FROM AMRITSAR TO AMERICA!

Most Indians are infatuated with the west. This statement in itself does not invite any contradictions, I am sure. The level of infatuation varies from person to person, so it would be a tad bit unfortunate if I were to generalise. This post is a not-so-sombre ode to the wanna-be's and the not-so-fortunate never-will-be's.

I visited the US for few days recently, for official reasons, of course. (Now that I am deriding the wanna-be's, I cannot seem like one myself, can I?) Trying hard to overcome the disorientation that accompanies long flights, I managed to drag myself to work during the first few days. I was comforted by the soothing presence of my fellow compatriots and revelled in the fact that I would feel right at home, amidst them all.

Even my travel induced stupor could not protect me from what I was in store for. "Yo Dude!", said my very desi friend! "Whatcha doin?". I leaned in for a closer look. The accent was wrong, but the guy was not! Here we were, all born and bred desi's, and the accent was just shining through! I assumed he was just putting it on to entertain us, so I shrugged it off.

Surprise, surprise! There was more of the same to come! I have a friend whose kid has recently started going to playschool. Apparently the playschool teacher is a Mallu. The kid now says "Twingle Twingle liddle star! " aka Mallu's version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I was amused by the story and amazed at the way a child absorbs things. As we grow up though, we stop retaining as many words and phonetics. So, it was incomprehensible to think that any grown-up could start emulating words from a foreign land and in a foreign accent!

Each day there was more of the same. "I ain't comin" "Give me five dude" . "Good Morning" had been replaced by "Hey there!" . I was transfixed! This northy friend of mine had been to the US for a shorter span of time than the time he had spent while commuting between home and office in India. Yet the trappings of the west were loud and clear. With a "Starbucks" coffee mug in hand, (coffee that he now swears by) this munda had now graduated from "salwaar clad behenji's" to "bikini clad 'babes'(!)"

The talk around the lunch table now hovered around visa stampings, US universities, soccer matches and beer. The swagger was American and the clothes even more so! The glint in his eyes (I cannot call it a twinkle and make it seem romantic) evinced his conviction that he had arrived.

Most of my north indian friends cannot complete a grammatically sound sentence in English, let alone converse in the language. They talk in Hindi, think in Hindi and even walk Hindi, if such a thing is indeed possible. Yet here he was, our very own munda from Delhi, talking the Talk, walking the walk and trying to be Mr.America. Even as I walk away, I know this synergy will transcend back home, compelling yet another genaration of Indian's to become "wanna-be's".

There are scores of Indians who aspire to visit the "land of opportunites". Even as I pen this, a friend plans the birth of his child in the US of A. "Its a bid to give the unborn child, access to opportunities and facilities that I have never had", he assures me! I marvel at them all. Their reasons, justifications and self-consoling ruminations!

There is a whole breed of them. The ABCD's (American Born Confused Desi's) are now being seconded by the new ABCD's (America's Breed of Confused Desi's). The former has no sense of belonging and the latter do not belong. From Krishna to Chris, from Amritsar to America, the story of a thousand words has only just begun!