houstonmacbro Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 LOL and help desks.Has anyone ever met an average Indian? I mean, one that is not from a well-to-do family and makes an average salary? Seems like all the ones I have ever met seem to make a lot of money as they are some kind of computer, software, or electrical engineer (or doctors), drive expensive cars, live very well, and have white wives/girlfriends (sometimes both). Oh yeah, most of them have given up their Indian identities and cultural roots as well.Are there any that are just regular schmoes that have regular jobs and regular 'Indian' lives? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest danax Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 Are there any that are just regular schmoes that have regular jobs and regular 'Indian' lives?I work with a young woman who makes a very modest living and her husband is an IT guy from Pakistan who's just starting out after struggling for his master's degree by working and staying up nights studying. She did tell me about an Indian friend she went to UH with who's a high level PhD IT guy making $1500 hr.......Their culture is still intact as far as family and religious traditions but they're certainly not opposed to assimilation and are not hung up on cultural or racial pride. They do have the great advantage of having learned English in their countries. Other members of her family own businesses, one has a gas station, but she's told me of various struggles there too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memebag Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 I do not know much about the immigration pattern from India, but the fact is that the current visa regime is pretty stringent resulting in many legal visa holders becoming 'illegal' in status. Work visas are for a period of 3 years, which may be extended by a further 3 years, while there is a countrywide quota as to the number of immigrants that can be admitted each year. The quota includes the number of immigrants granted permanent resident status through family reunion and other non-employment based visas. Thus an employee admitted legally can end up overstaying his visa for no fault of his/hers.I work in the software industry, and from what I've seen, US employers use H1B visas to create a kind of "indentured servitude". They set up programs to bring programmers to this country (mostly from India, some from Sri Lanka and other places) at very low starting salaries. Those salaries look big from the perspective of the programmers' home countries, but when they get here they find the cost of living clobbers them. The employer starts the green card application program, but then delays it to keep the programmer from jumping ship. If they change jobs (trying to get a raise) they have to start the green card process over. The employer keeps them at the starting salary and may or may not complete the green card process.If they overstay, that is their fault. But the temptation to overstay is great, and the system is set up to put them in that position.Has anyone ever met an average Indian?I've met many Indians from "average" or even poor families, but it generally takes above average intelligence and gumption to get into the jobs I've seen them in.Our cost of living is kept low in part by cheap labor. Deporting all illegal immigrants would require raising the cost of products and services or moving jobs to other countries. There is no simple, painless solution to the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstonmacbro Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 Our cost of living is kept low in part by cheap labor. Deporting all illegal immigrants would require raising the cost of products and services or moving jobs to other countries. There is no simple, painless solution to the problem.Agreed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millennica Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 Has anyone ever met an average Indian? I mean, one that is not from a well-to-do family and makes an average salary? Seems like all the ones I have ever met seem to make a lot of money as they are some kind of computer, software, or electrical engineer (or doctors), drive expensive cars, live very well, and have white wives/girlfriends (sometimes both). Oh yeah, most of them have given up their Indian identities and cultural roots as well.Are there any that are just regular schmoes that have regular jobs and regular 'Indian' lives? Although I live in California and not Texas, I have met many average Indians who earn average salaries and are not engineers (computer, software or electrical) or physicians although there are of course many Indians in California who work in those professions. Out here in the SF Bay Area, however, there are many both men and women who work in the US Post Office as clerks or letter carriers as well as in other local, state and federal government occupations. There is another large group of men who drive large trucks for construction companies doing road work and other large building tasks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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