Kollegal

=Prathima Kollegal=

Podcast
media type="custom" key="12081319"

BIOGRAPHICAL/GEOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Mrs. Kollegal’s home country is India, which is a part of Asia. It is surrounded by the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, Burma, and Pakistan. When people think of India, they generally think of heat. In reality, India’s climate varies extremely depending on what section of the country is being observed, from the mountains in the North to the desserts in the south. India is the second largest populated country of the world. Prathima’s home city is Bangalore. She described this particular city as fairly crowded and busy. She used the simile, “ the city of Bangalore… is kind of like the city of Chicago for America. ” to describe it. Bangalore is the capital of the state of Karnataka in India. It is India’s third largest city and has a population of almost 5,310,500 people. Mrs. Kollegal arrived in Dayton, Ohio in 1992. She had worked in India as a programmer with a Bachelor’s of Science, then after arriving here, she got a degree in Computer Science and continued to work as a programmer here. She quit her job and became a stay-at-home mom when her first son, Vidur, was born in 1998. She now lives in Beavercreek, Ohio with her husband and two children.

=Creative Writing=

By: Anders Sondergaard
**Prathima Kollegal ** **by Anders Sondergaard **

Prathima was born and raised in India. India is in southern Asia, surrounded by the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, Burma, and Pakistan. The climate and terrain throughout the territory varies.

//“I guess the first impression if they didn’t know who I was or what I was all about, I think they definitely felt a little apprehensive to join me as a part of their team; perhaps they thought I wasn’t good enough.”//

I look down at the ocean. It seems so calm, but it might just be I’m up so high that I can’t see the waves below. The sun, shining down on the ocean, makes it look a clear, deep blue. The pilot says it will be four more hours until I reach the U.S.A. After this I will take a connected flight to Dayton, Ohio that should be two hours long. Six more hours until I start a new life in a new country. Six more hours until I reach my house that’s my house, but not my home. I think back to my husband, how he wanted to get his education here. How he got us our house here. How he arranged for our coming here and got our visa. I think about my family, who were so happy for my husband and me. Education is very important in India. I remember all the planning and preparation we had to go through. I don’t know how to think. I don’t know how to feel. I’m leaving so much behind. Six more hours.
 * Flying**

Three months. Three months of relaxation. Three months of torture. Never in my life had I had the chance to relax, and apparently I couldn’t take it. So I decided to go back to school. I applied for classes to get a degree in Computer Science. I got in and I worked and worked and worked. Now it is later in the year. Class has just started. The instructor assigns the class group work. I try to make a group. To my surprise, people seem to avoid working with me. They don’t meet my eyes and avoid talking to me directly. I feel a sharp pain, as if shards of glass were shooting through my heart. Is it because I’m a born Hindu? Is it because I’m dark skinned, like most Indians are? Is it because of my Indian background itself? Is it because I’m an immigrant? Whatever the reason, I know it is just that they don’t know me. But that doesn’t make it hurt any less.
 * Education**

I listen to her question me, and I answer as best as I can. Most of the questions are simple ones, like “Where are you from?” or “When did you come here?” This wasn’t unusual for people to be interested in me. I’m from somewhere else, and that is enough to make me interesting. Different. Work is no different from anywhere else. She asks about my country and me, and I tell her how I worked in India as a computer programmer. I tell her about getting more education here and continuing to work. She says, “Oh, so you were working as a computer programmer in India?” I say, “Yeah.” She says, “I didn’t think you had computers in India.” I don’t know if I should be angry or amused. I think to myself “What did you think I was doing, I was drawing water from a well in India and then suddenly I decided I need to be a software engineer and then I rushed to America and then got my degree and then there I was, a software engineer the very next day? That’s not how it works.” But I know people can be ignorant, and I shouldn’t be rude because of it. I just wish people would be a little smarter.
 * Job**

I look down on my child, sleeping quietly on his bed. He lies tucked under his blanket, only his bald head and a stray hand sticking out from under it. I reach down and stroke his crunched up face. I think about his future. My future. What should I do now that I’m a parent? What should I make sure happens? A person has already been arranged to take over my job when I leave. Having a child is a full time thing. When we first arrived in India, we didn’t know if we were to stay here or not. We would figure it out after my husband got his education. As time went by, we leaned more and more towards staying here, but the idea was still there, still a possibility. When we first found out I was to have a child, it ended all thoughts of going back to India. We can’t leave now. Besides, the U.S.A. has become my home. My life.
 * Child**

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
Your Name: Anders Sondergaard

Your Interviewee's Name: Prathima Kollegal

This is an interview with Prathima Kollegal. The interview was conducted on November 22, 2011. The interviewer is Anders Sondergaard representing the Dayton Regional STEM School.

Mr. Sondergaard: Today I’m interviewing Prathima here. So Prathima, what is your life like now?

Mrs. Kollegal : I love it here.

Mr. Sondergaard: Do you have any hobbies; do you have family here, that sort of thing?

Mrs. Kollegal : My, my I read a lot; I read all kinds of things. Serious to absolute fun to absolute crap. My I have to children. I’m married, I have two children. One is twelve, soon to be thirteen, and the other is nine. I have my brother’s family living here. My brother-in-law is tons of cousins, so I have fair amount of family and friends around.

Mr. Sondergaard: Do you work or are you a home mom?

Mrs. Kollegal : I used to work until my first child was born, and I decided to stay at home after he was born.

Mr. Sondergaard: What did you do?

Mrs. Kollegal : I’m a software engineer. So, I was in software in India. First of all, I am a from India, and I was working there as a software engineer and then I came here, got my computer science degree here, then got back to work for the next ‘95 to ‘99 and my child was born in ‘99 and that is when I decided to stay home.

Mr. Sondergaard: Where did you really originate? You said you were from India but you didn’t say a town.

Mrs. Kollegal : I’m from a very, very big city, the city of Bangalore from South India, and it is kind of like the city of Chicago for America.

Mr. Sondergaard: What did you speak there? I’ve heard there that there are several languages that are spoken, kind of like America.

Mrs. Kollegal : Out there we have something called a state language, and I come from a state called Karnataka and I spoke Kenned and at home we spoke yet another language which was Stumal, so that is from a neighboring state, so right, right from my earlier childhood I guess I didn’t stay where I was supposed to. I was in a neighboring state and now I’m in a different country altogether. But I know Kerra ma-turu and I can understand another language called Tilbu but I am unable to speak, and I can manage Hindi, which is our national language, and of course English. So that is three and one-half I would say.

Mr. Sondergaard: In India, do you want to tell us a little about the culture there, or that sort of thing, the religions, traditions?

Mrs. Kollegal : The majority of Indians are Hindus. We do have Muslims and Christians but I was brought up, this was a very big city, and when you live in big cities you tend to get a little bit broader minded so religion never played a big role in my life and I made sure that was not the case for my kids as well, so it has always been there in the background but I don’t think I have let religion have a big role in making me the person I am. But I am a born Hindu, and the other main contrast between the East and the West is we tend to get a lot more traditional in really every aspect, in the food we eat and the way we dress up, and especially in festive occasions. So we have, obviously, a very traditional attire. If I had known you were going to be here recording me, I would have worn one of my traditional Indian dresses.

Mr. Sondergaard: So you are saying there are a lot of traditional things, traditional foods traditional dress. Do you want to tell us a little about it?

Mrs. Kollegal : Yes. Basically, food, I guess when I initially said I don’t let religion shape my life, that is partially untrue because I’m a vegetarian and that is based on the religion. We are straight vegetarians, absolutely no meat. That is not to say that people belonging to my clan don’t eat meat. It’s a choice. A lot of my cousins who have come here, they’ve switched to eating beef and whatnot. I’m not against it. It is just a matter of taste. So, in a way, my lifestyle has been dictated by my religion, going back to my original statement.

Mr. Sondergaard: So your foods, is there any particular taste that occurs a lot in it?

Mrs. Kollegal : Yes, we use a lot of spices, a lot of them. I didn’t even know half of those that I use now until I started cooking. We used a lot of spices. So, obviously, if we have to make vegetables taste interesting I have got to put in a few spices, otherwise, you know how it is, eating salad day in and day out, that wouldn’t appeal, so I use a lot of spices and they tend to be a little hot and at least for the Western palette, you need to get used to it. My kids use to not be able to handle it, now they are getting better and better. So when I have Americans over for dinner, I make sure I don’t have much spice. Otherwise, I will see you guys going red and react badly to it.

Mr. Sondergaard: And the clothes, you were saying there was a traditional type?

Mrs. Kollegal : Yes, we have what we call saris. What that is is a big about five to six yard, five yard I would say, you essentially drape it around you, then you wear a blouse, then you drape the sari over it. So we have casual saris and, well any for the occasion that you have ranging from twenty dollar saris to people wearing, if I were to convert, I would say two to three hundred dollar worth of saris, if you’re crazy enough to buy it.

Mr. Sondergaard: Is there anything else that you want to share about your culture like any traditional games or any items that are of importance?

Mrs. Kollegal : We have, you must have heard of cricket.

Mr. Sondergaard: Yeah.

Mrs. Kollegal : Well we got that from the British, so it is not ours, but now the Indian team is the World Champion. Just about every kid there, as a rule, boy, girl, you have to play cricket growing up. In fact my children, when they go there, they don’t even know half the rules but they are just thrown in there and they try to fit in and play but it is close to madness. You can’t help but love cricket if you’re there. You just get into the fever there, like how it is with football here.

Mr. Sondergaard: India itself, can you tell us anything like about the climate there?

Mrs. Kollegal : Yeah, it is like you know how down in Florida it is much warmer there then it is in Alaska? It’s longitudely pretty long, so we have Himalayan weather with snow and stuff all the way down to we have desert in Western India and then weather like Florida like the weather down South like where I came from and until I came here to Dayton, I had not seen snow and I remember the first day I had seen flurries I was so excited. I had never seen snow and I had never experienced cold weather like this, ever.

Mr. Sondergaard: So were you educated here or where you educated back home?

Mrs. Kollegal : Well, there and here. I had my Bachelors of Science back home, and then I did a few computer courses and then I was working there as a computer programmer and then I got married and came here and I was sitting at home getting bored, and I had never, ever had sat at home doing nothing, but I just wanted to enjoy life doing nothing, but three months was all, that was enough to drive me nuts. That’s when I went to school, got my degree in Computer Science and *… so basically I was, I would say-it is funny that I would relate this anecdote to you- just to show how ignorant some people can be. It was about ten years back; there was this colleague of mine, she asked me where I was educated, exactly, she was curious about my country and about me, and I told her that I was working there, and I came here and decided to go to school and get my degree and work again. “Oh, so you were working as a computer programmer in India?” I go “Yeah” “I didn’t think that you had computers in India.” And ah so I thought “What did you think I was doing, I was drawing water from a well in India and then suddenly I decided I need to be a software engineer and then I rushed to America and then got my degree and then there I was, a software engineer the very next day.” That is not how it works, but people can be a little ignorant. I guess she didn’t know that India, hopefully today she knows, because that is one of the leading economic countries today, growing economic countries today, so hopefully she has her opinion of India changed a little bit today.

Mr. Sondergaard: I know there is at least a little bit of talk about education and America’s education compared to other countries. How is India’s education and how does it compare to the U.S.?

Mrs. Kollegal : I love this question because I’m a mom with two kids who are in the American system and my husband and I having been educated back home as well as here, we can fairly contrast and compare the two systems. I think if my ideal world would be where I could adapt both the best in India and here. That would work fantastic. Case in point, when I see my kids being educated here, when it comes to writing and math, it is pretty slow and elementary level, and that is where I have big problem with that because I know kids are capable. You don’t have to push them to the level of madness, but it is okay to get them to sit down and have them do a little math rather than just coloring things, but having said that I have problems with the Indian system where in the elementary, low level classes the kids are pushed to the level of madness, again, to the point where I think it is learning the math by wrote rather than understanding the concept, rather than analyzing and analytical part of it, so I see a problem in both the systems, but hopefully because we recognize this, hopefully we are trying to get the best for our kids here by adapting the best of both systems. I think the main problem I see in the American system is kids are not exposed to math and science early on and by high school kids are pounded with concepts and perhaps it is a little bit of overload and then when it gets too much, the kids might just come to hate math and science and shift away from it rather than someone sitting with them and hopefully guiding them through, so that even if a student were to love science, they might just sway away from it because it overwhelms them rather than them not liking it. So maybe that is why we don’t see much math and science, people going towards math and science in this country so if you recently, I forget the statistic, I wish I had remembered the number the growing number of engineers in this country are basically thanks to immigrants because those are the kids who are graduating more and more and more, even from American universities. So maybe people should wake up and see what is going on with American school systems.

Mr. Sondergaard: I’m glad you said that because that is kind of part of what I was about to ask you. Why did you decide to come to the U.S.A. Was it for education or better jobs?

Mrs. Kollegal : Actually, it was none of those; it was not even my choice. I got married to my husband, who decided to settle down here, so I made the move not by choice really but rather than I had to do it if I were to be with him, so it was more like that. It was his choice, he basically came here for his Ph.D. and then he got a job here, and he loved it here, not to say I don’t love it here, I absolutely like it here, if I didn’t I would have made sure he was back home with me. But that is how I came here. Not by choice really.

Mr. Sondergaard: So when did you actually immigrate to the U.S.A.?

Mrs. Kollegal : It was ‘92.

Mr. Sondergaard: So as you kind have already said, you had your husband come with you, so you probably didn’t come alone.

Mrs. Kollegal : I flew alone, but that was about it and I had the luxury of a home here. It’s not like I had to come here alone and fend for myself like how some of the other people have had to do. I have had a very, very comfortable beginning, of course I was feeling lonely and I was missing home, anyone would have, and I had never gotten out of my country then. It was my first ever trip abroad.

Mr. Sondergaard: Before we go deeper into that, first I just want to see, how did your family at first react to your decision, or more your husband’s decision to come to America?

Mrs. Kollegal : I think if you were to ask any middle class family in India, education is absolutely important. I mean, it would be unthinkable for parents if a child were to say “You know what. I play cricket. I have future in cricket, so I’m going to stop studying and I’m going to train myself to be the biggest cricket star.” That wouldn’t do it. Education is the biggest thing for us. I mean, right from our child is born, the one big dream we have is ever parent has is the best education for our children. This is true for any middle class at least. If you’re super rich, you have money, perhaps you don’t need education. If, if, I am not saying that you don’t need education, but you know, if you have money, perhaps the way they think is different, I wouldn’t know, I’m from a middle class family so in our families, education is paramount. So when he came here for his Ph.D., absolutely, his, I’m talking about my husband, his parents were ecstatic and they loved it. They had no idea that he would settle down here. It was more for “Okay, let him get his Ph.D. and will worry about that rest later.” And our families are very, very, very tight knit. I know how it is here where at eighteen you move out and live on your own. Unh-Uh. That is not how it is in India. We live with our parents. I lived with my parents till I got married. That is the way it is. Unless you go somewhere else for your studies and, you know, you live in a dorm, but that is a different story. Otherwise, you live with your parents even as an adult, and if I were in India I would live with my in-laws. It is more patriarchal, meaning the son would live with his parents, the daughter in law would move into their house. So, it has anytime someone makes a decision like that it impacts the whole family because we are such tight knit families. We live as a joint family. Perhaps these days, joint families are uncommon. That is not to say all brothers and their respective wives would live in one big family. That is not how it is. But if you had two to three brothers, the parents might live with one of the sons, and you know, so. So anyway your original question was I forget what it was. I just drifted off.

Mr. Sondergaard: It was, “How did your family at first feel*…”

Mrs. Kollegal : Yeah, that, what I meant to say was because he came here for education, so they were all ecstatic obviously and my family was ecstatic because maybe they were getting rid of me, okay, because I was living with them all the way but because I got married and came here, they were fine with it to. Of course they had their apprehensions, their own apprehensions, on how I would adjust to, you know, a foreign country. So that is there with them and myself for that matter.

Mr. Sondergaard: So how did you come here? By boat or by plane, I’m guessing you probably didn’t come by boat, but*…

Mrs. Kollegal : Boat!!! Certainly not! I wouldn’t have even dared come here if I was to have to come by boat. Of course by plane. I went to Singapore and then Singapore to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to New York City, and New York City to Dayton, Ohio.

Mr. Sondergaard: Were there any problems in the system you faced, anything you had to do to get here or become a citizen here?

Mrs. Kollegal : No, as far as getting to be a citizen I had no problems what so ever because I am a legal citizen, legal immigrant. When you ask me about problems are you asking about Visa or about problems I faced day to day?

Mr. Sondergaard: Kind of both.

Mrs. Kollegal : Well, as far as Visa, I had no problems because, again, I got my Visa through my husband, but after coming here, I got my Green card which is the permanent residency so after that I got my citizenship eight years back I think, so that was not a problem at all for me. But I know a lot of my own relatives who went through a lot of problems with Visa.

Mr. Sondergaard: So when you first arrived here and also after you got your citizenship, did you have any problems that you had to face or had to work at, like learning English or trying to fit in? You said that you already had kind of a home to go to, you didn’t have to go out and struggle, but did you have troubles kind of adapting to the U.S.A.’s society?

Mrs. Kollegal : I didn’t have problem with English language so to say because we grew up speaking English, thanks to the British I guess. A fitting end. Yes certainly I had problems with the*… while I was in school I certainly had problems. I could tell that when we had some team projects to do. I guess the first impression if they didn’t know who I was or what I was all about, I think they definitely felt a little apprehensive to join me as a part of their team; perhaps they thought I wasn’t good enough. Or, you know, they have this preconceived idea so when you don’t know a person*… I don’t blame them for it but I was young then and I would say I used to be hurt a little bit when they were not welcoming enough, but today I am a lot more mature and it wouldn’t bother me if people didn’t except me or if they had some preconceived notion about me. That’s okay. It’s their ignorance rather than just because I was not a white person. There were times where I could see that I was judged based on my color, but so far no one has been out-rightly rude to me. There have been subtle instances where they certainly think*… they have preconceived ideas like “What would this women from India know?” or*… those instances have been there, and nothing big really. I don’t think I ever have had to face any problems as far as racism or*... I have never had problems. It’s always been pretty good overall. Maybe I’ve been lucky. But big problems, no I’ve never had to.

Mr. Sondergaard: So, just a quick re-cap. Do you like it here? I think you already answered that.

Mrs. Kollegal : Yes, I certainly like it here. Anytime, with anything, everything cannot be perfect and everything cannot suck. It’s a combination for the most part. Obviously I like it here, otherwise I wouldn’t get a citizenship and stay here and most importantly I wouldn’t bring up my children here, considering how every parent wants the best for their children. Obviously I like it here.

Mr. Sondergaard: When coming here, some people kind of lose their culture when trying to become part of the U.S.A. culture. How do you keep your culture alive throughout your life or your home or anywhere really?

Mrs. Kollegal : To start with, I speak to my kids in our language, which is Stumal, and I insist that my kids speak our language, but it’s been few times*… My older one is okay but my younger one rarely ever speaks. But, I value language as*… I would love to speak different languages, but it is hard to learn new languages as you grow older, and I think language is a big part of my culture, so I try to retain it by insisting that my kids speak our language. Like I said, I am not an overly religious person. If I were, then a lot of occasions, you know, we have a lot of festivals. The two big holidays you have here are Thanksgiving and Christmas. We have one or two a month coming up. If you were to spread it out over the year, we have at least six to eight big holidays. I don’t really observe them here, because I don’t think it’s as big a cultural holiday so much as religious. That is not to say that I go out of my way not to go celebrate. It’s just that I really haven’t done much on that end, but the biggest thing in my culture that I’ve tried inculcate into my kids is language more than anything else. Now I’m forty-five years old and I came here when I was twenty-five, almost twenty-six, so I have lived here since ‘92, and over the years, I’ve grown older. And I don’t know if it is because of my age or because of the fact that I have lived in a foreign country, but I don’t think I am the same person as I was when I left India as far as being religious or being cultural. It could be a combination of the two, really.

Mr. Sondergaard: One last thing before I go. If you could change the U.S.A. in one way to be more like India, how would you change it?

Mrs. Kollegal : See, that is the one thing that I wouldn’t want to do. I wouldn’t want to change anybody or any country, having lived here and having come from another culture to this new culture, it’s wonderful that the Americans here, people in and around me have let me be the person I am, so I don’t think I have any right to expect anybody to change, but if someone was to hold me at gun-point and say “What would you change?” I would change the educational system. I really, really feel very badly when I see the elementary kids here. I don’t have*… my son is in middle school and I think I like the curriculum in middle school and high school, I have yet to see high school, but I have a fair idea of how it is. But elementary school curriculum needs to be revamped. This country has got to look outside and change their system a little bit. Otherwise, I don’t think I want to change anybody. I don’t have that right. I don’t think anyone has that right.

Mr. Sondergaard: Well, thank you for your time.

Mrs. Kollegal : You’re welcome. I enjoyed it.

* when ever there is a … it means the person trailed off or didn’t finish immediately

ANALYSIS
The immigration process in America has changed greatly as time has gone by. Using my interview as evidence, I feel that the immigration process has become more efficient and user friendly in later years. In class, we were learning about the immigration process and how people reacted to immigration. The immigration process that my interviewee went through seemed very different from the experiences of some of those that we learned about in class. The people we learned about who had to face the most hardships were usually from earlier in the history of the U.S.A. When asked, Mrs. Kollegal said, “ No, as far as getting to be a citizen I had no problems what so ever” (pg 11). For the people we learned about in class, it seemed like there were many troubles that almost everyone had to go through when coming here, particularly earlier on. These things included getting here, surviving the conditions of getting here (mainly for groups earlier on), and continuing on to become successful in a unknown and confusing, sometimes even aggressive, society. Mrs. Kollegal also showed that she faced little to no injustice because of her race, ethnicity, or background when she said “ I don’t think I ever have had to face any problems as far as racism or... I have never had problems ”(pg 12). When learning about immigration in class, there seemed to be many groups opposed to certain types of immigrants or immigration all together, and they would often judge a person or group just by the stereo-type of that group. Therefore, Mrs. Kollegal’s experience has led me to say that immigration has changed so that the system has become a little more efficient and people have overall become more accepting.