The "Citizen'.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the.........16 years after I came in to the USA I became a citizen of this great nation on November 6th 2008. Seems like a lifetime and rather painful. It was like running a marathon full of obstacles, distractions, small victories, shameful humiliations and setbacks, but I saw a small ray of hope at the horizon which kept me chugging along.
It was the first 5 years which was the most painful. I was a cocky twenty something young man ready to take on the world or so I thought, naive, gullible, insecure- yeah insecurity can make you cocky :-), easily influencable and a high risk taker. During the process, I met good people who gave me bad advices- only because they did not know any better, good people who gave me good advice- which I often ignored, bad people who gave me bad advices and took advantage of my naiveté. I lost tens of thousands of dollars and ended up with sleepless nights, guilt and sense of helplessness which even drove me to the brink of ..........yeah, you guessed it right. Quoting Morgan Freeman's character Red from the movie "The Shawshank Redemption"- "Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies." Yeah- Hope, everyday I would wake up without knowing what lay ahead but somewhere a small part of me was hoping for a miracle, end to my miseries and a better tomorrow.
Getting married in 1998, continuing my education, changing my career, birth of our 2 sons, owning a home which we see build from the ground up-put a different perspective to life. I was thankful to have a purpose in life, to nurture and raise my family to give them a better life than what I experienced. It is good to experience adversities and learn from it. In my honest opinion, the mythical Heaven and Hell which we talk and discuss is something that we experience during our lives. it is hard to tell what happens in one's after life but if you look around there is heaven and hell around you. It is a state of mind and you can choose to be in either or.
Dear reader, you must be wondering what the hell I am talking about and what it has to do with becoming a U S citizen. Well, everyone who comes to these shores dreams of becoming a citizen at some point or the other. I did too, but due to all my experiences during my 5 year misadventures, I stopped caring. It did not matter to me if I became one. However, it was important for me to live in peace with myself, knowing that intentionally I did nothing wrong and I have a clear consciousness, I had to become one. I always believed in holding my head up high and never to fear anyone but God. These are the values I want to instill in my kids and I hope God gives me the strength and perseverance to do that. To the nation that so willingly adopted me as one of their own, I bring thousands of years of heritage and culture passed down for generations from my ancestors. As Mayor David Dinkins of New York from the 80's once quoted "New York is a beautiful mosaic- with so many colors, so many dreams, different characteristics". This applies to the whole of America which is a land of immigrants, some came yesterday and the others 500 years ago or even 20000 years ago walking across the Bering Straits- so historians say.
I am honored and humbled for your acceptance of me, America. I hope and pray to God that I can live up to your expectations and make positive contributions to mankind.
It was the first 5 years which was the most painful. I was a cocky twenty something young man ready to take on the world or so I thought, naive, gullible, insecure- yeah insecurity can make you cocky :-), easily influencable and a high risk taker. During the process, I met good people who gave me bad advices- only because they did not know any better, good people who gave me good advice- which I often ignored, bad people who gave me bad advices and took advantage of my naiveté. I lost tens of thousands of dollars and ended up with sleepless nights, guilt and sense of helplessness which even drove me to the brink of ..........yeah, you guessed it right. Quoting Morgan Freeman's character Red from the movie "The Shawshank Redemption"- "Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies." Yeah- Hope, everyday I would wake up without knowing what lay ahead but somewhere a small part of me was hoping for a miracle, end to my miseries and a better tomorrow.
Getting married in 1998, continuing my education, changing my career, birth of our 2 sons, owning a home which we see build from the ground up-put a different perspective to life. I was thankful to have a purpose in life, to nurture and raise my family to give them a better life than what I experienced. It is good to experience adversities and learn from it. In my honest opinion, the mythical Heaven and Hell which we talk and discuss is something that we experience during our lives. it is hard to tell what happens in one's after life but if you look around there is heaven and hell around you. It is a state of mind and you can choose to be in either or.
Dear reader, you must be wondering what the hell I am talking about and what it has to do with becoming a U S citizen. Well, everyone who comes to these shores dreams of becoming a citizen at some point or the other. I did too, but due to all my experiences during my 5 year misadventures, I stopped caring. It did not matter to me if I became one. However, it was important for me to live in peace with myself, knowing that intentionally I did nothing wrong and I have a clear consciousness, I had to become one. I always believed in holding my head up high and never to fear anyone but God. These are the values I want to instill in my kids and I hope God gives me the strength and perseverance to do that. To the nation that so willingly adopted me as one of their own, I bring thousands of years of heritage and culture passed down for generations from my ancestors. As Mayor David Dinkins of New York from the 80's once quoted "New York is a beautiful mosaic- with so many colors, so many dreams, different characteristics". This applies to the whole of America which is a land of immigrants, some came yesterday and the others 500 years ago or even 20000 years ago walking across the Bering Straits- so historians say.
I am honored and humbled for your acceptance of me, America. I hope and pray to God that I can live up to your expectations and make positive contributions to mankind.
posted by Rajeev Pillai @ 9:51 AM
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