Interview with Neeraj Arora, History 150 Spring 2020, Conducted by Priyanka Arora, March 26, 2020. 

My dad, Neeraj Arora, was born in Bareilly, India in 1974. He has one sister who now lives in Dublin, Ireland. During his childhood he moved around a lot because his dad was in the military. At the end of his sophomore year of high school, his family immigrated to the United States. Unfortunately, his dad had a contract with the Indian Army and could not leave with them. After a year of living apart, his dad also immigrated to the U.S. To this day, he has to visit the Indian Embassy in DC every year to prove that he is alive in order to receive a pension from the Indian Army. When first arriving, they lived with close relatives until they were able to purchase a house of their own. His dad and mom worked two jobs to ensure their kids could go to college. My dad attended Purdue University in India and earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. He now works for the company ACIPCO, and lives in Chesterfield, VA.

I also interviewed my mom about her immigration story from India to the United States, but her’s is entirely different. She moved to the United States after she got engaged to my dad. She left everything and everyone she knew behind to move across the world and marry a stranger. Her interview is titled as, “Arranged Marriage and Moving to the United States”. 

 

Research:

Indians have been immigrating to the United States for decades in pursuit of a better life. They come with their entire families or individually to obtain a higher education. Since 2001, approximately half of all H-1B visas have been granted to Indian citizens. Between 2005 and 2015, there was a huge increase in the naturalization of Indian immigrants. Over 80% of Indian immigrants living in the United States qualified for naturalization in 2015. In 2016, students from the continent of Asia made up over 54% of all international students. The curve of immigration gradually continues to increase. Currently, there are over one million foreign students studying in the United States. 

Ruiz, Neil G. “Indian Migration to the U.S.” Brookings Institution , Pew Research Center, 30 Jan. 2018, www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/indian-migration-to-the-us.pdf. 

Immigrating to the United States is not an easy process, and involves many documents. One such document is a Green Card that allows an individual to become a permanent resident. In order to obtain a Green Card, someone who is already residing in the U.S. has to file an immigrant petition, but there are some cases where an individual may file one for themselves. After the USCIS approves the petition, the person can file a Green Card application with the USCIS. Then there will be a biometrics appointment where they must provide fingerprints, photos, and a signature. Only after the final interview will an individual receive their application’s decision. 

“Green Card.” USCIS, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, 11 May 2010, www.uscis.gov/greencard. 

My dad eventually became a United States citizen, but this could only happen after he was a Green Card holder for at least five years. Additionally, if your card has expired, or will expire within six months of completing the application, you must renew the card prior to applying for citizenship. To start the process he had to submit a N-400 form. Then he had to attend an interview where he took an oral test. To prepare he was given one hundred questions that they could possibly ask; they were mainly civics questions, but only ten of them were asked during the test. Another requirement to become a citizen is to be able to read, write, and understand basic English. After the application, interview, and oral test, my dad took the citizenship oath. 

“How to Apply for U.S. Citizenship.” USAGov, United States Government, 10 Mar. 2020, www.usa.gov/become-us-citizen.

 

Transcription:

PA: Hi, this is Priyanka Arora interviewing my dad, Neeraj Arora, about his move from India to the United States. I know in the past you told me that your entire family went through the immigration process together. Can you describe how it was for you individually?

NA: Sure. So the process started when my Mamaji [uncle] applied for our immigration back in the late 80s. So he filled out a lot of paperwork for us to immigrate to the US, it’s a lottery system. You get a letter from the US Embassy when the number comes up. We got the letter from the US Embassy saying, “Hey, your number’s come up. You can immigrate if you want to”. When we first got that letter, we were still young so our parents decided to wait a little bit longer. But I think a year or two later we got another letter saying, “this is your final chance. If you want to do it. You can move”. So my parents finally decided, okay, let’s try it. So that was in 1989, and on July 20, 1990 we moved to the US. My dad was in the army so he couldn’t leave immediately; he had to wait another year and a half before he got permission from the Indian Army to retire after 21 years, and then move here too. So that’s how the process went.

PA: What were the differences between life in India and then life here when you first moved?

NA: Oh, when we first moved, there was a big difference. Within India at that time, we had two TV channels that were on for maybe six hours a day and that was it. So obviously, you move here and you’ve got 500 channels that are on 24 hours a day. The school was totally different, and the way you’re expected to behave in school is a lot different than here. [In India] Your teachers get a lot more respect; you stand up when they walk into the class, you say “good morning sir” and “good morning ma’am”, you wear school uniforms. It was a big difference. I mean, music was different too, because now basically, music and movies and everything else is universal, right? So if you get an album that’s dropped here, it’s dropped everywhere in the country, in the world. If a movie is released here, it’s released worldwide. But back in 1989, in 1990, it wasn’t the case. I mean everything was different, but then again, you know, within the next five years, everything has changed in India also. So it was a bigger culture shock actually going back to India five years later, because in those five years India changed a lot too. We had satellite TV now, so the economy had opened up. So pretty much everything you get here, now you get her over there too.

PA: So then being from a different country and then moving here in the middle of high school, did you face any discrimination from like your peers or teachers?

NA: Discrimination wasn’t a word, but it was just the basic stereotypes that people have about Indians. You know, it’s not a bad stereotype. You’re expected to be good in math and science. And so people sort of expected you to be even though you may not be. People they sort of generalize about you being from that part of the world, so they don’t really care if you’re Indian or Pakistani, Bangladeshi. They thought we’re the same people. Yeah, it was a stereotype from the Simpsons that, you know, you had, whatever that guy’s name was, who ran the bar. So like they would use that accent to make fun of you [Neeraj Arora laughed]. So that always happened. And they assumed all Indians owned a motel or a gas station. So that was the assumption too. uhhhh what else? You know, like the one thing I remember, the old saying here “how the West was won” right? I mean, basically one kid said, “I saw how the West was won not how Pakistan was won.” So yeah, It wasn’t too bad. And then, you know, just the basic stereotypes. One other thing that was always thrown out was HBO, which stood for Hindu body odor. Because you know, in India, you cook food with all these spices and everything else. In a typical home in India they’re open. So with the ventilation, none of that smell stays inside the house. But here if you cook an Indian meal, it kind of stays inside the house, where the homes are closed, so it gets in your clothes and everything else. So if you wear those clothes outside, you get that strong smell of spices and mustard and everything else that stays with you. Doesn’t matter how much deodorant you put, you’re still gonna have that. So, you had that.

PA: And so adjusting to those racial stereotypes and just like life in general in America, did you have any strategies that you use to make yourself more comfortable?

NA: I mean you move here you obviously have the accent right? So the quickest way to sort of fit in is to get rid of that accent quickly. I don’t quite remember how I got rid of it, but I think you get picked on enough times you try to get rid of it quickly. So that went away fast. I didn’t quite try to get into the sports too much or try to watch basketball, football too much. I just didn’t care for it. So I didn’t do any of that stuff. But I did try to participate in all the extracurricular in school, whether it was track or little bit helping out with the drama club or all the nerdy stuff that Indians would do [Neeraj Arora chuckles].

PA: What type of nerdy stuff?

NA: You know, I guess, didn’t quite help me. But yeah, being good at math and science and English. So that was, I guess a surprise for a lot of the teachers and kids in class was that I was probably better at English than all the so called white kids were. And that sort of came from the British system, education system and knowing proper grammar and spelling and punctuation, all that.

PA: Then you talked about the stereotypes, do you still face them as prevalent as they were then? Or is it just more like, joking wise now?

NA: Some people still assume, right? If you’re Indian, if you’re Asian, you’re gonna be good at math and science. So that never changes. It’s just a little more subtle now. And then kids at a certain age can be more direct and more blunt. I think the age that I moved here was probably the best time to move, because I wasn’t too young or too old. So you have like some of my cousins who moved here when they were in middle school. They got picked on maybe a little bit more. Whereas in high school kids are a little bit mature. And then I’ve got some friends and family who moved here later, like in college or grad school, that’s also a little bit too late to move because again, they never get rid of their accents so they’re stuck with the accent. So sort of in high school if you move here you get rid of the accent, you kind of adapt and I think it was perfect because now I’m sort of, I can navigate both cultures, easily, seamlessly. So I mean I can be just as comfortable being here or back in India, so I can move to India tomorrow and just be fine.

PA: Going off of, if you were going to move back, are you still in contact with any old friends from back home, like in grade school?

NA: No, because I mean being an army brat, I never had any old long term friends, you were moving every few years so that’s one thing I never had here or in India right? So I guess I didn’t miss that part moving from India to here. You have some people you know like your mother when she moved here, she obviously missed all that right? All her friends from a long time ago, whereas I didn’t have any long term friends. You moved on, wherever you went you made new friends. So that part made it pretty easy to move. It was an exciting thing, it was an adventure, so it wasn’t losing or missing anything. It was actually coming to a new place, finding new friends. Another big adventure.

PA: Do you think your sister adjusted as easily as you did? Or did she have a harder time?

NA: She adjusted but you know, girls have other stereotypes and image issues to overcome too. So yeah, so um, she struggled with that, you know, basically how girls are supposed to look, and the hair, the dress and everything else that she had to adapt to. And then obviously, Indian parents are more conservative with girls than boys. She had to struggle with that part a little bit. So I mean she adapted, but for her it was a slightly tougher process.

PA: And then I know the citizenship process is different, from what I remember, one of your parents first became a citizen. So then you automatically became one?

NA: No, actually, we all moved here with a green card, so we all had the same status. So because Mamaji had applied for all of us to immigrate, we didn’t really have a different process. But as soon as we landed in the airport, we basically had a green card. So, you know, after living here for five years, we all applied and became a citizen.

PA: Was it hard for you to give up your citizenship to India?

NA: Yeah, actually, I took longer than five years, right? Like, eight years. So yeah, I didn’t want to give it up. It’s still pretty patriotic. So it was hard to give up citizenship because India doesn’t have dual citizenship, right? So you basically have to give up your Indian passport, your Indian citizenship to get the US citizenship. So in the first few years when, you know, you’re talking about anything in class, whether it was World War II or older history or civil war, whenever we talk about the US initially, I would always say, that’s what “they” did in World War II. But somewhere, I don’t know when that switch happened. When I would talk about the US, I would say, this is what “we” did in World War II. So it was weird when that switch happened, but that’s when you know that now you’re Indian, now you’re US. So, I don’t know when that happened, I remember when that happened, how it happened, I don’t know. But initially in class, that’s how I would say it, that’s what “they” did in World War II, not “we”.

PA: So you kind of just evolved into becoming…

NA: Yeah, because when you start saying “we” instead of “they”, then you know you’re here.

PA: Yeah. Well, that’s it. Thank you for letting me interview you.

NA: That was it?

PA: Yep.

NA: Okay.

 

Overview of Interview Process:

This interview was conducted in person. I did not have to edit it a lot because my dad grew up speaking both English and Hindi. However there were a few spots where I had to fix the flow of sentences. Also, sometimes the transcription program would not pick up words, or pick up the wrong word. I used an app called “Voice Record Pro” on my phone to record the interview. I did the interviews when no one else was in the house to avoid interruptions during the interview. There weren’t any obstacles during the interview except for the app glitching a few times and having to start the interview over. 

I think the interview went smoothly. I felt like my dad and I were comfortable talking about this topic together. He had a lot to share, and I learned stuff about his high school experience that I did not know of before. I think it was easier when I went “off script” because the conversation felt more natural, and not forced. Going slightly “off script” also helped my dad answer the questions he wanted to, instead of feeling like he had to follow a specific guideline.

I gave my dad the questions a week in advance so he could look them over, which I also think helped the interview go smoothly. The divergences were positive ones and I felt like I was able to connect with my dad more. After I stopped the recording, my dad and I continued the conversation about his experience immigrating, and I am really grateful for the opportunity to hear from him about it.