Global Tamilian: Rise of new generation Indian immigrants in US

Immigrating to a new country comes with its own difficulties. Among the new set of problems, the difference in the value of currencies is a major one. It affects almost all personal choices, even the need for a cup of coffee. When the touch and feel of a dollar bill are new immediately after settling abroad, one might refer back to the multiplication table to convert the price in dollars to rupees. It takes a long time of calculating and evaluating for a new immigrant to let go of the die-hard habit.

Overuse of math to endorse personal choices was typically true for the immigrants in the eighties and nineties. The psyche was that if you could save one dollar, it adds more to the rupees you take back home. It is justified as most immigrants reach the US in search of greener pasture to create wealth.

In this light, cooking Indian food might also feel luxurious. When one converts the price of Indian groceries and spices into rupees, it doesn’t compare to the price paid in India. Indians always preferred to pack condiments from home every time they came back from a vacation. This way, one felt like saving a huge lot.

Indian groceries, pulses, coffee powder, tamarind, rice and even outfits were popular contains in the baggage of an Indian immigrant. This no longer seems to be true today as our favourites have become easily available in the US and also because the price is almost on a par withthe Indian market. So converting dollars to Indian rupees has become less disturbing for the immigrants who are looking for every way to save money.

While one can say with confidence that the lifestyle choices of those settled here until nineties were predominantly conservative and had to be approved by the dollar-to-rupee conversion system, immigrants of later years seem to enterthe US with different exposure to the spending matrix.

The doctrines after the globalisation seem to work on easing the economics of the world. The situation in India has also changed. Spending two dollars in a Starbucks is more or less the same as we spend in a high-end coffee shop in India. Why should I justify my want for a coffee by converting the price to rupees and assessing its value, asks the immigrants of 2020. Lifestyle choices have seen a notable transformation. The typical path for anyone migrating into the US used to be to manage initial days without a car. Depending on friends for free rides to work and shopping was the norm. Then, buying a low priced second-hand car and then evolving into better luxury models through the years. But the trend among today’s young immigrants has changed. Second-hand cars are not an option for many. They tend to buy brand new cars and pay for it in instalments, sometimes even luxury models.

The popular weekend activity for new immigrants used to be visiting yard sale where household items, including used furniture, will be displayed.There is also the practice of leaving sparingly used furniture at the dumpster to be picked by anyone for free. This does not seem to interest anyone now. Yard sales are not as crowded as before.

Many immigrants make quick decisions to buy homes in the US, when they are yet to establish a permanent life, signalling a new trend. In the past, people used to wait to hear some positive news about Green Card before making such decisions. Even with the kind of uncertainty in immigration, they are not prepared to wait endlessly and lose time. Hence, they make a choice to own a home much earlier. Usually, when one gets a project or job in the US, the person moves here alone and works for a few months to earn the extra dollars to support the family which moves later. But this trend seems to change, too. People move in with families now.

Clearly, the workforce that India sent to the US is well exposed to economic luxury. This has made their thinking patterns and lifestyle choices distinctly different from the conservative approaches of the people who settled much earlier. The expansive city roads, the toll system, the fancied malls, the pizza shops are not new anymore. None of these seems to charm the Indian immigrants today. The new generation of immigrant’s outlook and spending patterns do not match those migrated in the early years. This new trend is certainly interesting to watch.