Most Asian Immigrants Feel They Are Far Away from Home
Gautam Dev
There have been many studies conducted on immigrants. It has always been a matter of great debate how the immigrants feel about themselves in a foreign country which is so far away from their native land.
It was generally thought that they feel isolated, vulnerable, home sick or even guilty of abandoning their motherland and the people who cared so much for them when they were in their own countries. Many articles have been written, many studies have been conducted on the phenomenon of isolation, generation gap, identity crisis and such things among the immigrants.
But recent studies suggests that some of the previous conclusions probably do not carry much relevance any more. Studies suggests that most Asian immigrants and among them especially Indian immigrants feel they are just far away from home. It is not a sad, poignant feeling of being faaaaaaaaar awayyyyy. It is merely a feeling of distance. They simply feel : Far Away.
Studies interviewed many people of Asian origin and analyzed many case studies.
There was one case particularly interesting. Mr Raj Motwani has been in this country for more than thirty years. Initially he used to feel so home sick, lonely. He would think of going back to India almost everyday in the first few years of life. He would write long letters to his parents every week.
But things are so different now, he admits. He definitely thinks it would have been a mistake if he went back in the beginning. With his children doing so well in studies, he being a president of the local chapter of India society and his wife a prominent member of the national 'feed the homeless' organization he feels very well at home. He remembers one day when an old photo dropped out from somewhere. He did not take much notice of it then but then his ten year old son took a look at it. He asked: Oh daddy when did you go to Thailand? Such a pretty village, wooooh! There was reason for him to think that it was Thailand. His friends just visited Thailand and showed some pictures to him which were very similar to the one at his hand right now.
But when Mr Motwani looked at the picture something struck him real hard, as if some long lost memory from past life. He didn't know what it was. He was almost frozen for a few minutes which almost felt like an eternity. When he came back to his senses he realized it was a picture of his own village and half naked boy standing in the middle was no one else but himself! He remembered when his cousin from the city took this picture so long ago and he so carefully preserved it for many years. This cousin was very much fond of him and thought very highly of him. But now he almost did not recognize it. His village home is long gone and he has no contact with his beloved cousin who was so near to him once.
Other immigrants who were interviewed said similar things. There is one Dr Arnab Gupta. When he came to a small university in Ohio twenty seven years ago, he almost did not have anyone to talk to. There was no Indian temple or grocery in that small town. But now, as an immensely successful dentist in the suburbs of Chicago, he is a big patron of the Indian temple to which he donated almost one million dollars. Even the small town of Ohio where he set foot first as a student has a vibrating Indian community. Unlike Mr Motwani, Dr Gupta was from a very well to do family in India. But now he does not miss it so much. His lovely daughter has recently been married to a nice young American guy. So now he wonders whether there will be any contact with his country of origin after his death.
Similarly, many other immigrants were profiled and interviewed. They all said similar things. There are few exceptions. But most of them want to come, get a good job, get settled in a good neighborhood and get mixed in the desi community.
But once in a while at some lonely moment after dropping off their kids to school or taking a long walk to the parking lot, they feel they are far away from where they came from. It is indeed a great distance.