A first generation immigrant from India like me who has had to deal with the vagaries of INS/CIS knows better than not to include that organization in the pantheon of 330 million gods and be sure to seek explicit blessings from the said deity. Seeking escape from doing so by saying "Hindu worship of deities is monotheistic polytheism and not simple polytheism " is probably not such a good idea.
Horror stories abound and as such it forces normal folks like me to turn quasi paralegal in their knowledge of immigration law. Each time I hit a road block on my way to turning my scary non-immigrant alien status into something a little bit more kosher, I found myself researching law and legalese with wildest abandon.
Ofcourse, there is the always the officious friendly neighborhood desi who is apparently hot-synched bluetooth-style with the powers that be at INS. He or she will gladly weigh in with their opinion, accidental wit and incidental wisdom. They will cite anecdotal evidence where several readings of the law as it is writ fails to result in any comprehension. This amazing oral tradition that is part of desi existence and source of our collective wisdom needs to make it to Wikipedia someday. I wonder if the man that I have in mind as I write this will take on the task and write out a stub atleast.
Here is a little note I wrote to myself some time ago "I have filled out the paper work for the extension of stay. Read up about experiences, the fine print and interpretational curiosities. I think I've done the best I possibly could based on my limited intellect. Each time I run against the behemoths like mega ton corporations and governments and I think to myself "Let God's will be done. I surrender after having done my best". I wonder if there is such a thing as an e-guardian angel made of super conscious bit stream and if she looks out for me. If you're there and listening - please do make my prayer come true."
CIS I see has made a believer out of me. At the risk of sounding grandiose I almost seem to have an understanding of the basic tenet of Bhagwad Gita. At a time when a largish chunk of my life is turning mythical with the balance between demons and fairies being wholly inequitable, I am grateful to anything and anyone that can turn me to prayer.
An expat desi friend and I were discussing what it means to return to India when you have cobbled together a life in a foreign country no matter how flawed and imperfect. We have both spent over a decade outside India and have kids who were born abroad and have spent very little time back home. Returning "home" is something a lot of new immigrants like L and myself think about. We want very much for that to be an option because a full assimilation into our country of domicile is likely never going to happen. L has visited India more often than I have and has a much better pulse on what's going on there. For me the strongest drag force working against my desire to return home is my experience of life as a woman in India. I neither want to live that suffocatingly sheltered existence myself nor subject J to it. The freedom, independence and safety I have had in here in suburban America was not even something I knew I could expect to have in India. I never knew what it felt t
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