Phished, well, almost, in the US of A!!

It was the afternoon of Friday.  I was at home with my wife and the two grandsons.  My son and daughter-in-law were away to work.  We had had lunch and were having a chat with the kids when the landline phone rang.  My younger grandson, 7 years old, picked up the phone and responded.  Then he handed over the phone to me saying that it was probably for his mom.  When I responded, the caller on the other side announced that he was calling from the immigration department of the government of USA and gave me his name and id number.  He asked whether Mrs. Upadhyaya was available.  Thinking that he wanted to talk to my daughter-in-law, I told him that she was away to her office.  He inquired who I was and I gave him my name and relationship to the intended recipient.  He asked me to spell out my first name and I did that.  He then announced that this was about serious issues with the recent immigration checks of my wife and me.  I asked him about the issue and he informed that even though requested to do so, we had failed to submit form I-94 even after so many days of entering the USA.

Now this fellow was speaking in an impeccable American accent and there were appropriate background noises too suggesting that he was in an office.  He had identified himself with all the details and was addressing me as Sir as they normally do when interacting with a citizen (/visitor.) Though, the tone and tenor was quite officious. So this had me rattled.  I could recall that a certain form, other than the customs declaration form was earlier being obtained from visitors but it had been discontinued year before last.  And it was form I-94.  However being rattled, I thought it must have been some other form.  I told him that no one had asked me to submit any form.  He said that a notice had been sent out too.  I protested saying that I had not received any notice.  He then read out an address in the Eastern part of USA and asked me to confirm that this was my address.  I said that there has been some mistake and that I was in the city of Cupertino in California.  Even in that rattled state I avoided giving him the street address.  Then he expressed surprise and added that after my file was opened for this violation another serious criminal matter related to my id has come up and they are in the process of getting an arrest warrant issued for me.  When I expressed my astonishment, he said that he was not able to make out what I said and asked about the languages that I speak.  When told that I spoke Hindi and English, he asked me to wait while he handed over the call to an interpreter.

Next one Rakesh Patel came online and after properly introducing himself, he asked me in Hindi which Indian Language would I prefer.  I said Hindi and he said that my voice was breaking up and inquired if I had a cell phone.  This must have been the first step towards the identity theft.  My son had given me a prepaid connection, and I gave him the number.  Then he asked me to wait for a call on the cell phone which materialized pretty soon.  After repeating the charge of non-submission of form I-94, he said that my identity had been misused for withdrawing money from an account in Bank of America and that the money was remitted to Pakistan presumably for terrorist activities.  Then he gave me a Muslim and a Christian name and asked me if I knew any or both of them (I forget the names but would refer to them as Khan and John in later paragraphs.)  He said that the Muslim person was a Pakistani and had used my identity to perpetrate the crime.  Then he asked if I could explain how could the fraudster get my identification details?  I politely told him that the question was directed at the wrong person and they should be asking the perpetrator of the fraud.  He asked me if I had an USA id.  This gave rise to some suspicion in my mind.  How could they be leveling this charge unless they knew about what id I had?  If they were from Immigration department they should know my passport number and my nationality.  But being under psychological pressure I didn't question him and played along.  He asked me what ids I had.  I responded I had my passport.  Then he asked if I had an US driving license to which I replied in the negative.  This slightly added to the suspicion.

Next, the purported Mr Patel said that there was some legal procedure to be completed and that he would be handing me back to the immigration officer.  He also counselled me to be polite them as they were the officers handling my case.

The earlier fellow came online and announced his name and id number once again.  He next informed me that the next part of the conversation will be recorded and whatever I said could be used against me in a court of law.  He advised me to be truthful.  The questions went like this.  Did I know Khan and John?  How could they get hold of my id? Did I ever use my id to open a bank account in USA? Did I have an account with Bank of America or any other bank in America?  What ids did I have with me?  The last question startled me.  For if he asked me about my passport details, I must decline as this was a sensitive information.  How could I do so without offending him?  Also when I told him that I had no bank accounts in USA, he had asked me to hold the line while he consulted his senior.  I could hear him saying, "He does not have any bank accounts in America."  I could not make out the response of the other person.

Luckily he did not ask any details of passport or Indian driving license and spared me the torment of evading the question.  He instead informed me that a warrant had already been issued in my name: well, things do move fast in USA!  He said that it being a Friday I had very little time to pay a bond amount of USD 1978 and avoid an arrest.  He said that I will have to come over and sign the bond and deposit the amount.  Then he added that the bond amount was refundable and if I was found not guilty it would be refunded.  Next he asked if I knew the immigration office closest to my residence.  When I replied in the negative he said further details will be provided by the interpreter.

Mr Patel duly came online, identified himself, and painted a very bleak picture before me.  He said that unless I could post the bond within two hours, I may have to spend time in prison and this would put paid to any further visits by me to USA.  The suspicion in my mind was gradually turning into a certainty.  I requested Patel to advise me the address so I could call my son to drive down to the address and post the bail.  He said it was an extremely serious matter and no third person should associate with it.  He said that if my son's name figured in the proceedings he could lose his job too.  Now I said, a little boldly, "I have heard about the great justice system in USA.  How could my son lose his job if the crime has been supposedly committed by me and not him?"  He said there was no time to explain and asked me if I had the bail amount at hand in cash.  Now the hardened suspicion was turning into a certainty.  I told him that I did not have a single dollar and that my son would have to drive me to the address given by him and there was no other option.  Patel asked me in a surprised tone that how could I possibly be here and not have even USD 1000 in cash?  Surprise! He did not say 1978!  Probably he could also sense the change in my tone by now.  So he said, "OK, in that case I will hand you back to the immigration officer.  Please talk here."  And the call got disconnected.  And it was only now after disconnection that I noticed that the call was from an Unknown Number!

But dear reader, the biggest surprise was yet to come.

My two grandsons had been watching me and listening to my part of the conversation with great attention and concern.  The elder one had also started video recording the call without my noticing it and he showed me the video later on.  After I put down the phone, my elder grandson said, "Dadu, you should not have told them which city you are in."  When I said that I thought they were government officials, he said, "In that case you should have checked back."  I asked him how and this is what he said, "You should have challenged him to give you your passport number and date of birth to prove that he was from the immigration department and declined to tell your name or city till he had proved his identity!"  This came from an 11 year old!  When I asked him how did this occur to him, he deprecatingly said that he had seen something similar in a TV serial here.  Later my son also told me that all government communications are in the form of letters delivered by USPS and never through a telephone call.  Citizens, of course, could call a department in case of need.  And if at all there were to be a call from a department, it would never be from an unknown number.

My grandson also showed me the video clip where he had succeeded in capturing the sound from the other side too because of high volume and his proximity to me.  He next advised me to call 911 (Police) and inform them this of this attempt to perpetrate a fraud.  We chose not to do that.

Approaching ERP (Energy Rate Parity) between UP & US

If my last electricity bill had delivered a shock to me, this month's bill almost electrocuted me!  The steep rise in rates is having an ionizing effect on paying consumers' budget!!

I recalled a conversation with my son, settled in California, about his energy bill.  The prices had seemed quite reasonable, but I was not able to recall the exact figure.  So I Googled and found this chart that gives the average for the whole of USA - http://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.cfm?t=epmt_5_6_a

The table says that the average price of electricity in USA in the month of June 2015 was USD 0.13. Taking the exchange rate at INR 66 = 1 USD, this translates to INR 8.58 per kWh.  The last bill from Lucknow worked out to INR 7.05 per kWh.  It seems to be slightly lower than the US rate.  But we have to keep in mind that a typical US household, with all its gadgets, heating and cooling, has a load of much more than 10 kW.  A load of that kind would necessarily have to be commercial in UP.  So the correct thing would be to compare our commercial rates with the U.S. domestic rate.  However I have a hunch that doing so may invite a sharp rebuke from our energy managers and politicians.  So we will stick to domestic vs domestic comparison, connected loads and total consumption notwithstanding.

So I feel it wouldn't take more than one more revision to bring the electricity price in UP at par with that in USA!  And that will be the day to celebrate our parity with USA on at least one parameter!

Only thing that may spoil the party is the thought that people in USA who have income parity with me at current exchange rates, are considered poor enough to receive grants from the state, are exempt from Income Tax and get free medical care!

And the only consolation for us is that we get twice as much voltage as guys in USA do.  In fact, not too infrequently, it goes up to 4 times as much leading to electrical appliances giving up the ghost out of sheer exhilaration!!

Free Phone Calls to USA

This is not about Viber, Skype, Line or the FB messenger.  The trouble with the apps is that they require both the parties to have an active data connection to make a call.  Also both the parties must have the same application installed and running on their phones or tabs.  Some apps allow you to call a phone number directly but then you have to pay for it.

Now we have an app which can call a telephone number, mobile or landline, in USA (and some other countries too) directly and for free!  Of course, you need to have the app on your phone and also an active data connection.  But these requirements do not apply to the receiver in USA.

If you have not already discovered the app, it is Hangouts Dialer, an added component to Google Hangouts.  Do try it.  Now you can have long and leisurely talks with your family and friends in USA for free.

Good that Google does not subscribe to the conventional wisdom cherished by governments that says that freebies are not good for your constituents! ;)

The Unsung Heroes of the White Collar NRI Phenomenon.

This post is dedicated to Sureshbhai Patel, a visiting Indian grandparent in Alabama, who suffered a most unfortunate injury at the hands of the local police in Alabama when a neighbor reported him as a suspicious person.  You can listen to an account of the incident from Mr. Patel's son by clicking here.

The Silicone Valley area in California and some other areas in the USA are not only home to many of the giants of the IT industry but have also become a unique hub of innovation and entrepreneurship in the whole of the world.  These are also home to a large number of immigrants from India whose contributions to the valley phenomenon as also in other industries elsewhere are widely acknowledged.  Many of these are first generation immigrants.  These brave souls left India with lots of hope, excitement and, perhaps, a wee bit of anxiety at going to a distant and alien land:  emotions shared by parents who bid them goodbye at a time when communication channels had not yet become so pervasive.  Many of these parents did hope that their wards will finally make it back to India for good.

It was a very different world indeed.  And yet these young boys and girls had to explore and figure out this world quickly for they were there to make a living.  They could hardly afford to continue as star-struck tourists:  All the more so as their talent and location got them good spouses and they readied to settle down.  The role of the star-struck tourist would be later played by their parents.  Their children wanted them to take a look at this world where many of the irritants that people continually faced back home were conspicuously missing.

Most parents with no firsthand experience of the western world must have found their first visit bewildering.  Remember that this started over a decade ago.  Today, as a friend pointed out, USA has many outposts in India where you can experience the same lingo and culture that you would in USA.  But such outposts are few and visitors from smaller towns and villages must still be experiencing the bewilderment we talked about.

These first time visiting parents experienced an emotional turmoil that is difficult to describe to those who have not experienced it.  Just when you thought you had matured enough with a grownup son or daughter, you find the roles reversed.  The sudden dependence on your offspring for everything including mobility, spending, figuring out the world around you, is overwhelming.  It must be equally stressful and awkward for the children to have their parents, authority figures for them, so lean on them.

The bewilderment comes from being in a place that looks different, where majority of inhabitants are from the white race that ruled us for a long time.  But more than that it comes from very different social mores.  You cannot casually walk on a road, it is an offence.  You cannot set foot on private property that is marked so not by a fence but just a placard.  Houses don't have boundaries and yet one has to know where the private property begins.  A casual touch may be taken as an offense.  Personal space and privacy are taken a bit too seriously.  Nobody jumps a queue.  Manual workers may not have a different look or a supplicating attitude.  There is no indignity in doing your own chores. Littering and spitting are an absolute no.  And, taking a cue from Mr. Patel's case, there is a definite protocol to be observed when you are stopped by the police.  The list is pretty long.

It takes several of the short encounters before the mist in the touristy eyes begins to wear off and a visiting parent is able to see the new world for what it really is.  The differences lose their starkness and one begins to see the similarities with things back home.  One also learns to differentiate between things and situations that all looked equally foreign and remote.

Like all learning this too exacts its price.  It is in terms of emotional stress and awkward moments.  And if you are unlucky like Mr. Patel it could be physical. 

Devyani versus Sangeeta

Live-in domestic help seems to be a common practice amongst the better-to-do Indians.  Quite a few of these workers are minors too.  A shelter and two square meals with a much-too-meagre salary thrown in is all it takes to lure them in.  If you are in a position of power and can promise a job or a visa to better pastures, the attraction becomes fatal.  The other party would trade in all its rights for this offer.  The practice is widespread and hence any questions on its legality are always brushed aside.  But in case a legal dispute did arise on whose side will you be?

I am surprised to find Mayawati siding with Devyani simply because she is a Dalit by birth.   I do not know whether Sangeeta is a Dalit or not.  But I do feel that Mayawati's sympathies  should have been with Sangeeta, a Dalit in the real sense of the word.

I agree that USA has been callous and totally mindless of Indian sensibilities in the way it handled Devyani.  But has it also not done a service to us by drawing attention to the plight of Sangeetas of our country?  And does our unusually stern reaction stem from our discomfort in facing this issue squarely?

Occidental driving

If one had all the roads to onself, like VVIPs do when they are forced to travel by road, driving will either be sheer bore or sheer fun depending on your personality type.  Real life driving for commoners like us involves coordination with umpteen fellow users.  And hence merely knowing the rules is not enough; you must also know what goes on in the minds of fellow users and how do they normally react to exceptions.  On your home turf you know all the user types and all the possible reactions and the knowledge has been internalized.  But this advantage is lost in a place where you are a stranger.  An example will illustrate it.

At places where a lane joins a main thoroughfare and there are no signals, the traffic on the thoroughfare has the right of way and those about to enter it from the lane are supposed to wait for a safe entry.  I was driving on such a thoroughfare in the city of Cupertino when I saw a vehicle from a lane on the right approaching at not too slow a speed.  Now I had an apprehension whether this fellow is going to honor my right of way or not and so going by the principle better-safe-than-sorry I stopped.  The other fellow had already stopped by that time and even gave a short honk to draw my attention and motioned to me to go ahead (as per the rule!)  I was lucky in so much as there was no vehicle following me closely.  Had there been one it would surely have crashed into mine as it would not have anticipated my stop.  I hardly need to add that  in India it would be the other way round: taking your right of way too seriously could be fatal!  Here in the motherland the guiding principle is that all drivers on the road have a free will and will surely exercise it and you better be ready for it.

Apart from attitudes you find significant differences in the physical design of the road too.  Our roads are plain strips with no internal modulations but only curve of the complete strip around lands difficult to acquire at the time of construction.  In USA I found most roads straight as straight can be.  But these straight roads have internal modulations that show a brilliant application of thought.  At most intersections, the side of the road feeding the intersection becomes wider and as a corollary the other side which is fed from the intersection becomes narrow, sometimes to the extent of being reduced to a single lane.  This facilitates the traffic on the feeder side to properly segregate itself for left turn, right turn, and going straight through.  Naturally the same thing happens on the road across the intersection too.  Thus when you position yourself in the lane for a left turn (and so has part of the traffic on the opposite side of the intersection), you find yourself facing one lane of traffic from the other side head on!!  (Please remember that left in USA is what right is in India.)  When you experience it for the first time it can scare you out of your wits: For you never experience this in India where everything is rigidly linear and equally spaced.  Such a widening out to the left happens at left turns into smaller lanes too.  This allows you to wait in the marked space for a safe opportunity to make the turn without holding up the traffic behind you.  Such protected lanes for a turn are delineated by solid white lines.  As in India so in USA a solid white line means that you cannot cross it from either side to move into a different lane.  The difference lies in the simple fact that the rule is scrupulously honored in USA.  On highways the solid white lines marking an exit are accompanied by a legend "Lane Must Exit."  You just cannot change your mind once you enter the segregated lane!  And this Must-Exit rule applies to left turn lanes on normal roads too just as rigidly.

Having mentioned highways, called expressways in USA, I must add that one finds the same shining examples of application of thought on the highways too.  When you enter an expressway from a regular city road the entrance is in the form of a long strip that allows you to accelerate to highway speeds before merging into the highway.  So you don't barge into a highway, you merge into it.  This minimizes chances of any collisions on account of serious mismatch of speeds.  Though at peak traffic hours when the traffic on the expressway also turns slow, a signal light starts operating on the entrance allowing only one vehicle at a time. Next vehicle enters after a couple of seconds.  This again ensures a fair match between traffic already on the expressway and that entering it at any point. You also have long exits that allow you to reduce you speed in a comfortable fashion.  There is no slow moving traffic on the expressways, no pedestrians making adventurous attempts to cross the roads and above all absolutely no traffic moving the wrong way to avoid a circuitous drive back!!  The lane discipline is superb.

Here in India I recently drove from Lucknow to Basti, a distance of around 200 kms.  It is a pretty good highway by Indian standards though I did find a couple of can-break-your-axle strengths potholes that had been painted black to minimize the probability of vehicles avoiding it altogether.  Let me not forget to mention that the consideration (toll tax) for such excellent service levels was a whopping Rs.400/= for a return trip!!  For that amount you can ride a deluxe Volvo service to your destination!!!  But let us not digress.  What was most perplexing was the near total lack of documentation on the road.  You have to strain hard to figure out which area you are passing through, where will the next exit take you and how far you might be from your final destination.  A few hoardings that you could spot after straining a great deal will be hidden behind foliage!!  All your information comes from commercial hoardings which often mention name of the place and signages on shops which are never too far away from a highway!!

Comparing the level of documentation on the roads and expressways of USA with what we have would be like comparing a well authored multi-volume leather bound book to a small crumpled up manuscript containing the first rough draft of a chapter.  Over and above the static documentation showing your location, destinations to which the roads are headed, upcoming exits, speed limits etc., you also have live displays about any adverse weather conditions or likely delays to be faced due to heavy traffic up the route.  It takes time to get used to such service levels and drive normally without getting bowled over.

Before I close I must mention the stop-look-go as mandated and practiced on roads which may lack documentation and signalling.  At such intersection on such roads each vehicle is supposed to stop and then proceed only after any vehicles which stopped earlier have passed.  Even if you are absolutely certain that there is no other vehicle except yours you must still stop at the intersection and penalties for not doing so can be quite stiff.  Such rules and well defined right of way coupled with the fact that these are scrupulously enforced and followed make life really easy for drivers.

Even the huge parking lots surrounding shopping malls or offices also have arrows and markings to guide you and keep the flow smooth.  What amazes you most is that most of this terrific network of roads was built in 1930s and 40s!

The roads are evolving in India too and we get a glimpse of future in certain recently constructed stretches of highways.  Let us hope that someday we will also have a network that will offer safe and pleasurable drive to millions of existing and upcoming new automobile owners.  Amen!

Driving in the orient versus driving in the occident.

It is only after you have driven on the roads of an alien land that you realize the comaradarie, bonhomie, huge flexibility, complete trust in fellow drivers and willingness to occasionally forgive them for breach of that trust and many other heartwarming traits that mark the driving experience in most places in India.  And this is very unlike driving on the roads of the alien occident.

I am sure that the rule-book in India must be as thick a volume as elsewhere.  I would be happy if someone who has ever seen and read it could confirm this.  However when it comes to practice our genius has reduced the whole thing to just one simple rule: Try and get to the destination by all means and as far as possible, and no farther, avoid bumping into things, people and animals.  This translates into a traffic that is far from linear and unidirectional.  Traffic flows in all possible directions.  But then everyone is expecting it to be so and so carefully scanning the three dimensional space around him and also continuously announcing his own presence through powerful horns.  The horn of course is only a general caution and specific cautions are issued verbally by calling names and inquiring about deafness and blindness levels of those around you. Occasional threats of violence to the offender's own person or his / her female relatives are not uncommon either.  All this mutual cooperation and reinforcement allows the multidirectional traffic to go through with fewer accidents than our brethren in the occident might think.

Also unlike the occident, the roads here are shared by cattle, pedestrians (footpaths are for shopkeepers and other sundry vendors), vending carts, push carts, bullock carts, rickshaws with protruding iron bars, wooden planks etc.  The totally relaxed way  in which they use the road and the sudden Brownian motions in which they engage clearly bring out their total faith in the driving skills of automobile drivers as also their trust in the non-homicidal instincts of the drivers.  Jaywalking is an unknown term here and the concept is loathed as opposed to socialism.  Everyone has a right to use the road - a common asset - irrespective of whether or not he owns an automobile!  The motorists honor the sentiments and reciprocate by displaying similar trust in the agility and resourcefulness of pedestrians when driving in parking lots and similar places.

A term which has very different interpretations here and in the occident is the right of way.  The right of way in the occident is strictly rule-based and without regard to the size or speed of the vehicle or abusive powers of the driver.  In the virile east, might is right.  So a driver with the most glaring eyes or more powerful / expensive car or the one with greatest dare or with the flag of the most powerful political party has the right of way.  In the cramped spaces between larger automobiles the cyclists, scooterists and motorcyclists have the right of way as long as they can scrape through.

The ethos and the philosophy described above naturally imply a total disregard for signals and similar trappings.  Though the signals may be reluctantly and grudging acknowledged if reinforced with the presence of traffic cops.  Of course even this applies only to lesser mortals and not to those who are acknowledged as VIPs.  In my part of the country if you were to stop at a red signal, with no cop around or only a disinterested one manning it, you are quite likely to be honked and yelled at.  If you persist you will face fiery glares from those forced to overtake you because of your obstinacy.

This is not to say that the authorities are taking it all lying down.  They are trying to hammer in some sense by constructing dividers and better roads etc.  However the ingenuity displayed by public at large is a more than adequate match for such gimmicks.  You may read about it here: Bipolar Magnetic Law of the Road.

So what happens when you attempt to drive in the occident after having been conditioned by the ethos and the philosophy described above?  Well that deserves, in the least, a new write-up.

Driving an automatic transmission car in the USA

Thus far on my visits to my son in USA I always used to be a passenger in his or my daughter-in-law's car, taking in the sights and having a chit-chat with my elder grandson.  This time it was different.  My son had a car to spare.  He had read the manual from Government of California that said that a visitor could drive there if he had a valid license from his own country.  So he insisted that I should be a little adventurous and venture out on the roads and into the shops with his mom.

In India I had upgraded myself from a 4-gear drive to 5-gear drive.  However here the first step was to familiarize myself with a gearless car, automatic transmission as it is called.  Of course a gear shift lever is very much there, what is truly missing is the clutch pedal!  The gear lever moves along one dimension only in an arc like manner, with Parking gear at the top.  Points that came across as important are like this.  You can start the engine only if the car is in the parking gear:  You also have to hold the brake pedal down while starting the car.  Again, after turning off the ignition, you can remove the key only after putting the car in the parking gear.  The next three positions for the lever are for Reverse, Neutral, and Drive.  There are two more positions for manually enhancing power levels though I did not find any occasion for using them.  Thus once you have started the car and positioned it for driving ahead, you can just forget the gear lever till it is time to park and stop.  The best thing is that after you have put the car in Drive and taken your feet off the brake pedal the car starts rolling forward even if you don't push the accelerator.  Thus there is little chance of the car slipping backwards even if you are headed up a slope.  Another good feature is that in both the legs when you make a complete stop by taking your foot off the accelerator and pressing the brake and then when building up speed again by operating the accelerator the engine never dies down, not even once.  You will agree that this does happen once in a while in the manual transmission vehicles.

With the clutch pedal missing, your left foot is rendered idle.  If you are wondering why, just remember that there will be no occasion for you to operate the brake and accelerator pedals simultaneously!!  So the right foot operates both, one at a time.  With the clutch gone and no need to manipulate gears while driving, driving becomes ridiculously easy.  The only real difficult part is restraining yourself from using the horn.  While in India it is considered your duty to honk liberally and announce your presence to the not-so-sparsely populated world around you, for some strange reason it is considered very rude to do so in USA.

However the left-right reversal between India and USA takes lots of conscious self-training.  When you approach the car with the intention to drive it you have to remind yourself that the driver seat is on the "other side."  Once inside you have to be careful to use the right lever as the turn indicator and not the one that operates wipers.  Then when you are on the road it is fine as long as you are driving straight on the right (in both the senses) side of the road.  When it is time to take a turn, remind yourself aloud to move into the right side of the road.  People tell me that you do get into the wrong side at least once while learning.  I feel very bad to have to endorse that statement.  Fortunately it happened in a lane that was almost empty and I could retrieve the situation without any damage.

Having learnt to drive the car, the next step was to navigate the streets.  For a driver trained in India and having driven only in India, this was quite an experience.  I propose to share this experience with you in the next post.

But before I wind up I must add that there are a few ancillary learning points too.  For one, petrol is not petrol but gas!  And when you go to a gas station you must know how to operate the gas pump as also the air pump if you need to inflate your tyres.  There is no help around.  And in case you are wondering how to pay, the obvious answer is by using a credit card.