Two years down....

It has been two years since I landed here... two years since I went home... two years since I tasted true Masala Dosa of Janata Hotel, Malleswaram... Two years since I had the spicy Szechewan Fried Rice at Beijing Bites or Chungs... Two years since I walked down M.G. Road... Two years since I climbed rocks at Ramanagaram... two years since I hiked in the green mountain ranges of Devarayanadurga... two years since I swam in one the pristine azure waters of Y.G. Gudda dam or Kanva dam or Manchinbelle dam... I could go on and on about all the things I DID NOT get to do in the past two years.

But I would rather focus my post on all the things I did in the past TWO years. First of all I made a 100 percent score in Mathematics (college algebra), a score that I had never made all my life... My academic progress was so good that I was chosen for the Dean's list of exemplary students... I was the star of a panel discussion on fuel consumption in which I beat the crap out of Americans who were contemplating whether the federal government should force India to stop TATA from manufacturing the Nano.

I have traveled to 9 states (California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, New Jersey, Michigan, Oklahoma, and Arkansas) out of 50 in the US. I have been to Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, Painted Desert, Walnut Canyon and a host of other natural wonders in this country. I have learned how to rollerskate (still not an expert) without falling on my butt every time I attempt to move forward on the wheels. I participated in two long distance bicycle rides the MS-150 (90 mile) and Collin Classic (55 mile). I hosted a Kannada radio show on local desi FM station for over six months.

I still haven't found a job - this is the longest unemployed stint in my life after I started working. It sure feels like being a vegetable... but with the economy going south I take small consolation with the fact that I am not alone in the job market looking for work.

Do I have regrets for having left India? Yes of course... who doesn't? I think there would be a very small population of this immigrant nation who wouldn't miss their home country and at some point regret having come here.