Day 70

     One of the senior scientists in the lab had his visa to America rejected today. His purpose was legitimate – he’s been invited to take part in a study at an American university. We got to talking about visa laws in the US and how strict they are these days. Just a few days ago I read an article that said companies with greater than 40% non-citizen employees would have to pay an extra $2000 per visa for their outsourced labor. It is clear that the American government’s stance is one of decreasing the number of immigrants entering the US and working in US jobs. This policy is double edged since it makes sense when considering that the number of job slots for Americans will increase but it is also devastating because the immigrant labor that America thrives on will go elsewhere to look for opportunity.

     Many European countries such as Sweden and Denmark (not England), are keeping their borders open to foreign workers with schemes such as the highly skilled worker visa. These attractive options are drawing more and more talented people from India to other countries when America would have been the only reasonable option in the past.

     Another problem with the current way that the US is handling the worker visa issue (e.g. with the visa price hike) is that rather than discouraging the use of foreign workers, it will just decrease their salaries. In order for companies to attach value to their outsourced labor they have to pay them less than American workers. This will only add to the currently growing mentality that America is not the immigrant’s promised land it used to be.

Day 68

To make up for my overwhelmingly non-Banglore post last time I have a fun-filled Bangalorean weekend to report today. My Friday night was uneventful but on Saturday I caught the bus and made my way to my cousin Sunil’s house in Marathalli. I reached there around noon to a house full of sleeping relatives. Although it was strange to see my aunt (who is known to quote “early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”) still asleep in the middle of the day I knew it was because they had picked up Sunil’s wife from the airport at the ungodly hour of 3am in the morning. I was excited to see her but I can’t deny the fact that I was also excited to see what kind of American treats my family had had her bring for me. I present to you the American Relief Effort:

I finished a can of Salt and Vinegar Pringles and four zebra cakes in one sitting. Afterwards I bought everyone ice cream at Corner House Ice Cream Shoppes. It was the least I could do for the Pringles-induced grin on my face.

                                      

That night I went to a party that my dad’s friend had put on. To the American desis who are reading this I am proud to report that it was identical to any of the countless Indian parties we attended as kids. Therefore, I promptly walked out after a half hour of meeting random people who had no interest in continuing a conversation with me. The walk from Domlur bus stand to 100 ft road in Indira Nagar (where this party was located) is about 15 to 20 minutes along the side of a highway/flyover. The weather was pleasant enough that I really enjoyed the walk to the party and the one back to the bus stand. Domlur flyover:

I had been looking forward to Sunday all week because I had planned to go to a place called Brigade Road with some friends from lab. Brigade Road is like the Times Square of Bangalore. You can find anything there from clothes, books, shoes and things you’ve never seen or heard of before to movie theaters and any kind of culinary experience you’re craving. We roamed around from 11 to 7 with the Bangalorean in our group acting as an excellent tour guide. For lunch we stood at a point in the road and looked at three restaurants around us, all of which were assaulting us with ridiculously delicious smelling aromas. We chose the one that was on the 13th floor of a building so that the tourist (me) could get some pictures of Bangalore from up high. Afterwards, I shopped for gifts for everyone back home (my faithful readers especially) and the girls had fun shopping on my expense. I slept the entire way back home (if you can call my room that since I use it more like a pit stop).

P.S. After all this travelling I decided to make a map of the places I’ve been to in Bangalore. Here is my humble handiwork made in every amateur artist’s preferred medium – MS Paint: