a smile and ask "how are you" as s/he crosses you and if you stop there to explain how you are doing, you are bound to get a strange look from the person who inquired about you. You are just supposed to say 'Good. Thank you' and keep walking. After all you have a protocol in place!

Does this mean Americans are hypocrites and Indians are the best in the world?! Not at all. There are so many things we have to learn from them. People (at least for the most part) respect other people. American bosses are generally more liberal and all they need is that the work needs to be done. They don't care when you turn up, whether you blog or Orkut at work as long as the tasks assigned to you are done. Most people are in perfect shape, no extra flesh (there are a few others in the other extreme too). I'd say at least 60% of Americans stay in perfect shape through regular exercises.

So what happens when our Ramus, Somus and Karthiks (Indianized version of Tom, Dick and Harry) are put into this atmosphere? Quite interestingly they absorb the bad things easily and find it hard to learn the good things. Indians settled in US make the worst bosses in the world with their meaningless tortures in the name of improvising productivity. Almost every Indian out here has a tummy with a few or more extra pounds. Indians also vacation like crazy and Niagara on any given day has less Caucasians than what we see in any famous Indian tourist spot. They try to become artificial in the process of 'adapting' to the environment and with the traditional conservative 'money saving' attitude Indian folks come up with a lot of bright and insane ideas to reduce their expenses. Sometimes this goes to the level of getting something for a tour, using it to the fullest, coming back from the tour and returning it saying they are not happy (shops here take the product back no questions asked as long as the item is not damaged). Then comes the worst part. As though they were finding it hard to control their desires, people start boozing, smoking, haunting strip clubs and you name it! IMHO whatever you are, has to be the same wherever you are and when you try to hide all your inner personalities and stay silent due to the social restrictions/culture then that is no way close to being truly traditional.

In total Indians in US are neither raw nor completely cooked. Due to this 'cat on the wall' approach they take, it's hard to sync in with these folks and somehow the Indian in me is not happy when he sees other Indians being senseless and unlovable.

P.S: As usual, this is a generalized version in my personal opinion and it doesn't mean that all Indians in the US are bad... I'm talking about the majority and summarizing my views!