From: sri@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (a.natarajan)
Subject: REQUEST FOR "X+1" SYNDROME !!
Organization: AT&T
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 20:09:36 GMT


Some one on the SCI requested a copy of "x+1" syndrome.
I had made some changes (minor) and added a small paragraph!
Apologies to the original writer. This is a poorly written article.
Enjoy reading it!
Regards, 
Natarajan at AT&T Bell Labs. in New Jersey.
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                              "X+1" SYNDROME

       When an Indian professional becomes a "Non-Resident Indian"
       in the United States, he appears to suffer from a strange
       disease.  The symptoms are a mixture of restlessness,
       anxiety, fantasy and nostalgia.  The virus is a deep inner
       need to return home to India. As Shakespeare says, " The
       spirit is willing but the flesh is weak."

       The medical world has not yet come up with a word for this
       malady. Strange as it is, it could go by a stranger name,
       the "X+1" syndrome.

       To understand this syndrome, consider the background.
       Typically middle-class, the would-be migrant's sole ambition
       through his (we are discussing a typical male patient here!)
       high school is to secure admission into one of those heavily
       government subsidized institutions - the IITs. With the full
       backing of a doting family and a good deal of effort, he
       achieves this goal. Looking for fresh worlds to conquer, his
       sights rest on the New World, the United States of America.
       Like lemmings to the sea, hordes of IIT graduates descend on
       the four US consulates to seek the holiest of holy grails-
       the F-1 (student) stamp on the passport.

       After crossing the visa hurdle and after tearful farewells,
       our hero departs for the Mecca of "higher" learning,
       promising himself and his family that he WILL return one day
       - very soon!

       The family proudly informs the relatives (both close and
       distant!) of each of his milestones -his G.P.A.  (Grade
       Point Average), his first car (a clunker!!), his trips to
       Niagara Falls, New York city and Washington, D.C.(copious
       number of photographs where our hero poses in front of
       historic monuments!), his first winter (again pictures taken
       with cheap winter parkas and gloves!!). The two years roll
       by and he graduates at the top of his class.  The historic
       graduation ceremony as captured in "living color" by a
       borrowed Polaroid is fondly shared by the relatives back
       home!

       Now begins the "great hunt" for a company that will not only
       give him a job but also sponsor him for that 3" x 3" grey
       plastic, otherwise known as the Green Card. A US Company
       sensing a good bargain offers him a job.

       Naturally, with all the excitement of seeing his first pay
       check in four digit dollars, his thoughts of returning to
       India slowly recede away. His immediate objective of getting
       the Green Card seems to take more time than expected. Our
       hero is busy (working hard to impress his new employer,
       battling with the INS through lawyers, and week-end dates
       occupy all his time) and communication with home is reduced
       as a result.

       Meanwhile, his family back home worries not only about the
       reduced communication from our hero, but also about the
       strange American influences (and more particularly, AIDS).
       Through contacts they line up a list of eligible girls from
       eligible families and wait for the great one's first trip
       home.

       Return he does, at the first available opportunity (which
       could be the week after getting his Green Plastic), with
       gifts for the family and mouth-watering tales of prosperity
       beyond imagination for his old friends. After interviewing
       the girls lined up for his scrutiny by his proud parents, he
       picks the most likely one (shall we say, the lucky one) to
       be Americanized. Since the major reason for the alliance is
       his long-term stay abroad, the question of an immediate
       return does not arise. Any doubts are set aside by the
       "backwardness" of work - life in India, arduous train
       travels, lack of telephones, the unhealthy climate,
       inadequate opportunities for someone with hi-tech
       qualifications, and so on.

       The newly-weds return to America (after a brief honey-moon
       in Europe, on their way ) with the groom having to explain
       to their American friends the system of arranged marriages
       in India. Most of them however, regard it as barbaric and on
       the same lines as communism.The tongue-tied bride is cajoled
       into explaining the bindi on her forehead and the saree.
       Looking for something homely, the couple plunge into the
       frantic expatriate week-end social scene comprising dinners,
       videos of Hindi and regional "fillums", shopping at Indian
       stores, and bhajans.

       Initially, the wife misses the warmth of her family but the
       presence of washing machines, vacuum cleaners, not to
       mention the day-time soap operas and the absence of a
       domineering mother-in-law helps. Bits of news filtering
       through from India, mostly from returning Indians, are
       eagerly lapped up.

       In discussions with friends, the topic of returning to India
       arises frequently but is brushed aside by the lord and
       master who is now rising in the corporate world and has fast
       moved into a two garage home, thus fulfilling the great
       American Dream. The impending arrival of the first-born
       fulfills the great Indian Dream. The mother-in-law arrives
       in time: after all, no right-thinking parent would want
       their off-spring to be born in India if offered the American
       alternative!

       With all material comforts that money can bring, begins the
       first signs of uneasiness - a feeling that somehow things
       are not what they should be. The craze for exotic electronic
       goods, cars and vacations have been satiated. The week-end
       gatherings are becoming routine.

       Faced with a mid-life crisis, the upwardly mobile Indian's
       career graph plateaus out. Younger and more aggressive
       Americans are promoted. With one of the periodic mini
       recessions in the economy and the threat of a hostile take-
       over, his job itself seems far from secure.

       Unable or unwilling to socialize with the Americans, the
       Indian retreats into a cocoon. At the home front, the
       children have grown up and along with American accents, have
       imbibed American habits (cartoons, hamburgers) and values
       (argumentative, involved in dating).  They respond to their
       parents' exhortation of leading a "clean Indian" way of life
       by asking endless questions.

       The generation gap combines with the cultural chasm. Not
       surprisingly, to our hero, the first serious thoughts of
       returning to India occur at this stage.

       Taking advantage of his vacation time, the Indian returns
       home to "explore" possibilities. Ignoring the underpaid and
       bureaucratic government sector, he is bewildered by the
       "primitive" state of the private sector. Clearly
       "overqualified" even to be a managing director/chairman of
       an Indian firm he stumbles upon the idea of being an
       entrepreneur.

       In the seventies, his search for an arena to display his
       business skills normally ended in poultry farming. In the
       eighties, electronics is the name of the game. Undaunted by
       horror stories about government red tape and corruption, he
       is determined to overcome all odds, with but one catch. He
       has a few things to settle in the United States. After all,
       you can't just throw away a lifetime's work. And there are
       things like taxation and customs regulations to be attended
       to. Pressed for a firm date of departure from the USA, he
       says confidently - "next year"- and therein lies our story.
       The next years come and go but there is no sign of our hero
       ever moving out of the USA.

       In other words if "X" is the current year, then the
       objective is to return to India in the "X+1" year. Since "X"
       is a changing variable, the objective is never reached.
       Unable to truly melt in the "Great Melting Pot", chained to
       his cultural moorings and haunted by an abject fear of
       giving up an accustomed standard of living, the Non Resident
       Indian vacillates and oscillates between two worlds in a
       twilight zone.

       But, time does not wait! He gets closer to retirement, his
       children are now married (probably to persons of non-Indian
       origin!), and he has few contacts with his motherland!  Our
       hero now thinks that he must return to India to spend the
       evening of his life in the Indian cultural ambiance, not
       recognizing that the new "Indian cultural ambiance" is not
       what it used to be!  Again he is infected with the "X+1"
       syndrome a second time!

       Strangely, this malady appears to affect only the Indians,
       all of our Asian brethren from Japan, Korea and even
       Pakistan seem immune to it.
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