Ends & Beginnings...

 

Photos from Unsplash.com: Srikanth D (Indian flag)  and Danny Gallegos (USA flag)

Friday, June 25th 2021 @ 10.26am... I took the oath of allegiance to become a naturalized citizen of the US. It is the culmination of a 21-year process of my move from India to the US: being an international grad student applicant to Virginia Tech to a non-immigrant (Student, Temporary work visa) to an immigrant (Permanent Resident/Green Card Holder) to a US citizen. The biggest time was spent in going from work visa to Permanent resident with the long wait times for an Indian citizen. It is the end of a lot of waiting, a lot of checking the status of various applications on the USCIS site, and a LOT of documents including a notarized statement from my mom attesting to my birth!

The two overwhelming emotions I felt after the oath ceremony, getting my certificate of naturalization, and walking out of the office were Acceptance and Relief. 

Acceptance: It felt really good to be welcomed and accepted as a US citizen. In some small way, it is a move from being the 'other' to 'one of us'. I would like to clarify that my usage of the 'other' term is not meant as a negative.  In my almost 21 years in the US, I have been lucky to have never faced discrimination of any kind. It feels humbling to be one of the tens of millions of stories that form this country's strength in diversity and pluralism. My naturalization certificate serial number is 46-million something!

Relief: Given the long waiting times/duration of the process aforementioned, this feeling is obvious. The relief can also be attributed to some semblance of 'normalcy' returning with the current US administration taking office in Jan 2021. The 'other' feeling was probably felt most on election night in Nov 2016 and needless to elaborate, acerbated during the time of the previous US administration (2017-2021). This feeling of relief is also strongly accompanied by a feeling of optimism, opportunity, and hope. This is definitely a new start and likely, the feeling of hope/optimism will be the longer-lasting and more salient sentiment.

Many a time, the following question has been posed to me, "Do you feel like an American or an Indian?". I've always replied in jest that I am stuck in the middle and very confused. This response gets a few laughs more often than not. 

However, the more appropriate and correct response is the following: I am privileged to have the chance to live and experience two very dynamic and different countries and cultures for an almost equal amount of time now. This provides to me diverse sets of social, cultural, socio-economic values and frameworks to make important decisions. I get to pick/keep all the good aspects and throw away the bad aspects of each country/culture. By April 2022, I would have split my life between living in India and the USA!

There is the sad requirement of having to renounce my Indian citizenship as part of becoming a US citizen. India does not allow for dual citizenship arrangements with other nations. I and my family (wife and kids) are eligible to obtain a new status of 'Overseas Citizenship of India(OCI)'. In effect, this feels like a swap of my citizenship and permanent residency status between my 2 countries. Viewed in this macro perspective, not too much is changing. For interested folks, here is a link to some latest rulings about the OCI status. 

The US passport does provide real benefits, mainly visa-free travel to ~180+ countries. It currently ranks joint 7th  based on the ability to travel to various countries. This is a huge jump compared to the Indian passport - visa-free access to 59 countries. 

I feel hopeful, optimistic about the future, and challenged to use my new opportunities to the best of my abilities. I especially, look forward to registering to vote and participating more actively in a democracy. I have never voted in my life (living in the US since being an adult) despite having lived all my life in the 2 biggest democracies in the world!

I am Indian; Now, I am also American.