Comparison: Day to day Life in India vs USA.

Nature

The moment I landed in States, I was surprised by just breathing the air. I was like, when was the last time my lungs have inhaled that good quality. No doubt the place from where I belong in India was not so polluted. But this was different here, there was no dust. The sky was clearer. And the infrastructure of the city here Phoenix in Arizona was also great which is quite unlike to find both of these in the same place. 

Rent/Property

Most of the people in US live in apartments just like our generation in India. While many own houses also. This thing is quite common in both of the countries.  If we talk about the rent in US, it is approximately one-fourth of the IT salary and nearabout half for the daily wage worker.

Although a daily wage worker in India cannot afford living in apartments like these.There is a rent agreement signed according to which you have to pay the money if you leave the apartment before the tenure like a year. The difference I noticed when living in Phoenix and Indiana that most of the apartments have maximum two floors. This is quite unusual in Indian cities.

City Maintenance

There is this thing with Americans that they respect the rules taught. I have never seen anyone throwing waste on the streets. Moreover, their roads are not only built good but also maintained good. Whether it is the cleaning of streets or maintaining the grass or the snow removal tasks. They are very efficient in their work The reason is they are paid good irrespective of the nature of the job they do. If you meet them, you will know they enjoy their work. While in India, we find people frustrated doing these jobs as it is difficult to manage the bread and butter with the salary paid.

In US,they had an area in every society to dump the trash which would be then picked by the responsible authority.  Even situation was better in Indiana, the apartment had separate areas to throw plastic, paper, glass which was quite good. But here is good news, when I visited my hometown in India recently. There were instructions by municipality to keep the dry and moist waste separate and they will pick them separately which I believe is a good initiative. Because it can be recycled then.

Daily chores

American people do their house chores by themselves. You can get good machines to do those chores at a cheaper price, but it is difficult to afford a maid for it. This is quite opposite in India. We can hire maids at affordable price but not machines because of cheap labor. In most of the Indian families, cooking is done by us but we employ maids to do cleaning which involves using a broom for the dust then using a wet cloth to clean the floor. They are hired also for washing dishes and for laundry.  But in USA, there are vacuums as most of the floors are carpet-covered. And in cases where they are not, there are water-sprinkle machines which clean the floor.

But still, this is not easy, you have to clean the wash basins, bathtubs, kitchen all by yourself. And cleaning the stove is a process in itself. For dish washing, there is a dish washer provided in the apartment where a lot of utensils can be washed in a single run. But I hardly used the dish washer as I found it more time consuming .But this was my own preference. A lot of Indian people use it. Then there are washing machines, I was lucky to have them in my apartment in both of the cities of US. But sometimes they are sharing in a society .

Education and Work culture

I have seen people in US doing two jobs a day also. Even like most of the college going are also employed at restaurants, stores. This helps them to pay their college fees. While I as an Indian kid, has never imagined myself working to pay my college fees. No doubt, I could not stop thinking about it once I knew this thing. I think about “ How this thing could help my parents.”

But then I remember that it was in the environment in India. When it was hardly considered safe for girls to go to schools or colleges, how they could go to workplaces when they are not mature. Things have changed a lot and are changing. I do believe that by doing a job early, a person can learn many practical things.

But if you are an Indian, you got the advantage of enjoying your school and college life.

Also, I would like to add that people in workplaces are quite cool in US in comparison. They are not only about work all day, but they do also not believe in extending working hours or not taking vacations. They are quite serious about their personal lives. While this thing is quite opposite in India, here leads encourage you to do overtime, cut your leaves etc.

Health and Safety

USA and India cannot be compared in respect to health facilities. In US, there is a number 911 to dial in case of any emergency whether security or health. And they reach you sometimes within 5 minutes. No doubt the health facilities are good, but they are way too expensive to afford for a normal person. And you cannot get a paracetamol without doctor’s prescription. Yes, the rules are so strict here. This is the other reason of everyone doing a job as the health insurance is covered by the companies. While in India, we can get normal medicines from any shop.

Whenever we travel to US from India, we pack a large box of medicines alone enough for survival for two years at least. Earlier in India, normal health facilities were affordable that’s why people did not prefer investing in health insurance. And then came hospitals like Fortis, Max who completely changed the scenario. These provided excellent facilities but at a huge price. For a normal checkup you are charged 1000rs.So it was like who want better facilities or can spend money, they can try these.

While recently, situation has taken a U-turn due to pandemic. India’s health system was exposed. Here we are a population of 1.38billion approximately and we do not have enough resources for supporting it. Moreover, the available resources also do not reach to the needy because of corruption. If you are thinking that I am blaming political parties, no doubt they have played an important role in this but here I would like to talk about the general public. We all are corrupted.

If you are thinking why so, who has not seen the current covid vaccination situation in India. While we are hearing like in US most of the population is vaccinated. The government has emphasized on giving importance to health by giving vaccines free of cost. There everybody got a minimum amount of like 1800$ in the situation like pandemic to afford bread and even rent.

Here in India people who have political connections or know ones are already vaccinated while those who do not are waiting in long queues. If you think that our situation can improve by importing vaccines from outside , I do believe in improving the education system including teaching moral values so that people should fear from doing corruption.

Transport

This is kind of other area where I was not ok with US. Their transport situation encourages you to have a personal car. Each member of the family has separate cars. Their public transport sucks except in popular cities. When I was in India, I never felt the need to have my own car. For small distances, there are auto-rickshaws easily reachable, then for inter-city there are buses and trains at an affordable cost.

While in states, I did not have my own car I felt quite disappointed. Even in Indiana, you cannot walk as there are no crossways. Phoenix was still better as there were separate footpaths for walk and cycling. For inter-city, there are your personal cars or flights. And there is no much difference between the cost of a cab, a train, a bus and a flight. Even flights were cheap than trains. There the one available mode of transport is a personal car and nothing else.

Family

You will see people in US are more alone. Children leave their parents’ house after 12^th. And that’s why they have days like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day to celebrate them. We have met some aged there, they like to do things by their own but they miss their children. And they cannot say them to come home. Our culture is kind of moving towards their one.

They sometimes have said that you Indians have a very good culture of a family living together taking care of each other.

To be continued…