35 Years in America. What I Learned.

Added: 2026-05-16

[00:00:00]All right, guys. Um, good evening from Philadelphia. Um, so as you guys know that I'm planning to leave the United States after living here for almost 35 years. Um, I came to this country in 1992. And if you want to know why I'm going to leave the United States, please check out my uh first video. Um, so in this video, I want to talk about some of the things um that I learned from the United States. um having lived here for like 35 years um I'm not um going to say that US is the best country in the world uh but I I have learned a lot of stuff from this country and I want to like document some of the um the main topics.

[00:00:46]Okay. Um the first one I think is um everywhere you see uh I believe United States has a a process and a system. Um the best example for this is the um US interstate system. If you get on to 76 from like where I'm sitting, you can literally travel to California uh without getting off the highway. you know, every 50 miles or so, you have a a rest area where you can uh relax, rest, uh buy food or drinks, um um use the restroom and you know, fill gas and so on. Um so that is something that uh shows the process. You know, you do have highways in other countries. Um I've never been to China. I've heard people say that China has like amazing highways. Um I I'm very familiar with highways in Europe um and also in India for that matter. Uh but it's not comparable to the the system that you have in the US particularly comparing how considering how huge uh this country is. Uh it's a massive country. I mean the the time it takes to fly from Philadelphia to London is almost the same as the time it takes to fly from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, you know.

[00:02:07]So it's a huge country and considering how big this is, it's an amazing system and you will see the system um and process everywhere like whether you go to the bank or whether you try to take the train um or you walk into a government office wherever you go you see a a system in place. I've I've used the the railways a lot in Italy and in India and it's pretty complicated in Italy for example. um if you use their express trains uh that is pretty good. I mean they're very good. Um there is nothing like that in the US for that matter. But other than the express trains, like if you try take the local trains is very complicated. You'll have a hard time figuring out um you know where exactly the train is uh going, the schedules, uh the train stops and things like that. So it's um so at a high level the US has a a certain process system that I like and I I think it's something um that all countries have to like uh copy if you can but at the same time um there are disadvantages to this process you know for example I also know uh the highway system has kind of had a huge impact uh on society uh America for the most part has become a a city oriented culture. Um and one of the reasons could be the highways because highways connect cities uh huge populated areas uh and ignore the all the rural areas that are in between. um you know so you you can like technically take it uh uh you know take your car and take 76 and go from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh but there is a huge area in between um that is that has been neglected for a long time um and it is slowly getting hollowed out.

[00:04:04]Um so that is also something that uh for example India has to consider when building its uh highway system uh to make sure that the system uh also considers the needs of the people who are not necessarily um uh living in the city.

[00:04:23]Okay. Um the second one uh I second major lesson I've learned is um how open minded um and how welcoming this uh country is. I've traveled a lot to, as I mentioned, to uh Europe, mostly Western Europe, although I've I've traveled to a few Eastern European countries. Um I've traveled to um you know, uh Central and South America. Not a lot. I've never been to Brazil or Argentina or Chile, but I've been to like Colombia and Ecuador and a few other countries. Um but uh no comp country compares to the United States when it comes to uh the the welcoming and open culture. I'm not saying that this is the perfect society.

[00:05:15]Um there is a lot of uh room for improvement. Um you know uh but as a whole uh uh this is by far uh the best uh nation that I've been to um u in that sense.

[00:05:32]Um the next topic is um in general what I want to call law enforcement and I'm not just talking about the police or the um you know the FBI or anything of that sort. um not I'm like in general like you if you go to like all um British colonies the former British colonies whether uh you talk about uh Australia or India for that matter and the United States the laws are kind of the same. Uh you can you know you kind of know what you can do and what you cannot do. Uh but the big difference is the law enforcement.

[00:06:15]um you know in general I think you'll you have a very good chance of getting a fair hearing um in the US when compared to most of the uh other countries. Um I mean I'm I I do know that uh um you know there is favoritism, there is corruption, all kinds of things uh in this country as well. Uh but as a whole um you if you look at this country um you know for an average citizen um you know you can like you can be assured that uh you know if something happens to you you'll get a a a fair justice. This is not the case in uh a lot of other countries particularly in India. In India um if you are wealthy, if you have power, um you can pretty much get away with uh uh anything and this is true for uh many other countries also. So another area which is kind of related to this is like for something like uh condo association for example.

[00:07:20]Um I have some experience with my uh condo back in India and uh you know it's very difficult for the um HOA um to enforce the laws because nobody wants to follow them and uh it's tough to u enforce the law if somebody's violating the law and overall the condo gets uh neglected because um uh nobody wants to cooperate and uh work together and um you know uh improve proof uh the condo which is directly beneficial to uh everybody who lives there. Um you know so in US it's very different. I live in a a building that has 32 floors. It's a huge condo uh but the rules get enforced uh fairly evenly uh for all members and if and the and the condo is maintained very well and uh things go uh very well uh overall. So that's so I think the law enforcement in uh all the different areas uh is something uh that I like about uh the US.

[00:08:29]So the next uh uh topic is um something I really like about US is the opportunity to learn. So I don't I cannot put a finger on the key reason for that. Uh but um one reason could be the the uh the inherent diversity in American society and I'm not talking about um you know diversity in terms of race or um you know gender or anything of that nature but uh diversity of opinions um you know Americans are uh uh willing to share their opinions even though it could be slightly different from the the rest of the group and it's a a great learning experience. So yeah, if you notice a lot of people in this country know don't get their news uh from the traditional news outlets um or the newspapers anymore. Um they are very dependent. They get their news from uh places like YouTube and Substack and uh places like that which is uh which is great. I I do that a lot also because there is there are so many different views. So if you if you think you you have a particular uh point of view, you can start a YouTube channel and uh express your views and there are a lot of people who will listen to you um you know and uh debate with you and so on and this and there are of course very very high-profile um YouTubers and podcasters um um that you can follow and there they have very diverse set of views.

[00:10:02]you get to learn a lot. You get to open your mind. Um and you are not um you know uh what in India you call it the one track mind. Um so you have a lot of opportunity in in the US in that sense to learn. Um I would readily admit that I learned a lot about India once I came to the US u rather than when I was in India you know. So about and this is not not just about Indian politics but about um Indian um history and our culture and our religions. You I learned a lot uh um by reading books. Um a lot of these books are not available um uh in India.

[00:10:47]I mean for some reason there is no demand for such books. Um you know some some of these books might be considered very controversial in India. Um so that might not be the reason why it's not available and Indians generally may not be and I'm just assuming may not be interested in a very very critical look at their uh history u but in the US um every everything is under the microscope and that's a um one way to learn you know so the next topic topic which I I really like is the uh is the fact that uh uh society in general leaves you alone you know uh America in many ways is the uh country when I think of uh u extroverted people you know it's a it's a country where u uh people can talk a lot uh about nothing for a long time you know typically where I'm from in India you only talk um whether it's in your personal life or uh at work you only talk when somebody asks you a question, you just don't like uh talk non-stop, which happens a lot at work. Um you know, just people just do uh talk a lot and a 5-minut call lasts for like an hour, you know. So, uh but having said that uh America also gives people like me a lot of space, you know, leaves us alone. So for example, I can go to a bar uh uh you know sit facing the television set, have a few drinks, talk to somebody next to me for hours, enjoy the game and go home not even knowing the other person's name. uh whereas if you do the same thing in India uh within two hours like even within like half an hour you'll know the person's name where he or she is from uh you know where they are working whether they are married whether they have kids know all kinds of things um so that space is not available uh in Indian society I feel um uh but there is a lot of room for people like me uh in the US although I generally consider US to be the most extroverted uh nation in the world. All right. Um the next one that I like is uh um the fact uh that America um when looking at most other nations, Americans spend a lot of time doing charity work and volunteering, volunteering and in general philanthropy. Um so even at work you see that um uh you know if the the first incident that came to mind is the um is the the tsunami in Indonesia. I think it was like early 2000s. um a lot of people at work uh the place where I was working um they contributed uh money, they sent clothes, you know, things like that which was kind of uh very surprising to me because uh a lot of these individuals probably cannot um even point out where Indonesia is on a map. uh but they were able to immediately rally um and uh contribute in a very meaningful way um to help people on the other side of the planet. And you'll see that uh you know in um in uh in different areas like people uh do walks um uh marathons um baking you know they do all kinds of things to uh um you know collect money and give it for causes that they believe in um and this is very admirable. It's something I really like about the US.

[00:14:41]It's not about just giving money. They do a lot of volunteering work, you know, in um homeless shelters. Um I know people who do a lot of u um um work around uh animals that are abandons and so on. So this is very um uh encouraging. It's something uh it's a great feature of the American society as a whole in my opinion.

[00:15:07]So the the last point I have the last thing uh I really learned and I really like about this country uh is the fact that although it is a it's an empire of sorts a superpower uh the people are very local um you know people if you read a local if you read a newspaper uh it's all about the local news um you know and initially when I came to this country it was a very shocking thing to me because it if you read a newspaper or listen to the news in India uh it's always very global you know it's they talk about in in the past they used to talk about Russia Soviet Union versus USA um you know all kinds of international affairs is what is being covered in the newspapers but very few um um local uh information news is covered and even when people get together and talk uh you will notice that uh not this is not just in India I've noticed this in other places also u very rarely do they talk about very local issues uh whereas the Americans on the other hand uh talk about what is happening uh in in the area immediately around them and I think that's a a great thing because uh you know uh there's a there's a saying that I like uh if you don't uh help yourself how can you help others you know, so um you know, people in this country are always talking about uh things that needs to be fixed in their immediate neighborhood, whether it is uh uh a pothole or a stop sign that is missing or a traffic light not working.

[00:16:51]Um you know, things like that. Um they they're always focusing on things that are around them. Um that is impacting their life directly. um and they are not just focused on uh things that are happening far away from them. Um, you know, I kind of uh u think that that has to change a little bit because um I do believe that Americans have to become a little more uh uh international in in a way uh because the US government I believe is doing stuff um internationally um that can potentially uh damage the reputation of this country, you know. Um so so I would encourage Americans to be a little more pay a little more attention to what is happening uh far away from them because eventually that will have an impact on them. uh but I do wanted to point out that uh uh I love the fact that uh uh such a a big country such a global superpower um the people are very uh much focused on local issues and I think that is one of the reasons why it is a superpower uh because uh uh you have to fix things around you be before you can like think very big you know and lot of other countries do it um you know the other way around like if like for example I'm not criticizing in India but I I would say that in India we can you know people would be sitting and talking about Russia versus Ukraine uh when there is like an open uh uh drain leaking in front of their house uh so these kind of things so they don't like immediately take action uh when things are happening right in front of them but they're very focused on things that are far away from them um you know So it's it's it's not a a a criticism of India.

[00:18:48]Um I do think that India is improving a lot. Um and it's headed in the right direction. But I just wanted to point this out. Um so that's my speech for today. Um I want to wish you a a very happy rest of the week. Um, so for those of you who don't know, I was like I'm sitting at Lao Park. Behind me is a famous love sign. Um, which is one of the most visited places in Philadelphia.

[00:19:19]So anyway, um, I will talk to you next week. Um, have a nice rest of the week everybody. Bye.

[00:19:30]That's the end.