0-3: Wakes up from a deep slumber. Where was I in my last life?
3-6: First school on a tiny hillock in the middle of nowhere.
6-12: So many schools, so many teachers, so many towns.
13: A Franciscan nun whispers that I write well. First bout of confidence.
14: Wanders away and gets lost on a train after school. Worried parents find me at a candy store.
15: Sneaks out from home to watch Bruce Lee. Gets caught. Grounded.
16: Plays Shylock the villain at school. Girls shy away.
17: Sips toddy, rides a bike, starts college.
18: First byline in a national newspaper “Sunday Observer.” Proud.
19-20: Hides in a cellar at home. Reads 6 newspapers daily. Newsprint invigorates.
21: Earns a Master’s degree in journalism.
22: First job at “Patriot,” New Delhi. Wanders around Delhi. Experiences poverty firsthand.
23: Joins M J Akbar’s “Asian Age.” Runs away from my first toxic workplace.
24: Joins “Sunday Mail” Writes, edits and reports.
26: Marriage is arranged. Talks to her for 30 minutes. No dating. No nonsense. Arrives in New Delhi, newly married. Friend says “Sunday Mail” is closed. First painful layoff. Jobless with new wife in the hottest summer in New Delhi.
27: Understands what it means to be jobless. Luck and friends help me land a job at “The Economic Times” in Bangalore.
29-32: Recruited to work in Doha, Qatar. Tiny, thumb-shaped peninsula just opens up to the world. Writes for “Gulf Times” and “Financial Times.” Learns self-censorship, a hallmark of journalism in the Persian Gulf and now being practiced well in the United States.
Offered a high paying job but jealous employer won’t transfer visa. They practice “Khilafa” where the employer owns me. He seizes my passport and freedom and has control over my destiny. It mirrors what millions of Indian expatriates have experienced in the Persian Gulf. Total injustice. Makes up my mind to leave Qatar for good.
32: Arrives in the US on a scholarship at Arizona State University. Michael Crow is new president. Works with Steve Doig, Pulitzer prize winner, who gets me into online journalism.
33: Meets Walter Cronkite. Eventful and honored to meet a true reporter, a legend compared to the talking heads of today.
33-45 Understands the hardships of H1 B and legal migration in the US. Takes 10 long years for my Green Card. Understands that US legal immigration is worse than Khilafa. You are stuck with an employer for several years and there are no career choices until you get your Green Card. An expatriate’s fear. Once more.
45 to Present: I persevere. I seek opportunities and find new paths. Am I an expatriate still? I ask this same question every day despite getting legal citizenship. The stakes are high for me and millions of others.
Lettersnatcher 