Where you 'Belong'???

During my trip to India, one day I had been to a village where my brother and sis-in-law work. It was a small village with a population of under 20,000 (In US it’s not small, but in India it is way too small). There I happened to meet with REDDY GAARU, the former chief of the village. After initial formalities, he asked me about my monthly salary, just in two minutes of confrontation. I feel bit embarrassed to give the details of may pay to a relatively new person. I felt, being asked about salary details itself was embarrassing, but what happened after was acme of the embarrassment. They started comparing the salary of mine with an unknown person, working in different field, in US.

One day at my work, we were having some discussions on the rules of prevailing unions in plant. During that discussion one of my colleagues, after 18 months of work at the same place, asked me about the type of position I was working there (F/T, P/T, or on Contract). I felt, so distant, even though, we have been sharing the same office and same workshop for 18 months.

In one incident, I felt as if my personal life was disturbed by an intruder, where as in the other incident, I felt as if I was living aloof in a crowded place. If I had not made it US, I would not have worried being asked about my salary details. I know it is a quiet common question asked in India. It is just the way people follow the formalities. If you do the same here, it is breaching into ones personal life. They consider these questions (so called formalities) as intrusion or offensive and it is just the way they have their laws of formalities. For people like me, who were born and raised in India for 21 years, and made their living here in US, it is hard to digest any of the above two incidents. One stage I feel offended, and I feel secluded or isolated in the other.

If you are ready to take the pain of seclusion, or ready to consider the seclusion as the formality, you can happily live in US, forever. If not, better get back to where you belong.