American Karma!

Sunil Bhatia has written a book called "American Karma" one which
talks about the pros and cons of Indians immigrating to America. this
is from the point of view of the Indian immigrant and how they adapt
themselves. An article in The providence Journal analyzes this book.

"In American Karma, a scholarly book published by New York University
Press, Barrington resident Sunil Bhatia profiles this expatriate
community, describing the architects, professors, teachers, school
counselors, social workers, professors and physicians who made new
lives for themselves in this country following passage of the
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.

Although American Karma focuses on the Indian community in
southeastern Connecticut, Bhatia says, "it is important to mention
that the Indians in southeastern Connecticut are not very different
from Indians in other middle-class communities across America."

During the 1980s and 1990s, he says, the highly educated Indians who
came to the United States acquired "model minority status," becoming a
kind of multicultural success story."

Bhatia goes on to write about some of the difficulties faced by Indian
Americans, who sometimes feel like a fish out of water and try to
become amphibious.

"But the picture Bhatia paints isn't entirely positive.

American Karma details the often painful compromises that many highly
educated Indian professionals made in their daily lives, compromises
that Bhatia believes have had a profound impact on their identities.

"They felt that they were highly valued at work. They had made a mark
for themselves. They had succeeded," Bhatia says.

Outside work, the situation was different.

"Socially, there was a sense that they did not really belong."

Read the full article at--

http://www.projo.com/news/content/AMERICAN_KARMA_04-06-08_FB9E9JC_v47.32fa7e3.html