"Oh, say does the star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

These words are taken from the National Anthem of the United States of America. Millions of people around the world dream about coming to America. But, America is a continent, two of them in fact, North and South America. It is not Mexico or Chile these people are thinking about when they say "America". They are referring to the huge country straddling the heart of North America named the USA or US. Everywhere around the world, a citizen of USA is simply an "American".

We Indians, for a long time, considered England to be the place to go for higher education, shopping, or just for a vacation. But all that has changed now. The dream of "America" is what I think most youngsters in India pursue. The question is why do so many people dream that dream? Because of the freedom one has, in USA, to build a successful life without compromising on morals and beliefs. Merit is rewarded, with few exceptions, and a hardworking person is appreciated. As Thomas Jefferson, one of the founders of the United States democracy wrote in the Declaration of Independence, "all men are created equal, that they are endowed with certain unalienable rights" including "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." There are, therefore, a few basic ideas that lay the foundations of this country.

In USA, an important notion is that of personal freedom or space. Personal freedom means that while one can do what one wants to further ones own happiness; it does not include exploiting other people or situations or misuse of public property. Privacy is also very important to an American and it is considered very rude to intrude into ones personal space. Space here means physically as well as mentally. For example, one can never ask an American, "How much is your salary?" Most people earn a salary in proportion to how hard they work and this is therefore a very touchy subject. Freedom is balanced by lawfulness. For the most part, USA is a law abiding country. Never mind the daily reports of school shootings, drug addictions, and car accidents. There are about 27.5 crore people living in USA and most of them obey the rules. For someone from India, this is usually a pleasant surprise. People trust each other quite a bit to do the correct thing. If a question is asked, it is assumed that people are being quite truthful. It is these two basic concepts of freedom and trust that create an extremely successful system envied the world over.

There are thousands of Indians arriving in USA and even more who want to come here. Many are students, others are professionals, or newly married young women. I think it might help to give a brief idea about USA and living here. This is of course a very personal view and other people will feel differently from the way I do. I have divided this lengthy essay into several sections.

History, Geography and Civics

India and the USA have a special bond. It was to India that the Italian Christopher Columbus (under Spanish patronage) set out in three little ships, the Pinta, Nina and Santa Maria. He sailed in 1492 to find a sea route to India. Instead he landed on what is today the West Indies - a set of islands off the mainland of North America. He however imagined himself to be in the Spice Islands somewhere in Asia. It was not long before another Italian, Amerigo Vespucci explored the Amazon River and the coast of South America and identified these lands as whole new continents. A German map maker, in 1507, named these newly discovered continents "America" after Amerigo Vespucci. The history of North America actually goes back many thousands of years to when Asia and America were connected by a land bridge in the Bering Straits. People from Asia crossed over to North America hunting bison and woolly mammoths. They moved south and settled all over the continent. There are the "native" people in America and called American Indians (also popularly called Red Indians for the color of their skin). The first European to reach North America was the Viking Lief Ericson who made landfall in Newfoundland in 1001 AD. It was only hundreds of years later that Europeans came again to explore and settle down in the huge new continent. The French, Spanish and English occupied vast areas of North and South America. The British established thirteen colonies on the east coast. The French occupied what is Canada today and most of the land west of the Missouri river all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico. The Spanish people occupied most of what are today Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Mexico itself and areas much farther south.

The Briton Sir Walter Raleigh encouraged the first British settlers to create a colony in America in the 1580s. They settled in a small island off the coast of Carolina named Roanoke. The settlers named the large area on the mainland Virginia after the Virgin Queen Elizabeth. However, this settlement did not last long as the settlers disappeared rather suddenly. Their fate was never known. The first permanent settlement called James town, named after the British King James 1, lasted from 1606 to 1698 before being burnt down. More settlers followed and started the process of establishing the thirteen British colonies of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, North and South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia. These settlers initially made peace with the native American Indians and started settling down to creating a life for themselves. The first big group of settlers to have an effect on the religious and moral life of the country was the Puritans. They are also called the Pilgrims and came in 1620, on the ship May Flower. They were fleeing the drop in moral standards in 17th century England and wished to form a separate church. It is a sense of "Puritanism" inherited from these people that manifests itself in so many different ways even in present day USA in the debates about abortion, women's rights, health care, and homosexuality.

In many ways, ideas and freedoms taken for granted by Indians are still issues for debate in USA. On the other hand, many of the early settlers were also criminals, convicts, slaves, etc. who were shipped out from England to keep them away from the local populace. At this time the King of England was the ruler of the British colonies in America. France and England were fighting in Europe and this rivalry resulted in wars between the British settlers and French in North America too. These wars cost a lot of money and in 1765, the King of England decided on a policy of "double taxation" to raise money to support the armies. This resulted in protests by the people in the American colonies and made them resolve to throw off British rule and become their own country. This fight for independence is something that the USA shares with India, even though these fights are separated by 150 years.

In 1776, after the Revolutionary war, the thirteen colonies broke free from British rule and called itself a "democracy", the United States of America. After this, there were many wars and consolidations. This included the Louisiana purchase in 1803 where all the land west of the Missouri was bought from the French for 15 million dollars. There were several wars in the south with the Spanish Mexico. Present day California, Nevada, Utah, parts of New Mexico, Texas, Colorado and Wyoming were purchased for 15 million dollars from Mexico. This is called the Mexico Cession.

This was also the time when slavery became a part of southern USA. Slaves were brought from Africa to work on the cotton plantations of the Southern states. This practice set the stage for problems in American society that continue even today. After a period of consolidation and growth, in 1861, came the Civil War between the North and the South. The war began when Abraham Lincoln was elected President of USA and wanted to stop the practice of slavery. The southern states opposed this move and choose to separate from the union. The war was won by the northern states and slavery came to an end in 1865. This war gave birth to the Civil Rights movement.

The 1850s to 1900s were a period of growth and the Industrial Revolution made its effect felt. In the late 1800s, businessmen like John D. Rockefeller, Andrew W. Mellon, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and Andrew Carnegie created huge monopolies in steel, oil, railroads, meat packing and flour milling. They laid the foundations of many present day American businesses. This was also a period of great immigration - between 1820 and 1930, more than thirty seven million people came to USA from Europe and other parts of the world. The First and Second World Wars saw refugees, landless and hopeless people streaming into USA causing its population to grow rapidly. It was in early 1900s that New York City became the entry point for millions of people and set it up as the most cosmopolitan city in USA. Even today, people from every part of world come to New York and enjoy the sight of its skyscrapers, nightlife and music and art. The stock market crash of 1929 caused large-scale unemployment and 5000 banks went out of business in two years. This resulted in the Great Depression that lasted for quite a few years. However this did not prevent USA from building and consolidating an industrial empire that is the world's largest economy today.

USA is the world's third largest country in area. Its mainland is about 6000 km by 3000 km. Like India, it is a federation of 50 states. Also like in India, there is a division of power between the federal government and the state administrations. The federal government has the same three branches, executive, legislative and judicial that the Indian system has.

The executive branch consists of the President who is elected by an Electoral College. The Electoral College is chosen by voters in the country to vote for the various presidential candidates. Upon election, the President chooses the rest of the officials who will administer the country. This is unlike India's parliamentary system. The legislative branch is a bicameral system with an upper house - the Senate (each state sends two Senators) and the Lower House - the house of Representatives (based on population of each state). The legislative branch consists of the Supreme Court and an independent judiciary. Supreme court members are chosen for life.

The federal capital of USA is located in Washington DC (DC stands for District of Columbia). Each state has its own capital and usually the capital is located away from the major cities in the state. This is so that in case of any war or attacks on the bigger cities, there will still be a functioning administration. The federal government limits itself to defense, monetary policy, postal services, immigration and naturalization, Medicare (for old people) social security, internal revenue services, trade between states, and a national supreme court. Almost everything else is the responsibility of the state government - schools, police, law, business and investment, roads, transportation, etc.

Like in India, US geography is very varied too. The heartland (Mid West) is flat prairie land book ended by mountains and the oceans on either side. The Atlantic Ocean is to the east of USA and the Pacific Ocean to the West. The Rocky Mountains run down the western coast of USA and the Appalachian mountains are on the eastern coast. The highest mountain in USA, Mt. McKinley is in the state of Washington. The north has the magnificent Great Lakes (Michigan, Huron, and Ontario, etc.) and shares a long border with Canada. The awesome Niagara Falls are on the US border with Canada in the state of New York. The south borders Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico. The Grand Canyon in the southern state of Arizona is so huge, one can take many days to explore all of it.

There are vast rivers flowing through the US heartland - the Mississippi, Missouri, and the Colorado. The east is the most populous. The west, except for California is pretty empty of people. The inspiring Yellow Springs National Park and the tallest trees on earth - the Redwoods are both in California. The Nevada desert is a lonely area used for military training and testing nuclear bombs. The east has the big cities - New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC The south has charming Atlanta, Dallas, Austin, Houston, and Oklahoma. The west has wild Los Angeles, San Francisco, rainy Seattle, and Portland. The north has windy Chicago, and car headquarters Detroit. Many thousands of miles to the west of the Pacific coast is the beautiful, tropical state of Hawaii. It has lagoons, volcanoes and awesome beaches. To the northwest is the icy, cold state of Alaska with vast snow covered areas and long winters.

The USA is made up of people from many parts of the world. The official racial mix of people is 83.5% of Caucasians (from European countries like Ireland, Italy, Germany, Scandinavia, Poland, Russia), 12.4% of people who owe their origins to Africa and 4.1% from other races like Native Indians, Hispanics, Asian, and South America. The eastern part of USA has a large percentage of people from an Irish or Italian background. The southern and western states of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California have a very high percentage of Hispanic people. Some northern and Mid-western states like Minnesota, Washington have people who immigrated from Sweden, Denmark and Finland in the last century. California also has a lot of people from China, and other Asian countries. Washington State has many Japanese Americans. Hawaii has a distinct culture owing its origin to Polynesia and Japan. In the southeastern state of Louisiana, there exists a French influence on the food, language and culture called "Cajun". People of mixed French parentage are called Creoles.

English is the language that binds all the Americans. Spoken in many different ways, the clipped accents of Boston, the drawl of Texans, the hip-hop styles of the African Americans, and the methodical, measured tones of the Midwest, it is the one language that binds all Americans. Spanish is the second most popular language in USA and is gaining in popularity day by day. In the palm fringed state of Florida, Spanish is almost the first language thanks to a huge Cuban American population.

Most Americans are Christians. The majority is Protestants. The remaining Christians are Catholics, Baptists, Lutheran, Presbyterian, etc. A large Jewish minority exists in USA. Many Jews live in New York City. Islam has a few followers, as does Buddhism.

The eastern part of USA was settled first and has the highest population density, the oldest buildings, traditional European architecture, wonderful museums and is also more cosmopolitan. The west is dominated by the California "culture" which is an easy going relaxed attitude in keeping with the sun and surf of the coast. The south and Midwest are more traditional with a slower pace of life.

Food, Living, Transportation

The most popular icons of American culture are burgers, pizza and coke. While coke is 100% American, burgers and pizza come from Europe. Chicken and beef are the most commonly cooked meats. Turkey is popular too. Mutton and pork are not eaten very much. Americans love to eat out a lot. While Italian food (pizza and pasta) is the most popular kind of food, Mexican food like tacos, burritos, and nachos are also favorites. Chinese takeout food is cheap and a staple of many people's dinners. Thai, Indian, Vietnamese, Greek, and Moroccan food is also available in most major American cities and towns. Nowadays, health food is becoming very common as Americans grow more conscious of eating healthy food.

Vegetarian food is catching on and every restaurant has some on its menu. They also prepare food without meat on request. Fruits, vegetables and dairy products are abundant. Most cities have special markets or shopping areas catering to people from specific parts of the world. There are Chinese markets, Indian stores or shopping areas, Arab communities, etc. Ethnic food is available in shops like these.

Americans live in houses ranging from single room studios to huge, several square miles wide ranches. Most Americans cities are organized into neighborhoods. Many businesses and companies used to be concentrated in the cities’ centers. And people had their houses in the suburbs. Nowadays the boundaries are getting less distinct.

USA is a huge country with a small population density. On average, the houses and apartments are much bigger than in other parts of the world. In the big cities of the east and populous California, rents are pretty high but in the Midwest and south, rentals are much cheaper. It is the same when buying a house. Many Americans own their own homes. Usually mortgages are for 20-30 years with a 10-20% down payment. Every American has the dream of owning their own house. It makes more economical sense to buy a house than to rent because of tax benefits.

The weather is temperate throughout most of the country. The northern parts suffer from cold winters with snow and ice. The south is hot in summer. Alaska is always cold and Hawaii has a tropical climate. Hurricanes and tornadoes sweep through the south of USA, especially Florida.

The car symbolizes transportation in USA. No other country loves a car the way Americans do. There are cars as huge as a bus, little sports models and everything in between. Gasoline is cheap and Americans think nothing of environment while getting into a car to drive hundreds of miles across the country. Because of the distances between homes and workplaces, markets, schools, etc., a car is a necessity. Traveling longer distances is mostly by flight. From New York to San Francisco, across USA is five-hour trip. The east has a relatively well developed railway system but the train is not as popular a means of transport as it once was. During the heyday of the railways, trains carried people, produce, cattle, machines, etc. all over the USA. Now, huge trucks carry these. Many big cities have local trains and subway systems.

Family, Morals, Education

Even though the family is under severe assault in USA, it is still the most basic unit of society. 50% of all American marriages end in divorce but millions of people marry (or remarry) every year. Americans have more children per family than any other western country. While Europe faces falling birth rates and an aging population, USA enjoys a replacement level birth rate. The children born in USA usually have a life of great comfort but have to deal with the pressures unknown to children from other parts of the world. The USA has millions of guns and many children are either innocent victims of shootings or use guns to settle minor disputes. They also have to deal with drugs, alcohol and teenage sex.

The schools are divided into three categories, primary school from grades 1 to 5; middle school from grades 6 to 8 and high school for grades 9 to 12. Children start school at 6. Most children go to public schools - meaning schools funded by the government and the local communities. Private schools are very expensive and very few people can afford to send their children to these schools. There are few boarding schools because Americans do not believe in sending their kids away from home until they are at least eighteen. Because of the violence in many inner city public schools, the schools have metal detectors to check for guns, knives, etc. Children who go to public schools do not wear school uniforms. It is considered infringement on personal freedom to make students wear uniform. Most children (and adults) take part very actively in sports and outdoor activities. They also learn music, art, and dancing. It is believed that school should give a child a well rounded education.

Hollywood movies show the USA to be a place of skimpy clothes and violent men. These are stereotypes. Like anywhere in the world, there are people of all kinds - from the very traditional to people who are totally uninhibited. People enjoy themselves in many different activities - hiking, dancing, surfing, bird-watching, swimming etc. Contrary to what the movies show people are mindful of others sensibilities. Except for the teenagers, nobody really wears short dresses. During summers everyone is in shorts. Dating is an accepted way of meeting people and many people use it to find a marriage partner. Many people do live together without being married. Most people, except for some very traditional religious folk, accept it as a step before marriage.

Higher education in USA is extremely expensive. Education standards at the high school level are uneven - most schools do not give a strong education in basic Mathematics and Science. However, at the college level, the courses get more rigorous. Undergraduate education is for four years. In USA, one has to have an undergraduate concentration in premedical courses to be accepted by medical universities. Medical school comes after undergraduate college and has tough entrance examinations. It's the same for law. Graduate school is very tough in comparison to undergraduate education. Most Americans do not go in for a graduate degree because of the cost as well as a lack of interest. Many jobs do not require a graduate degree. Part-time education or night school is very popular.

Money, Business, Industry

Money is sometimes considered the soul of USA. This place has the largest percentage of people in the world who own stocks. Everyone is into investing money on the stock markets. Traditional bank interest rates are low - in the range of 4-6%. I guess that stocks offer much higher returns on investment. Most Americans believe in using credit cards. Visa, Master Card, American Express, Discover, and other such cards are accepted everywhere. It is important to establish a credit history in USA. This includes rental leases, phone connections, electricity, etc. No bank lends money to a person who doesn't have a good credit history.

USA used to be a world leader in every form of industrial production. Its farmers also did very well with huge farms. These days, the services sectors like banking, insurance, retail stores, computer industry, etc. employ most people. Farming comes next in employment along with meat packing and food processing. The industrial production has shifted to many other counties and USA is the world's largest importer of goods manufactured elsewhere. Currently, the computer and Internet economy is booming and many people dream of starting their own Internet business. Many people of Indian origin have been particularly successful in this area.

Taxes are a levied in many different ways. There are federal taxes and state taxes. While federal taxes are the same across the country, state taxes vary from state to state. Almost every item sold in the stores has a tax on it. Some states like Delaware have no taxes on anything. While New York has 8.00 % tax on any item sold including food. Pennsylvania has a 6.00 % tax on all sales except those of food and clothing. Income taxes also vary from state to state. Once again New York and California have a 8% tax on income while Pennsylvania, for example, has a 2.8% tax. Federal taxes range from 25% to 40% of the income depending on income level.

Technology, Communications, Entertainment

US society is a homage to modern electronic conveniences. Every home has an abundance of gadgets - washing machines, dish washers, refrigerators, cooking ranges, air-conditioners, heaters, home theater systems, mobile phones, etc. It has more telephones than people. Every home has several of them. The latest gadgets are constantly on sale at the mall. DVDs are quickly replacing videotapes and hand held devices like the Palm are overtaking sales of regular computers. Most American homes already have a computer with Internet access. Many public libraries also have free Internet access. Retail office supply stores also offer computers on rental.

While gadgets are affordable, services of any kind are expensive. Plumbers, building contractors, electricians, carpenters, etc. charge high hourly rates. Therefore many Americans do their own house painting and other repairs. Most things, once they break down, cannot be cheaply repaired. Most people throw them out and buy new ones. Junkyards are full of these discarded objects and even most cars are junked once they stop working properly. It is popularly called a "throw away" culture.

Entertainment is big business in USA. American movies, like the Titanic from Hollywood dominate the world. American TV shows, music, and fashion influence people all over the world. American sports stars like Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods inspire millions of children everywhere to excel at sports.

Indians, USA, Assimilation

It may surprise some people to know that the first Indians (from India) came to USA between 1905 and 1917. They were mostly Punjabi Sikhs who had seen action in the First World War or worked for the British in Hong Kong. They heard about the opportunities in USA and booked passage on ships to USA. Most of them went to California as migrant farm workers. They introduced rice cultivation in that part of USA. While many were illiterate, some of these thousands of men used their knowledge of the British civil administration to set up their own businesses or buy land by obtaining bank loans. This continued till 1917 when a California court ruled that non-white people were not allowed to own land in USA or become US citizens. This hurt the man hard. They could not become citizens and bring the rest of their families from India. Many of them had to abandon their wives and children in India. During this time, it was also against the law for non-white people to marry White people. Therefore many men married women of Hispanic origin, mainly from Mexico. Some of the men registered land in the name of the children born to them of the Mexican women. Thus a large community of "Mexican Hindus" developed in California. For a long time, these were the only people of Indian origin in USA. Because of the slow communications with India and lack of touch with many other Indians, they abandoned many Indian customs and practices.

The second wave of immigration started in the late 1940s, after India got independence from England, and reached a peak in the 1960s. Professionals like doctors and engineers, academics and many graduate students headed to USA and settled down to make a successful life for themselves. After a lull in the 1970s, the 1980s and especially the 1990s saw many more people come to USA as computer professionals, spouses of people working in USA, nurses, businessmen, relatives of people who had taken up US citizenship, etc. These days, Indians are coming to USA as tourists too. Disney World records extremely high number of Indian tourists and is specially targeting Indians in its advertising. Many Indians also visit all the popular tourist spots like the Niagara Falls, Statue of Liberty and New York City, Grand Canyon, Los Angeles and Hollywood, Las Vegas, etc.

While life is comfortable for these hundreds of thousands of people who arrive in USA, there have also been adjustment problems. Children born to Indians (Indian-Americans) in USA undergo a peculiar situation as they have to deal with being Americans outside the house and following Indian religions, customs and ideas of family life inside. To most Indians who come from India, dating is an alien concept and they imagine the worst when their children grow up and want to go to parties or dances with friends. Also, Indian families stress education and force many young people to study medicine or engineering. A typical American child is allowed to follow his or her interests and choice of a profession. Therefore Indian-Americans sometimes have conflicts with parents and would prefer to just blend in with the rest of the American population and not stand out as being obviously different.

Sometimes when young men working in USA marry young women from India and bring them to USA, the young women have to deal with an alien culture, loneliness, and learn to be independent. Sometimes the stress is too much and some couples separate or divorce. There are situations where some Indian-Americans are forced by their families to marry a young person from India and these couples have cultural adjustments to make. Indians who come to work in USA on H1B visas and want to become permanent citizens face a long wait as the US Immigration and Naturalization Service is thought to be a notoriously inefficient organization.

Overall, Indians in USA are one of the most successful ethnic groups and contribute a lot to the US economy. They have shown their expertise as doctors, engineers, academics, and computer professionals and are now moving into new areas like law, journalism, movies and politics. In the past few years, USA has acknowledged this success. There is a hope that these people will form a bridge between India and USA and help encourage growth of business and industry in India. In future, I'm sure USA and India will be the best of friends.

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