100 Reasons I love America!
(done, done, doooone! The end!)
And this post concludes my 100 reasons to love America as an Indian immigrant. I reached my goal of writing small articles regularly but did not reach my goal of convincing myself that America is the home I am meant to be in. For that matter, I am not convinced India is either! The search for these 100 reasons did make me dwell on the positive experiences that America has afforded me. This series made me fondly recollect the people who have made my life better in this country and in that sense made me methodically think of aspects of American life that I really enjoy and filled me with good will, which was great! So, here goes my last 10 reasons, as always in no particular order. Thank you for sticking for the journey :)
#91 Bud30 (Not alcohol related)
Many years back, I decided planting a tree was the most meaningful way to celebrate my husband’s 30th birthday. The tree would always be a reminder in our backyard of something beautiful and full of life and at that time, I assumed we would live in our nice and bright house in Lexington for ever! K and I agonized over which tree to buy. I wanted a magnolia tree with its enormous, sweet smelling white flowers. K suddenly got it in his head that he would plant a yellow Poplar tree in our backyard! On the big day, S (a close friend of ours), K and I visited the nursery and settled on a Red Bud tree. It looked delicate with reddish brown shiny leaves and somehow just perfect! At that time, S drove a beat up truck and we decided we would transport our bud30 tree (which is what we christened it!) in his truck. We managed to stick the tree in the back of his truck (with its head sort of popping out) and drove back home. K and S spent a good chunk of the day digging a hole and planting bud30. I remember S even cut his finger planting the tree and claimed his blood had now gone into planting Bud 30. It was our American adventure in the backyard of our very own American dream home! It was a big deal. Sadly, a few weeks later, Bud30 passed away but I cherished the short and sweet time we did spend nurturing Bud30. It was a part of our American dream. Bud30, my reason 91 to love America as an Indian immigrant.
#92 Attention to Details
I love the attention to minutiae that America is famous for. Take for example these miniature displays in an Aviation Museum. This attention to tiny details spills into many many aspects of American life, a finesse that delights and astonishes the people that take the time to notice and care for the little things!
#93 Work-Life-Continuum
I don’t know if a thing like work-life “balance” even makes sense in 2015, just like abstaining from or resisting technology doesn’t make much sense. Technology and work are integral parts of our lives! In any case, marrying life and work without compromising on the quality of our lives and experiences is what I’ll be aiming for. Working in America has allowed me to maintain this work-life continuum well without obsessing about one at the cost of the other. I feel like I can do justice to my family and my work and draw boundaries in a predictable way in America. A luxury, I suspect, that will be hard to come across in India.
#94 Exploration for Kids
America offers uncountable venues for kids to explore their unending curiosity, to deep dive into their areas of interest (such as dinosaurs :) and experience and experiment with the wonders of human inventions in a grand scale! Whether it be in beautiful national parks or playing with gadgets and doing experiments in museums, whether it is exploring abstract art or building lego castles or learning Tae Kwon Do or learning Tamil, there are so many classes and experiences available to American kids! I almost wish I were a kid growing up here to be able to expand my mind to these possibilities as a child! A great reason to live in America!
#95 Summer festivals
Summer is a special time in America. No matter where you live, every city puts in an effort to celebrate summer with an emphasis on art and creativity. I love the art and wine festivals that pop up everywhere around summer. Darting in and out into little booths to look at beautiful trinkets is something I can do all day long! It also gets the kids excited about the beautiful arts and crafts you can create with your own hands!
#96 The Silicon Valley Buzz
I love the excitement that makes up the work climate in Silicon Valley. The buzz that makes you believe that the future is being created right here, right where you live and breathe. The future is here and you are a part of it!
#97 Pursuit of Happiness
America is a great country to indulge in a life-long pursuit of happiness. This country has remarkably fewer barriers (than India) to achieving the milestones and crafting the experiences that contribute towards your happiness. Whether you methodically study and work diligently towards make your life happier or you just appreciate a little less frustration in your daily life, this country offers many ways to boost your happiness levels (the specific reasons such as infrastructure, predictability of processes and more covered in my previous posts)
#98 Human Dignity
Having lived a significant portion of my life in both India and America, I feel as if a human life, irrespective of whether it be that of a powerful politician or an average Joe going about his daily life, is valued more in America. Human dignity, mutual respect and courtesy are more an accepted reality in America than in India.
#99 My Milestones
A reason I love this country is that part of my life and the little milestones that matter to me are inextricably tied to this country. I met my husband in this country, had my children here, graduated in Indian classical dance here, wrote my 2 books in this country, had my first book reading here, came up with the idea for an Empathy Lab and created it in Silicon valley, created a Lexington Tamil cultural Association and hosted Crazy Mohan (who made it to my wedding!) & Troupe…so many little moments and memories that are precious to me happened in America.
#100 Me
And that leads to my reason #100 to love America as an Indian immigrant. Thank you America for helping me discover and be who I am today. I am a sum total of my experiences, memories and lesson learned living in India and America. For the uniquely American experiences that I otherwise would not have experienced; for the independence and confidence I otherwise might not have gained, for the initiatives, success and more importantly failures I otherwise would not have learned from, for the lovely American people I would not have otherwise met, for all this and more, thank you America. And with that, my ‘100 reasons to love America as an Indian immigrant’ series comes to an end. Thank you for sticking along for the journey :)
