Sharma

=Atul Sharma=

Podcast
media type="custom" key="12457502"

Biographical
My immigrant is from India. I learned that my immigrant, Atul Sharma, originally came here for only about three months. His company processed his papers, then his residency, and finally his citizenship. They asked his to stay for three months, but then they kept expanding the time until he had been in the U.S. for five and a half years. He then went and worked for other companies and not just the one company. He’s been here since 2000 and he watched the falling of the twin towers in 2001. **Geographical** India is the 7th biggest country in the world. I learned that India’s government is kind of like ours, but they have a Prime Minister and a parliament. It’s called the Republic of India. They use the rupee as a form of currency, and only 10% of the population is under the poverty line. India has the second biggest population in the world. Religions are mainly Hindu, Muslim, Christian, and Sikh. Their official language is Hindi, but people might also speak Bengali

=Creative Writing=

by Sydney Theriot
Atul Sharma is a man from India. He came here to work for his company, and he ended up staying. He is married and has two children.

//“My company processed my papers. I was to come and work here.”//

Coming to America
I must go. I must go to America. I must go there To work. I must leave India.

Quickly moving Like a fish in a current, I must board The plane. This airport is Crowded.

I will be in America For a few months. I won’t be gone For long.

When I get To America I will work For my company. My company Will bring me Home. Home, will I miss it?

I know they’ll Miss me. It’s only for A few months. I will not be In America For a long time. My company Told me so.

If I stay Too long, Will my family Miss me?

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
Atul-Do you want to leave the door open or do you want to close it Do you care about the noise?

Mommy-Do you want me to close it?

Atul- That’s your fault. [chuckle]

Mommy- So you don’t have as much background noise?

Sydney- Yeah. You might want to close it. - So what is your name?

Atul- Atul Sharma

Sydney- Okay, and what country are you from?

Atul- I’m from India

Sydney- Okay, and what events were going on in the U.S. when you came here?

Atul- It was way back in 2000, it’s kind of hard to recall. But everything was all good. George Bush was president. Year down the line we had 9/11. So that’s one thing I remember. It was like a year and a half after I came here. So that’s what I can tell you because it’s been almost twelve years now.

Sydney- What did you think America would be like?

Atul- It’s kind of hard to say. Because we used to watch movies, we used to listen to music. So it was not that it was something new to us we knew because, of course, we worked with people already because when you work with global project models. You work with people in the U.S., they’re in Korea, and China. So we’ve been talking to people all along. So yes it was a different experience but I was excited, yes. Sydney- Why did you leave India?

Atul- Why did I leave India? I was working for a consulting agency and they were consultants. And they said ‘Oh we have opening for you in U.S. So why don’t you go there.’ I came here initially for three months. That was my plan. I thought ‘Okay three months, fine. I’ll do the project and get out.’ So I came to NCR and started working. Well, three months turned into five and a half years. So I spent five and a half more years working for NCR and then worked with different countries and then I went back. [chuckles]

Sydney- Was your named changed when you came here, because some people’s are hard to pronounce.

Atul- No. No. It’s kind of hard. It’s funny. I still collect, whenever go to get food when I tell them my name and how they spell my name. So I still collect those receipts saying Abdul, Jamara. It’s funny. I just enjoy what they do, what they get out of my name [chuckles] So I collect those.

Sydney- So, how did you get to America? Plane?

Atul- Yes. It was plane yes. If it was ship, they probably would have kicked me out saying, ‘Eh, it too late.’ because I was supposed to be here on Monday, and week before that Monday evening everything was finalized Tuesday. I went to collect my papers. So within five days, I was here.

Sydney- What was your emotions coming here?

Atul- Leaving behind family, I was sad, but my thing was ‘I’m going to be here only for three months.’ So I said, ‘Okay, it’s only three months it’s okay.’ but slowly. And then it turned out oh I’m going to be here for awhile. So it was kind of okay I miss my family, yes, that’s true.

Sydney- Can you describe the process of becoming a citizen?

Atul- Process? Okay, the first thing is, my process or you want to know the different method how people get in here and become a citizen?

Sydney- Your process.

Atul- My process, okay, my company processed my papers, I was to come and work here. And I don’t do anything when I come as a consultant or as a worker. My company had a project in India and a project in U.S., and they said ‘Okay we need someone to go to the U.S. and we’ll process your papers.’ So they did my work visa. I came here and they said ‘Do you mind if we do your green card?’ I said no, because that’s your permanent residency to the U.S. You can get to that if you maintain your jobs well. You don’t get to it otherwise. You have to have your job, and you have to be employed all along. So I said ‘Okay if you want to do it I’m fine because they need me here.’ So they did that, so I became a resident in 2004 I think. So now after you become resident you have to wait 5 years. You have to stay in this country for 5 years before you apply for citizenship. So I waited five years and then my wife’s green card was delayed. So I said, ‘Okay let’s do it together.’ So I waited another year before I applied for my citizenship. So I think it was last- almost a year and a half- no, one- a quarter- a little less than two years ago that we became citizens.

Sydney- So what was your family like?

Atul- They’re okay. I’m living here. They come visit us, and we go visit them. It’s a different feeling altogether, but since I’m living here, I’m living here.

Sydney- Is it hard living in two different places?

Atul- In what sense, when you say hard, because I don’t live there now. You have to understand that I go there, but I find it very hard to adjust. You know you get so used to American lifestyle. You go there, I can drive. I used to drive there, but I can’t now. Driving is on the other side. Now, there’s things that are different. I’ll tell you a funny thing. Over here people show a courtesy by holding doors for others. Well, in that place it’s like New York, where I went to, and they probably thought, ‘Is this guy kidding? He’s going to be holding door for-’ So like, ten people pass and I said okay that’s it. So things are a little different there.

Sydney- So I think that’s all I need.

ANALYSIS
I learned from this project that my immigrant had a better experience coming here then, say, someone in the 1940s. His company processed his papers, but immigrants in the 1900s were prodded and checked for diseases. They went to Ellis Island and Angel Island, but he didn’t have to go through the big process with that. Although there are lots of differences between then and now there are still similarities. He had leave his family in India behind like most immigrants did in the past. Although he misses them very much, they visit each other in both India and America.