From The Peopling of New York City

Interview with RT

Where were you born?

I was born in Kerala, in India.

How long ago did you move to the United States?

I move here about six years ago for personal reasons.

Do any of your other family members live in the United States?

Yes, my sister lives here and my brother lives in Mumbai. My parents still live in India.

What are your parents’ professions?

My father is a businessman and my mother works at a bank near their home.

Where do you live in the United States?

I live in Queens- Woodside.

What is your profession?

I support the CEO of a community health care company. We have clinics throughout the city that provide medical services to the underserved and often undocumented population.

Why did you want to work there?

It is a non profit health care company. It sounded like a good fit for me.

As you were growing up, did you feel pressure to become educated?

It is different in India than it is here. In India, education is much cheaper or even free. A greater percentage of people can pursue higher education because there is no financial limitation. There is definitely pressure from your family and your community.

Why do you think this pressure exists?

I’m not exactly. The pressure is not generalized. It is based on the family you come from. If you are in a business family, it may be important to pursue higher education but in the end you are expected to run the family business.

What about for Indian Americans?

In America, there is no option for not working. Most of the time, both men and women must work in order to support the family. I think that there is even more pressure here because parents must spend money on the education. They want to see results for their money. It is okay to work at a pizza store when you are 15 or 16 but it is unaccepted to work there when you are 30.

Are there challenges for Indian Americans?

I see that there are different challenges for these children to integrate into American culture while maintaining their Indian identity. For instance, they have to deal with the whole idea of prom. I am told that prom is a pretty big deal in America. I never had a prom because we do not do that in India. Indian parents do not understand this concept so it might be hard for the children to explain the importance to their families.