A lot of us are prone to forming opinions on half baked truths and conventional wisdom.

The prevailing conventional wisdom in India before I left was that there is a lot of discrimination based on national origin, race etc in the US and typically an Indian will be a second class citizen. So when I landed here I was well prepared for any such eventuality. Well it might be a mid-west thing but never ever, not even a single time, no not even the day after 9/11 have I ever been made to feel unwelcome in this country – period.

As a matter of fact – I have seen far more racist attitude in India. South Indians are quite frequently taunted as “Madrasis” in the north and when I went to Banglore-Oooty on a trip in 1998 – at times I felt that my lack of understanding of the local language prompted quite a few sniggers.

Of course, the less said about the prejudices of people of Jodhpur (where I spent 4 years doing my undergrad) the better.