I suspect anyone who has seen the title and decided to read this blog could guess what I plan to write. Fulfilling an election promise, Trump decided to deport illegal immigrants from various countries in an army flight. Columbian President Gustavo Petro posted bravely lecturing Trump and within a few hours had to toe the line. He decided not to let US deport Citizens of Columbia in an Army flight as criminals and arranged Columbian flight to bring its citizens back with some diginity. An army flight from US deported 104 Indian citizens and the men among them were handcuffed and chained during the long flight that landed in Amritsar. Some are pointing out that the illegal immigrants have indeed committed a crime and deserved the treatment. Opposition parties are appalled at the inhuman treatment of Indian citizens. External affairs minister has pointed out that US has been deporting our citizens periodically and about 15000 have been deported since 2009, when the second UPA term started. I do not have any comments about the reactions of the ruling or opposition parties. I was thinking about my flight to USA in 1986, when I went to the Kansas State University to do my Ph. D and some of what I have read in Tamil.

During the mid 1980s, there used to be email groups in the USA, named soc.culture.xxx where members could exchange emails among themselves. This could be the earliest avatar of social media, like Facebook, Twitter or WhatsApp. I joined the soc.culture.india. I found one email with a title ‘x+1 syndrome’. It discussed about the life of a typical graduate student, like me, coming from India. I could relate to some parts of the article. When one reaches US, take some photographs in front of the University/Department and send it by airmail to the family to be received in typically 2 weeks time. The first car, first snow, and many other things are recorded in a film, devloped into a photo and sent by airmail. In a few years, the student would be informed by the parents that a suitable girl could be found for him to be married. Student goes home, gets married and returns to US with the bride. In due course, wife is expecting. The next sentence I read, hurt my pride: No right thinking parents in law would like to have their grand kid born in India, given the American alternative. I did not like this. I found out that I did not follow some of the typical characteristics given of a graduate student from India. My answer about ‘what would you do after studies?’ did not change throughout my stay there: Return to India. The article points out how it changes over a period of time. The main theme of that article was that no one returns from US and they keep saying they would return in the x+1 year with x changing always. I did get married and fortunately for me, my wife was also keen on returning home. I was prepared to accept a job wherever I would get. IITs, IISc, State Universities, Colleges, high schools wherever, as decision to return was final. It did not depend on what job I might get. We returned in 1994 and lived here since then. I have no regrets. I read news about some parents opting for pre-mature delivery, just in case Trump would bring in a law that would forbid their kids from being citizens of US. As I mentioned in a WhatsApp group, this is where the line dividing desire and greed blur. Greed could lead to disaster.

There is a proverb in Tamil which says ‘திரை கடலோடியும் திரவியம் தேடு’ (thirai kadalodiyum thiraviyam thedu) which roughly translates as the title of this blog. Literally ‘Run through the ocean and search for wealth’! Of course no one can run through the ocean and I am sure everyone gets the essence of this proverb. Wealth is important and only the super rich can say ‘money does not bring happiness’. Everyone else needs money to lead a dignified life. Most would like to find an honest way to earn what is needed. Those who are unable to earn what they consider as ‘enough’ where they are born, go wherever required to earn more. It could be to the nearby or far away cities in India or Abroad. This has been happening for several millennia. Columbus wanted to go to India through West and ended up in West Indies, which he was convinced was India until he died. There is a good satire by Trevor Noah, about Columbus’s confidence which comes naturally for the rich and affluent (1). Poor may be more doubtful about what they do.

Large number of Keralaites have gone to Arab nations in the recent decades leaving the family in Kerala with the hope of raising the standard of their families. Canada has a significant number of Sikhs. US had 5.1 million people of Indian origin, 1.47 % of its population in 2023 according to Wikepedia now (2). Gujarat and Panjab used to dominate the list of immigrants in the past and in recent decades people from Andhra, Telengana, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala are migrating in large numbers. Most readers may have heard about ‘ABCD’ meaning, American Born Confused Desi. One of my friend told me about ABCDEFGHIJ, American Born Confused Desi Emigrated from Gujarat Housed in Jersey. A Chemistry Professor from Rutgers University gave a seminar in our Department and showed the ballot paper from New Jersey which had the names of the candidates in Gujarati and English. Tamils have migrated to many places in the World over centuries: Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa, Canada, France and USA and settled there for good. Tamil is one of the four official languages in Singapore. The great Tamil Poet Bharathiyaar has a poem lamenting the conditions of Hindu workers, from Tamil Nadu, in sugarcane fields in Sri Lanka:

கரும்புத் தோட்டத்திலே – அவர் karumbuth thottaththilae – avar
கால்களும் கைகளும் சோர்ந்து விழும்படி kaalgalum kaigalum sornthu vizhumbadi
வருந்து கின்றனரே! ஹிந்து varunthu kinranarae! hindu
மாதர்தம் நெஞ்சு கொதித்துக் கொதித்துமெய் maathartham nenju kodhithuk kodhithumei
சுருங்குகின்றனரே – அவர் surunguhinranarae – avar
துன்பத்தை நீக்க வழியில்லையோ? ஒரு thunbaththai neekka vazhiyillaiyo? oru
மருந்திதற் கிலையோ? – செக்கு marunthithark killaiyo
மாடுகள் போலுழைத் தேங்குகின்றார், அந்தக்… maadugal poluzhaith thaenguhinraar, anthak …

In 14th Century, Pattinathaar lived in Kaveripoombattinam in what is Tamil Nadu today. He hailed from a rich mercantile family. He sent his son in a ship and asks him to bring weath. The son brought only sacks filled with paddy husks. Pattinathar got upset and angry and locked his son in a room. He went to the harbor and threw the sacks with paddy husks. He saw that they were all gold flakes/dusts and precious gems were hidden inside. He rushed back to the room where his son was locked. Son was not found and only a palm-leaf with a sentence written in Tamil ‘காதற்ற ஊசியும் வாராது தான் கடை வழிக்கே’ (Transliteration: kaathatra oosiyum vaaraathu thaan kadai vazhikae, Translation: Even an earless needle will not come with you in your final journey). In this story, the son is thought to have been divine and Pattinathaar realizes the futility of material life and renounces everything to become a Sanyasi (a Monk). While such stories tell us about some hard facts in life, we cannot forget that living in this world requires money / wealth. I remember another proverb in Tamil which says “பொருள் இல்லார்க்கு இவ்வுலகம் இல்லை, அருளில்லார்க்கு அவ்வுலகம் இல்லை” Porul illaarkku ivvulagam illai, arul illaarkku avvulagam illai, which means ‘this world is not for people without materials, that world (heaven, God’s abode?) is not for people without divine blessings’. (Added on 25 Feb 2025. Following a post by Kathir Krishnamurthy, I realized that this proverb has its origin in Thirukkural, verse 247 which is hardly a surprise: அருளில்லார்க்கு அவ்வுலகம் இல்லை பொருளில்லார்க்கு
இவ்வுலகம் இல்லாகி யாங்கு)

As a Scientist who has no understanding of God, I am not sure if that world exists. We do exist in this world and it is important to earn enough to lead a life with dignity. If one has not learned to earn and lead a life in ‘this world’, perhaps they can go to Himalayas and live alone in search of the other World. There is a popular song in Tamil from the movie Chandrodayam in which MGR and Nagesh act “காசிக்கு போகும் சன்யாசி உன் குடும்பம் என்னாகும் நீ யோசி”, ‘kaasikku pogum sanyaasi un kudumbam ennaagum nee yosi’ which translates into ‘oh monk on your way to Kaasi, did you think about what will happen to your family? My previous blog discussed my views about a Family. For most of us, it is important to find a way to earn and live within our means. I do hope everyone finds a way to lead a life with dignity. One needs to have some desire to earn and improve our lives and be supportive of our family. It is very important not to become greedy. It may be difficult to find out when our desire becomes greed. The recent movie ‘Lucky Bhaskar’ has a story which has the hero realizing this and leading a good life.

References:

1. Trever Noah, “Where was I” Standup comedy show.
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Americans accessed on 8 February 2025