Twitter Updates

    follow me on Twitter

    Wednesday, October 7, 2009

    To Go Back

    “I am going back,” she said.

    “Wait, have dinner,” I blurted.

    “No, I am going home for good. To India, silly,” she said.

    I could not believe it. My sister wanted to go back to India. She wanted to leave New York.

    My sister, Neera Dugar, 24, is a Carnegie Mellon graduate. For the past two years, she worked at Goldman Sachs, and as the financial markets collapsed in the wake of the credit crisis of 2008, was one of the few that chose to leave, rather than asked to leave.


    It was a crisp April evening. Winter was finally on the retreat. Like the weather, the economy was on a rebound too. President Barack Obama had committed $787 billion to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. New York, bruised and battered from its exalted position as the epicenter of American finance, was finally finding its feet. Though unemployment numbers would get worse, the worst was over.

    “It isn’t just the economy,” she maintained. “It’s not like I have lost my job.”

    “And I am not alone in this,” she said.


    I stared blankly at her for a while. Then it struck me. She was right. She wasn’t alone in this. Why would anyone ever want to trudge back? Wasn’t the miracle, the American dream, in America?

    This after the United States had served some of it’s finest to her, whether it was her education or the corporation she worked for or the city she lived in. She had the better part of the American dream. And that wasn’t enough.

    Or was it just that a bigger dream was unfolding back home in India?


    In the coming months, I seek to understand history as history itself changes course. Anand Giridharadas wrote in the New York Times, “it is a milestone in any nation’s life when leaving becomes a choice, not a necessity.”

    But is the moment enough? “Not living in New York after having lived there is living with a vague feeling that you are missing out on a great party somewhere,” Craig Ferguson, host of the “Late Late Show” on CBS wrote in his memoir “American on Purpose.”

    The stories will be personal, of people having to choose. Migration often gets enveloped in statistics, but it is the human story that needs to be told

    And New York City is the theatre of this ebb and flow. The city is home to about 600, 000 Indians, the largest such community of any metropolitan area in the United States.

    While at it, I might just understand how my sister manages to get by back home without the sample Tory Burch sale.

    (Please send your feedback and possible ledes that might develop the story. A similar story on diaspora did for Holding Willey is here)

    13 comments:

    Varun Aggarwal said...

    wow!!...antifits back with a bang!!

    Anonymous said...

    Who knows where to download XRumer 5.0 Palladium?
    Help, please. All recommend this program to effectively advertise on the Internet, this is the best program!

    Anonymous said...

    Hi !.
    You may , perhaps curious to know how one can manage to receive high yields .
    There is no need to invest much at first. You may commense to receive yields with as small sum of money as 20-100 dollars.

    AimTrust is what you need
    The firm represents an offshore structure with advanced asset management technologies in production and delivery of pipes for oil and gas.

    Its head office is in Panama with structures around the world.
    Do you want to become really rich in short time?
    That`s your chance That`s what you really need!

    I feel good, I began to take up income with the help of this company,
    and I invite you to do the same. If it gets down to choose a proper partner utilizes your savings in a right way - that`s the AimTrust!.
    I take now up to 2G every day, and what I started with was a funny sum of 500 bucks!
    It`s easy to get involved , just click this link http://adoleduh.exactpages.com/xivyhu.html
    and go! Let`s take this option together to feel the smell of real money

    Anonymous said...

    Hi !.
    might , perhaps very interested to know how one can collect a huge starting capital .
    There is no need to invest much at first. You may commense earning with as small sum of money as 20-100 dollars.

    AimTrust is what you need
    The firm represents an offshore structure with advanced asset management technologies in production and delivery of pipes for oil and gas.

    Its head office is in Panama with affiliates around the world.
    Do you want to become an affluent person?
    That`s your chance That`s what you desire!

    I`m happy and lucky, I started to get income with the help of this company,
    and I invite you to do the same. It`s all about how to select a proper companion who uses your savings in a right way - that`s AimTrust!.
    I make 2G daily, and my first investment was 500 dollars only!
    It`s easy to get involved , just click this link http://ejyfurad.freecities.com/ewybysi.html
    and go! Let`s take our chance together to become rich

    Anonymous said...
    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
    Anonymous said...

    Good day, sun shines!
    There have been times of hardship when I didn't know about opportunities of getting high yields on investments. I was a dump and downright stupid person.
    I have never thought that there weren't any need in big initial investment.
    Nowadays, I'm happy and lucky , I begin take up real money.
    It's all about how to select a proper partner who utilizes your funds in a right way - that is incorporate it in real business, and shares the income with me.

    You can ask, if there are such firms? I'm obliged to tell the truth, YES, there are. Please be informed of one of them:
    [url=http://theblogmoney.com] Online investment blog[/url]

    Anonymous said...

    Good day, sun shines!
    There have were times of hardship when I didn't know about opportunities of getting high yields on investments. I was a dump and downright stupid person.
    I have never thought that there weren't any need in large starting capital.
    Now, I feel good, I started take up real income.
    It's all about how to choose a correct partner who uses your money in a right way - that is incorporate it in real business, and shares the income with me.

    You may ask, if there are such firms? I have to answer the truth, YES, there are. Please be informed of one of them:
    http://theinvestblog.com [url=http://theinvestblog.com]Online Investment Blog[/url]

    Anonymous said...

    great read. I would love to follow you on twitter.

    Anonymous said...

    [url=http://sexrolikov.net.ua/tags/%E2%EE%E7%EB%E5/]возле[/url] Смотреть порно онлайн : [url=http://sexrolikov.net.ua/tags/Sweets/]Sweets[/url] , это все Вы можете смотреть онлайн

    Anonymous said...

    You can definitely see your expertise in the article you write.
    The sector hopes for even more passionate writers such as you who are not
    afraid to mention how they believe. All the time
    follow your heart.

    Review my web-site - NFL Jerseys Wholesale

    Anonymous said...

    Hello there! Do you know if they make any plugins to protect against hackers?
    I'm kinda paranoid about losing everything I've
    worked hard on. Any suggestions?

    Look into my website; Converse All Star

    Anonymous said...

    My programmer is trying to convince me to move to .
    net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the costs.

    But he's tryiong none the less. I've been using Movable-type
    on a variety of websites for about a year and
    am worried about switching to another platform. I have heard
    great things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can import all my
    wordpress posts into it? Any kind of help would be greatly appreciated!


    Here is my blog post: Michael Kors Bags

    ركن المثالية said...

    شركة تنظيف سجاد بالدمام
    شركة تنظيف مجالس بالدمام
    شركة تسليك مجاري بالدمام