The species called ‘Desi consultant’ – Part 2

..Continued from Part 1

So all of these desi consultants get to the US with aspirations of a new life in a new country. Inspite of being well-acquainted with at least half a dozen people in the US who do similar jobs, most fresh off the boat desis are never really prepared for the ground reality.

Some of thoughts that cross their mind about life in America:

1. How difficult it is to actually cook a decent meal, and how easy it was with Muniyandi Vilas and Saravana Bhavan round the corner.

2. How difficult it is to clean a kitchen and keep track of laundry, especially in a place like the company guest house.

3. How ‘EVERYTHING’ is available at the Indian store and it was such a waste to carry kadugu, molagu all the way from India.

4. On closer inspection, how ‘EVERYTHING’ even though available in the Indian store, is so totally expensive. It’s a good thing he bought atleast the kadugu, molagu from Murugan stores.

5. How to buy or rent anything significant, one needs a credit history in this country.

6. Because of 4, and since renting a place is so difficult too (5), may be I should bring my family here after 6 months instead of the original plan of 3 months.

7. How America looks like Times square only in Times square and so rural everywhere else.

8. How all the stuff their american relatives got them was mostly bought at the dollar store.

9. How useless the Rs.3000 jacket they got from India is for the winter here

10. How a car felt like a necessity he could not yet afford and how much he missed the crowded buses and frustrating auto-drivers in India.

Anything else? Next post on career aspirations for a desi consultant..

Post Holiday Dysfunction Disorder

Ever heard of PHDD? I am sure you never have. It is nothing but Post Holiday Dysfunction Disorder! In this country (which would mean the United States), there is so much emphasis on the holidays (a.k.a Christmas and New Year), that once it has passed, the resulting void in ones life, that of having nothing to wait for during a bleak and cold winter is quite unbearable. Especially when, you have just been spoilt by almost 10 days of vacation/working from home, a 2 day weekend suddenly feels unacceptable, unqualifiable as a weekend, in fact my last weekend was spent sulking in denial that it was not weekend enough for me to enjoy.

At work, everything almost comes to a stop during the holidays, but people know that work will come poring in after New year to make up for the last 2 weeks of near-zero activity, and that usually helps people bounce back from the holiday mood. In my case however, things have been dull over the past 2 weeks – my client fell sick and hasn’t come to work. So I am spending useful billable time, wallowing in sorrow over the slow pace of my work life.

So, what is the big deal about these holidays? In India, I’ve never really missed the absence of a 10 day vacation. Perhaps, it is because the Hindu calendar has it’s holidays much better distributed. Every now and then, there will be a festival to celebrate. In schools, there will also be festivals that you don’t necessarily celebrate like a few Ids, Mahavir Jayanthi, etc.. In addition to that, growing up in a highly volatile place like Hyderabad, we were often subject to more unexpected holidays in the form of PWG bandhs, Naxalite bandhs, Opposition party bandhs, Ruling party bandhs… you get the general idea? So one never really had to look forward to holidays, they would just come and go and were enjoyed where they were deserved or observed where they weren’t. In fact, I’ve never really even waited for a weekend as much as I do here. It’s not like I was not busy there, yet, somehow I don’t think I burnt myself out during the week as much as I seem to do here. I spend 2 hours a day driving back and forth to work. It’s a whole different matter, what my time there is spent doing, but it’s enough if everyone knows that I don’t lift sacks of grain and carry it on my back all day long. Yet, it seems like 9 hours of sleep is insufficient and 24 hours in a day is way to less to get things done at home and work. So quite obviously, 2 days a week for a weekend is just not enough to unwind, then relax and then gear up for the next week.

Darn.. I just can’t put my finger on the problem here.. Umph!