[Assam] part 1 -Mar 8 - Women's Day -Green Card nurses , Bandit Queen etc

Wed Mar 8 18:10:53 PST 2006

Hi,

  Today is International Women's Day - and surprisingly I have been in doldrums this past one week - regarding my family's (and society's ) treatment of its women -ever since I had a chance to write about my Aunt's refugee status - from Bangladesh. Also my desire to seek work visa and its accompanying hardships added to the misery. 

  In my family - there have been tales of female infanticide (one of my father's infant sisters -as my father told us), father-in-law trying to harrass his daughter-in-law(as my father's mother told us many times) , abandoning the daughter (as in case of the Bangladeshi relative after she was abducted by Muslim thugs in 1971 -at the time of Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan. However, no dowryt harrassment cases in my family. Nonetheless not a single one of my cousin sisters/sister-in-laws really is working. Though many are well qualified. However some of my neices are professionals - one is a CA/CPA. I wonder if I had a sister would she have been able to come to Harvard - even if she had had a similar level of skills. Most likely she would have been married by the time she was eighteen (as my father wanted us boys to and atleast I resisted) Females resisting parental pressures has been possible -atleast tilll 1990s -only in big cities like Mumbai or Bangalore - even Delhi is
 dangerous -perhaps even now - for females lacking support. 

  Rajasthan state has had the lowest female literacy (though doubled in the last decade)  and lowest standard of living for women - in entire India.  Recently a minister was accused of practising female infanticide and attending ceremonies of mass child marriages in villages. In neighboring Haryana close to my anscestral village (in Churu -across the border in Rajasthan) Indian Express in 1997/8 had carried a special report how - for the first time in 100 years - a daughter from the village was married off. They all practised female infanticide -and that was long before sonography tests made it possible to kill female foetuses before birth. 
  http://www.sariq.org/news.asp

  The really professional female from this part of India -has been Phoolan Devi or Bandit Queen -who lived by the gun (after she was was exploited , raped etc) and died by the gun despite amnesty and winning a seat in Indian Parliament. Many must have seen the great movie about her - thoughshe didn't like her portrayal -she had been "reformed" by then. http://www.people.virginia.edu/~pm9k/gifs/ZoForth/Pholan/phoolan.html

  In Assam can anyone tell me how many female professionals are there - who are NOT in the traditional fields of literature, music , teaching etc -- but as prominent lawyers, businesswomen or scientists. 

  Even in traditionally female jobs of nurses or teachers - there is tremendous scope for gaining financial independence and making more money than their rich potbellied businessman neighbor - by seeking to work in US or UK!!!  Moe on that in the next part.

  Umesh

  Besides, my target of seeking H-1B visa within March month only -has put in an overdrive with lots of misses - my situation similar to the time in April 2004 when after getting Admission letter from Harvard I roamed in Delhi and elsewhere seeking $50,000 as outright gift /sponsorship. On hindsight it seems like a very foolish move but anyhow despite failures in getting a donor - I did manage to get a friend to sponsor my student loan and here I am !! Then I was loathe to seek scholarship from US govt or US Univs or Christian charities - and become their slave . Then I sought some Hindu-charity minded folks to help me out. And the time was running out before it would be too late for me to get I-20 and visa to come to Harvard. 

  None did but my friend from LA proved to be a life saver. I always try to seek out some unknown beneficiery -and end up getting help from some known people. Perhaps just like young women aspire for some glorious  prince charming and end up marrying their boyfriend/classmate/neighbor/mother's choice. 

  Christian charity groups are always at the forefront of innovation -and here is the example of my room mate (who calls himself Ed..... - a name he has adopted) who chose to follow his mother's faith (Christian) and not his father's (Hindu) and married therein. He was really helped by an Indian  Christian minded group who got him an H-1B visa last year - without any fees at all!!  Ofcourse it helped that he is an IT professional with master's degree from USA. His Hindu friend and room mate from India had to pay $3000 as fees to that company. 

  That company started of initially as supplying nurses to USA - high demand even now - the company invites those who wish for Green Cards - even before they come to US. The owner is a very hardworking person who even calls up at midnight or 6am -to arrange for job interview the next day -and calls up the recruiter after the interview - for feedback -and informs and motivates accordingly. Such missionary zeal is missing in most other groups. 

  For  professionals  other than nurses - Green Cards will not be issued for atleast next two-three years (unless they are spouse or relatives of US citizens). There is a backlog of applicants . Seems no US citizen wants to become a nurse - dirty job for most it seems -and it does require lots of techical skills and licenses. Further, with women moving out of traditional jobs of nurses and teachers - there seems to be a shortfall in USA etc. See the US comedy movie "meet the Parents" -about a Male nurse's plight in his would-be in-laws home.

   I think some US based company (secular or otherwise) of Assamese or Rajasthanis or UPiites etc -can take up the task of providing nurses to US - and help their women grow exponentially - with financial independence. 

  I do not know of any Hindu body taking up the cause of needy Hindu professionals - in getting them jobs, H-1B visas, US univ education sponsors or Green Cards. 

  About my targets of seeking some visa  contractor (like for IT guys) -- it is running in rough weather. I called the company myfriends work for . They also supply teachers to US besides nurses and IT guys. But they do not act as contractors or sponsor the H-1B for teachers - but work out with schools who sponsor directly. It makes sense -since teachers in schools are exempt from the visa cap limit for H-1Bs. However, since the contractors do not sponsor you the visa -it means they cannot take a cut of your salary and are dependent upon the school - so the contractors do not have rapid decision making power - to decide whether to sponsor you or not. Further, I figured out why contractors cannot supply school teachers - either in India or US - while they can supply IT professionals or security guards or secretaries to organizations. The reason I figure out is that school teachers -HAVE TO BUILD UP RAPPORT WITH SCHOOL KIDS- so cannot be replaced easily. Unlike IT professionals whose
 projects end at any company after short terms -  school teachers are hired for long terms -and when they leave the new teacher takes a long time to build up the required tempo for academic work. One of the things most International Education specialits agreed - will improve student's achievement is that - DO NOT CHANGE TEACHERS FREQUENTLY. Thus, if a contractor has to supply teachers - under the agreement - that if s/he does not work well s/he can be replaced the next day -- just like you would with a security guard (as we did at Jaipur School) -- and thus for 365 days of the school year - if the contractr even promised to supply 365 new teachers everyday - (like security guard contractors or IT contractors might be doing) the school's academics would go for a six and result in a massive hue and cry from the parents and community members. 

  Perhaps for this reason contractors do not sponsor H-1B visas for school teachers . Given this reasoning now I seek the support of those whom I know so well - the non profit where I work. they are always in dire need of tutors - to tackle the most challenging pupils. Regular schools have a broader pool of applicants  to choose from. And they pay well -even for 10 hours per week work- I can make my ends meet. Later with  H-1B visa in hand I can seek some othet part time employer.  So now I seek to approach them - to sponsor me for a part time work H-1B visa. Though I realise that they perhaps have never sponsored any H-1B visa before and might be afraid of the consequences (as many employers are who refuse to even touvch the issue with a barge pole) nonetheless - just like these contractors must be "educating" all these employers  such as schools - about H-1B visas - I might do it myself - for me. However, I would need to do thorough research about H-1B visa process.

  Lets see. My landlord had offered to get me help in this regard once the employer agreed to sponsor me. He comes back from India this weekend. Maybe I can still get a sponsor to file the peition with INS guys before the quote for this year expires on March 31st. 

Umesh Sharma
5121 Lackawanna ST
College Park, MD 20740

 1-202-215-4328 [Cell Phone]

Ed.M. - International Education Policy
Harvard Graduate School of Education,
Harvard University,
Class of 2005

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