[Assam] Indian students in US: Civil War - Assam aliens issue

Tue Aug 21 19:36:42 PDT 2007

some might wish to know if anything came about. The management has placed immovable benches (made of wood - and  thus heavy and unlikely to be removed or shifted around in the make-shift playground). 

On the other hand, I have had plenty of experience dealing with energetic young students of Jaipur School and this American experience reminded me somewhat of the time when I was still trying to come to US. Just like these students who just arrived from India - I too was trying to expand my "sphere of influence."  Those of us who are in US tend to forget the enormous leaps of faith many of us undertook to go across the seven seas. 

Today a ten year old asked me how I managed to go to Harvard and I mentioned casually that I took exams just like these students (2 high schoolers sitting with me) are preparing for.  The whole overall experience reminded me of the time when after the final school day of the 2003 batch of Jaipur School I went on a motorbike trip ( www.royalenfield.com unplanned  ) starting at 11pm on a Saturday night (Feb 27th) to an ancient temple 50 miles away with hardly Rs150 in my pocket.

 I had to spend the night under the sky in the ancient campus of a holy pool. Unable to bear the mosquitos  in the  remarkably warm night I drove to the temple premises at 4am to see if it was open. Winter timing ensured that it would open much later but another homeless guy hailed me from under the shades outside a shop. He was very frail and old and wheezed that he had come for a late night temple visit and forgotten the way home and that he was from Kolkata (originally from Rajasthan). To cut the long story short I not only took him to his makeshift home (at his distant relative's house)  but took him to the main city and gave him a suitcase (VIP) and Rs1,000 ($50) enough to cover his trip home and got him a seat in the train bound straight for Kolkata more than a thousand miles and 20 hours away.

A couple of days later my elderly uncle exhorted me to excel and put forward my best in school. On March 3rd 2003 (3-3-3) I decided to tell everyone I planned to try to come to US to study at Harvard ( setting my sights on Harvard's Extension School initially - which did not require a GRE or TOEFL) .  

Now when I am trying for my own students' internship in US etc - I feel that I did learn from these recent Indian students arriving from India - and that a lot more can be done - a lot more networks explored. I have not only friends who are from all parts of India but I have also met the likes of Amartya Sen and Harvard President Laurence Summers . These Indian students may be suffering from jet-lag but they have a G-force (as in race cars and space ships) which can propel a nation.

Any comments?

Umesh

umesh sharma <jaipurschool at yahoo.com> wrote: Instead of protecting everyone of their community the minority groups should also reveal and try to correct their misbehaved ones. Be it minorities in Assam (in religious terms) or in US (in racial or national origin terms)

some aliens bring bad name to the rest whether they are legal or illegal resulting in backlash against all. That happens in India - whether it is Biharis in Assam or Delhi -- or Latinos in US or now some Indian students in USA etc. Saw at the Indin store a poster of www.immigrationvoice.com holding a rally in DC to protest unjust policies. 

Here is a recent example. - of the past 3 days in the apartment complex where  I stay with many Indian grad students of engineering. Some of my school-age students (from East Asia)  of the tutoring agency also stay in the same complex. 

 These past weeks have seen the arrival of a new batch of about 100 students including one Assamese girl- all full of vigor and curiosity and  eagerness to learn. Most eager to fit in and also eager to learn the rules of the society and follow them. That should be okay and some would like to assert their importance and take lead in many fields. 

One of the fields is sports -  which is indeed a good thing but only when you don't try to play it the "Indian way" : on the roadside and in the housing complex itself in the evening when women and children like to stroll about and play soccer/football in a small clearing . 

See the circular path used for playing soccer by kids http://wikimapia.org/#lat=38.866628&lon=-77.269796&z=19&l=0&m=a&v=2 

 It is always cheering to see these kids play when I come back from work even though they play on the path I take to go home. 

But if you suddenly find one fine day that the small kids are replaced by tall young guys kicking the ball hard (perhaps the same one the kids used to play with) and shouting loudly it doesn't seem  that peaceful and hunky dory. Especially when a few start practicing tennis shots just outside the lobby door in front of the front doors of the town houses there (see the wikimapia link) . I advised them to stop and most just got scared and ran away. A couple of big, strong swarthy guys who perhaps had been student leaders in stormy Indian politics (70% of the students who stay here are from Andhra Pradesh - just like 70% of outside students in Delhi are from Bihar) countered that no one would get hurt and started playing slow tennis shots and that I needn't worry. He took over from the other guy who had walked away and continued playing tennis.

The next day/yesterday the management retaliated by putting garden tables and chairs in all the pathways so that no one may play there and I saw the little kids playing again  and the mothers (mostly non-white) firmly outside and sitting on the chairs in a show of strength. It seemed all peaceful again.

Today I  was surprised to see all the tables and chairs piled up on the path itself and blocking my access to the lobby door. The new students were at it and again playing football/soccer with wild passion. Some were sitting on the chairs blocking the way.  I pulled away some chairs and tables and walked down the path and saw the ball coming straight at me and I tried to kick it but missed and it went flying past me.

Down on the other side was another road block with a couple of students sitting on chairs. I requested them to clear out enough space for me to get through. A guy pushed aside a garden table and a chair. Another guy stopped playing and came to inquire and as did a few others. Others kept playing. 

There was still one chair blocking my way and I requested them to remove it so that I could pass. The leader said, " Hey we didn't put it there why don't you shift it yourself."  I was taken aback. It seemed like a small matter to shift the chair but  perhaps they wanted to send a message by playing there and blocking the pathway ( I had read "Meet John Doe or John Doe's guide to law" to know that no-one can block the public pathway) .  f anyone says that to me I start behaving like a "Jat" from Haryana and said that "okay  this is a pathway and you should not play football here and I would stand in the middle of the path it  is for everyone  ". The tough guy said "We won't be responsible if you get hurt (by the ball)."  Another guy who was sitting said guardedly, you can make it an issue if you want to.
I said that I would complain to the management. Maybe I will but I will first  try the Gandhian way.

Is that how the minorities in Assam etc are dealing with the situation of belligerent  members of their communities - like the issue of illegal immigrants and the police report that around India 20 to 50% murders etc are being commited by illegals. And threats to drive out  Assamese from areas if minorities threatened

Umesh

PS: Here is the correct location of memorial for first casualty of Confederates in US Civil War. I checked it personally today http://wikimapia.org/#lat=38.864205&lon=-77.279527&z=19&l=0&m=a&v=2

umesh sharma <jaipurschool at yahoo.com> wrote: Hi,

A student of mine engaged me in a discussion regarding an essay  she was supposed to write and she proved what Harvard's celebrated professor had been saying all along -- that those who start learning a second/foreign language sooner learn at faster - but those who learn it as soon as possible (in early years of life) tend to lose command over their mother tongue - of-course this is more true if you are learning English in USA as a second language.

 She is learning English as a second  language and her younger brother is learning is as a first language (though born in a non-English speaking nation) and losing command over his "mother tongue" . She wrote in her essay that to be a patriot you  must know your language.

 As luck would have it I was wearing my "stars and stripes" tie for the first time ever (ever since I was persuaded not to wear it by my Harvard classmate Anisa and her mother Amy at Vancouver, Canada's US consulate  for my work visa interview. Ofcourse her Bahai faith follower, Iranian refugee-family husband - now medical student at www.ubc.ca speaks Irani as well as English though he came at age 6 12 hours on horseback across the border into Turkey at night in snow).

The question arose in my mind about who is a patriot? When I walked around wearing the tie - I felt people stiffen a bit. Initially I felt it was strangely Borat-like (who wore a hat of US colors in his documentary) but later I realized it was due to  respect for the US colors (stars and stripes) and even old men looked me up and down - while in the bus and on the raod. 

The road is called Pickett Road named after the Civil War Confederate general who fought against those who wore these "Union" colors. (I always confuse between Confederate and Counterfeit which mean fake.) I pass by the Army and Navy Golf Club and reach my home on Lee Highway - named after the top Confederate General who surrendered to US  forces under Abraham Lincoln. 200 yards down the road is a memorial dedicated to the first soldier/casualty of Lee's army who died on that spot. 

( Coordinates: 38°51'52"N   77°16'39"W  http://wikimapia.org/#lat=38.864479&lon=-77.277623&z=19&l=0&m=a&v=2 )

Later, in the elevator/lift I met a soldier in uniform who could perhaps feel my emotion and the responsibility I felt while wearing the national colors of the nation he had chosen to serve and defend. As I  exited the elevator he wished me a good day and a great weekend and I wished him the same . Perhaps I should visit the US Army recruitment center once again (like last year)  after getting a Green Card. How can one feel part of the crowd unless one has been ready to defend its inhabitants? Thats a good reason to keep in good shape - fighting fit, isn't it?

Umesh

Umesh Sharma

Washington D.C. 

1-202-215-4328 [Cell]

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

http://www.uknow.gse.harvard.edu/index.html (Edu info)

http://hbswk.hbs.edu/ (Management Info)

www.gse.harvard.edu/iep  (where the above 2 are used )

http://jaipurschool.bihu.in/        

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Umesh Sharma

Washington D.C. 

1-202-215-4328 [Cell]

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

http://www.uknow.gse.harvard.edu/index.html (Edu info)

http://hbswk.hbs.edu/ (Management Info)

www.gse.harvard.edu/iep  (where the above 2 are used )

http://jaipurschool.bihu.in/        

---------------------------------
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