Amanpreet Kochhar Interview, History 150 Spring 2017, Conducted by DJ Kochhar, March 5, 20171.
1. Overview: this interview was conducted in person. I had to edit a fair amount because some of the grammar did not make since so I had to word it just slightly differently. Besides that, I didn’t have to do much because the quality of the interview was good and there wasn’t background noise. The technology I used was an app called recorder and it allowed me to pause whenever I wanted to and it was easy to upload. I did the interview at my house and I just had to tell the other people in the house at the time to be quiet. I did have to change it into a mp3 but that was not difficult at all.
2. Biography: The person I interviewed was my mother. She was born in Punjab which is in Northern India and has lived there for most her life and moved here when she was in her late 30’s. She has lived in the Fairfax community for as long as she been in America which is around two decades. She enjoys talking about her past and really enjoys talking about how India and the U.S are similar and different.
3. Research: Indian immigration has been around since the 1820’s. They came for all reasons but mainly for work. Indians, behind only Mexicans, are the second largest migrant group in the United states as of right now. My mother came for the same reason as others, to work and start a better life for herself and me. There are around 81,000 Indian born migrants who live in Virginia and that shows how small the odds of her coming to Northern Virginia were. She got very lucky with her placement in the U.S. considering how many Indians are in America. She got put in one of the best counties in the country which has allowed her to prosper and grow a lot faster than migrants in other places.
Zong, Jie, and Jeanne Batalova. “Indian Immigrants in the United States.” Migrationpolicy.org. N.p., 02 Mar. 2017. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.(MLA)
“State Demographics Data – VA.” Migrationpolicy.org. N.p., 01 Dec. 2016. Web. 26 Mar. 2017. (MLA)
4. Transcript
DJ: interviewer, A: Interviewee
DJ: Hello, how are you doing today?
A: Good, how are you?
DJ: I’m good. Ok, could you please state your name?
A: Yeah, my name is Amanpreet Kochhar.
DJ: OK, and are you ready for this interview?
A: Sure I am.
DJ: Ok, uh first question. Why did you move to America?
A: Um, just to for the betterment for my child, for my life. That was the main uh reason to move here to the United States.
DJ: Ok. How were your first few months in America and what did you do?
A: Um, first few months were very, very hard because I’m not used to this atmosphere so it was like kind of hard for me to make myself adjust according to it. But then I tried to find a few jobs so that I used my time better in a good way, so that is what I did. But it was very, very hard to be honest.
DJ: So, wait, why was it so hard for you to adjust to the American culture?
A: It was not to the American culture, it was because I left behind my son and my husband and um here um my immediate family was not here at that time so it was very hard. When you are very much um a family orientated person, it hard to survive, you know um alone. But that’s the main cause, it was hard for me because I didn’t leave my child before and this was like far away and I think how like, all the time I was thinking how could I go back and meet my child and that was the hardest part for me.
DJ: ok, um speaking of culture and society, how is America different from India?
A: Yes, in that prospect too America is different from India because um, both the cultures are good, like but it’s like when you come from a different culture and uh, you have to adjust in a absolutely in a different one it’s kind of little bit hard but the good thing is if you absorb the good things from both the cultures it’s good but um, it’s entirely different. I mean to say like you can’t compare the cultures together but still like if you adjust yourself and absorb the good things, that’s very good so I mean to say America is like you have to do everything by yourself and that’s a very good thing because you have to be confident to do it but in India it’s different because everything is like, you are just protected in every way that you don’t have to um take decisions yourself. Like there is everybody else who can take the decisions for you but here you have to be very, very confident and you have to take your own decisions. That’s the main difference of both the cultures.
DJ: Uh, so speaking of that confidence, was it something you had to a acquire or did you feel like you always had it in you but America just made you show it?
A: Yes, that’s true. I do have the confidence in myself uh, since but over there as I told you it’s a protected thing and everybody just influences you with their own ideas and decision that’s why it’s sometimes hard to take the decisions of your own self. But here, when you feel and see that there is nobody who is going to protect you or who is uh not there to take the decisions on your behalf then it’s entirely different. So, I just find it out over here that I am confident of myself in what I want to do um, so this culture definitely gives me that positive attitude for myself.
DJ: All right, uh so since moving to America in what ways do you feel you’ve changed, if any?
A: Yes. First of all that is the confidence what I have I didn’t have that in India and here is the opportunities for all the things like, you know, in every sphere of life you have the opportunities to go, um, you know beyond your expectation and beyond your, like what you say, the level, you can go and achieve it if you have the strong determination to do it.
DJ: Ok, uh so what are few things you miss most about India that you don’t have in America?
A: That is my love for the street food which I don’t get over here. And uh there is like, people are all the time around you. They have time. They have like, you know, family connections. Uh, that definitely I miss it over her because here everybody is individual of themselves. They don’t have time because life is too, um, you know, too hard or um, like something like that. That is the main and most important thing I miss it.
DJ: So, would you say the American culture is focused more on the individual and the Indian culture is focused more on the family itself?
A: In one way yes because here they give the opportunity to individually grow but back home it’s the whole family which grows together like which doesn’t um, you know, doesn’t give you a chance to show yourself, what you are as an individual. But here yes, you feel it that you are, um, what you are so, it gives me the opportunity to show myself.
DJ: Ok. And if you could relive the process, is there anything you would do differently the second time around?
A: Now as I am living in this country for so many years, definitely not because this is my best choice to come over here and uh good for my family, for my kids, for my husband, for everybody so I don’t think so. After so many years I just don’t think that I’m going to do anything differently. No, that was my best choice to come over here.
DJ: Ok. So, going off that, uh do you feel you’ve become more Americanized or do you still feel a huge impact of the Indian social system on you in your daily life?
A: In my current daily life, American culture also has an impact on me, but still you know, when I came over here I was a grown up so I still have the roots from back home. There is A, in one way or another, there is sometimes, in smaller walks of life, you have a kind of stress, “oh I have to maintain the Indian culture over here to,” but now I am fine. I am adjusting myself to both the situation so it’s not a kind of burden what I can say day to day daily life so I don’t feel any kind of stress now.
DJ: Ok, so you feel like you have a good balance between both cultures?
A: Yes, I do.
DJ: Well thank you for this interview, I really appreciate it and have a good day.
A: Thank you so much and you’re always welcome.
5. I think that the interview went well. I didn’t have any interruptions and I was able to do it in one sitting. I also didn’t have to edit much and I felt like the interview just flowed. If I were to go back and do the interview all over again, I would definitely change how my questions were formatted just a little so they could be easier to understand for my interviewee. I didn’t always follow the script and that helped the flow of the interview so overall, I thought the interview went well.