Migration Story

In August 2009, I moved to New York City with my family. Before this, we lived in Bangalore, India.

I was born in India, so were my parents and my grandparents before them. Except for vacations, my family and I had lived in the same city for eight years before that August. We never expected to move out of Bangalore, let alone migrate to the United States. When my dad was offered a prestigious position and transferred to the New York City branch of the bank he works for, my first reaction was startled incredulity. I really did not want to move to New York City, even though I’d heard often from my friends who had traveled to the United States that it was the “greatest city in the world.” I had never been anywhere abroad and did not even have a passport. I had grown up in Bangalore and to me that was the greatest city in the world. My father, however, had decided that the family should stay together and so we moved.

I remember landing at the John F. Kennedy International Airport on August 20, 2009, filled with an overwhelming sense of disbelief. Foolishly, I had expected to be greeted by overcast skies and people all dressed in black. But, August 2009 was scorching hot with the clear blue skies and New York City in real life was very different from the one seen in movies by naïve Indian teenagers. Seeing the streets of New York City for the first time is an invaluable experience, the sheer multitude and diversity of people walking side-by-side is uniquely thrilling. The first week was the hardest of course, it certainly did not help that in America, traffic kept to the left (instead of the right as in India) and door keys were to be turned to the right (instead of left). Numerous other tiny details would throw me off balance every few minutes.

My family’s transition to life in New York was much easier than expected however, because we settled in Flushing, one of the most vibrant immigrant communities in New York. There is a large South Asian population in the area and many families have established deep roots here. I discovered that it is not much of a challenge to assimilate into a society where most of the people share your ethnicity and heritage. The real challenge was adapting to the American public education system. I was initially placed into lower-level classes since counselors were hesitant to place a new student in Honors/AP classes. I became frustrated with having to repeat course material I had learned 3-4 years ago. Also, the complicated college application and admission process that lay ahead of me was intimidating. However, with the help of a few amazing teachers and an understanding counselor, I was able to assimilate into the ways of John Bowne High School and eventually gain admission to the Macaulay Honors College.

For my parents and sister this is a temporary situation. They will be moving back to the homeland in a couple of years when my father’s term ends. Hence, they have integrated only on the most superficial level into the “American” life. For me however, it was a much more complicated process. I should like to think that I have now almost completely assimilated into the everyday lifestyle of a New Yorker, although, what exactly makes a New Yorker is something I have yet to figure out.