Most of you must have followed the unfortunate shooting of some Sikhs in a Gurudwara in USA on 05 August 2012. What was most striking about the episode was the conduct of the Sikh community in USA. They conducted themselves with dignity and honour. Their conduct has shamed many Americans. I had read many American papers and watched the TV coverage of the date. All communities including Christians, Muslims, Jews etc not only condemned the killings but came out openly in support of a very mature and religious community. Even the mother of the assailant was apologizing to the Sikhs openly.

In all this tragedy the conduct of our Sikh friends had been exemplary. Not one angry word, no burning of buses, no abuse, and no vulgar display of sorrow. Listening to the family members of the victims was so satisfying. No whining. I felt proud of being an Indian in sharing their sorrow.

In North America you do not protest by burning buses, abuses, vulgar display of sorrow, etc because they are all criminal offence as also the case in India. Here legal action would be initiated in case of such incidence and the court would take serious view of it, sometimes based on media video footage. Once your name is in the offenders list, finding a job, a house, a car etc would become difficult as everything is connected to your Social Security Number. May be with Aadhar, in India also things will change.

A few years back, in a protest by thousands of members of Toronto’s Thamizh community, blocked and shut down the Gardiner Expressway for five hours. They were demanding the Canadian government to impose sanctions on Sri Lanka in wake of the civil war. This mode of protest was condemned by everyone in Canada. This protest took away any sympathies the Srilankan Thamizh people had in the minds of any Canadian.

US President Barak Obama insisted that American flags in the capital and at all government buildings throughout the nation be flown at half-mast in honour of the victims of the Gurudwara massacre. May be a token gesture some may claim, will not bring back the dead or justice may not done etc.

Recently there was carnage in Assam and did the Nation ever mourn the dead or fly the National Flags at half-mast? Some sceptics may say that in that case the national flag will mostly remain at half-mast. Is it that we have become so insensitive to such happenings?

In Kerala we saw the protests by a political party when a district level leader was arrested. We saw how the state was held to ransom by a handful of misguided elements. The damage to public property was huge so was the inconvenience to the public in general. May be its true that in a Democracy we get what we deserve and not what we desire.

We need to learn from the way the US as a nation mourned the death of its citizens and how the media and the public reacted to the massacre. The media did not show the deployment of the police forces in and around the Gurudwara so that the attacker(s) if any left would not make use of it. Compare it with what happened in Mumbai (26/11) and also the media frenzy during the recent Assam carnage which may have contributed to worsening the situation. The US media did not show any dead-bodies or dear and near ones of those killed wailing, thereby reducing the pressure on others. Even though there is no media censorship or guidelines, responsible reporting is done by the media. In India, the whole incident would have been sensationalised by the irresponsible media, as was the case in Assam, resulting in worsening the crisis.

In North America, the Universities offer you graduation/ post-graduation programmes, whereas colleges offer you diplomas. In order to attract Indian students, the names of these diplomas are really impressive, but their value in many cases may not even be worth the paper on which the diploma certificate is printed.

Universities in Canada are independent, though they receive government funding. Each university is self-governing and regulates its own programmes, admissions and faculty. In these universities, tuition fees for international students are generally three to five times compared to domestic students. University of Toronto charges $15,900 in the first year for the domestic students for a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce/Business Administration, whereas an international student got to pay $68,750.

Majority of Indian students on Student Visa to Canada study in the colleges. Many have sprung up recently to entice Indian students. In January 2022, three Montreal colleges were blacklisted and shut down abruptly, leaving around 2000 Indian students in the dark. Later reports uncovered severe financial irregularities and other illegal activities which led the Canadian government to revoke these schools’ licences. Canada has a long list of blacklisted educational institutions which students must avoid.

Do not Get Carried Away by the Agents.  Most sensible advice, but least taken by anyone immigrating to North America. The agents operating in India are there to make money and will promise you the moon. They force the students to go for College Diplomas in Canada as the colleges offer them huge commissions. Canadian Universities do not offer such commissions as they are oversubscribed. Please do not be carried away by their guarantees for a sure shot job – Biden or Trudeau cannot guarantee it – so how can an agent in India.

First Semester – Use it to Settle Down and Learn to Communicate.   Indian students are not familiar with the social, cultural and education system of North America. Use the first year to settle down and learn to live and talk the way the locals do. “When in Rome, do what Romans do”. Second semester onward, you can take up part time work.

Sufficient Funds.    To avoid working in the first semester and to amalgamate with the society, $75,000 for the first year is recommended for university students. This includes $50,000 for the tuition fee and the rest for living expenses.

Equip Well.  Get your entire wardrobe based on the fashions prevalent in North America. In case you wear clothes the Indian way, you may get branded as a Fresh Off the Boat (FOB.) Make sure that you develop the habit of using perfumes and deodorants – your body odour is much worse than what you perceive it to be. Heard many complaining that the person sitting next to them walked away – it’s not because of any racial bias, but because of your body odour.

English is not Your Mother Tongue.   Many (including I,) prior to immigration presumed that one’s standard of English is pretty high and one had a very impressive communication technique. In North America, written and spoken English has its own format and methodology. Letter writing follows a different format (refer to it on internet).

Communication Skills.   Written and oral communication skills are given lot of importance in the Canadian high school curriculum, compared to that of India. Most of the subjects are taught with application aspects in mind and is not cramming. An Indian student needs to compete with the local students (majority are much smarter than what you think you are.) To make a test, write a letter to the editor or a small column or a snippet and try and get it published in any newspaper or magazine. In case you fail to do it, your written English needs improvement. Try your hand at a PowerPoint presentation for five minutes and see how much you can impress your friends. The course you are going to undertake will involve a lot of written and oral presentations.

Be Punctual.   You got to be on time for the class, for your submissions etc; otherwise, you are sure to lose marks. Ensure on-time submission, even if the work may be incomplete and may not be of the standard you wished – this will fetch you some marks than getting none. Students here are trained in this aspect from high school.

Be Prepared for the Classes.    Unlike in India, the first class does not begin with introduction, but with the first chapter. Prepare and research based on the training programme given.

Master Statistics. MS Word, PowerPoint and Excel. In case one can master these, you will have a smoother learning. Improve your keyboarding skills to at least 50 words per minute.

Take all Tests.   Most universities want foreign applicants to demonstrate proficiency in English language by taking some test, such as IELTS, TOEFL, comply with the conditions. Some universities may ask for GRE, GMAT, or LSAT tests. Ensure that you qualify in them prior to leaving India – else it’s going to be pretty expensive in both time and money. These tests are an excellent opportunity for students to get a taste of the foreign universities. By demonstrating proficiency in these tests, applicants can have their candidacy established more firmly because the university will have more confidence in your abilities after learning about your good scores in these tests.

Getting Documentation Done.  Get all documentations done prior to leaving India (else you will lose time and money). Most admission committees have not heard of the university from where you have graduated. Even if one is the top student in one’s graduating class, the admission committees have no way of finding an equivalence of your performance. Most universities want the university from where you studied to send them the transcripts of your marks and sometimes the syllabus followed. You can imagine how difficult this can be (I had a tough time getting my wife’s transcripts sent.)

Personal Essays. Almost every standard university application requires the applicants to submit a personal essay of around 650 words. The essays are where you illuminate your character in words and ideas, rather than in numbers and percentages. It is your chance to show universities who you are, what makes you tick, and why you stand out from the crowd. Your essay must cover how your background relates to your university’s programme and your goals. It must provide insights as to why you are applying to that university and that programme.

Remember, Bachelors is 16 years of Education.   In North America, Europe, and Australia, a Bachelors’ degree is awarded after 16-years of formal education. You may be better off completing graduation in India (16 years of formal education) before applying for a post-graduate degree abroad.

Know the Deadlines.   Most graduate programs abroad begin in September. Often admission deadlines for foreign students are in March or April. Applicants should ensure that complete applications with reference personal essays, letters, transcripts, and other supporting materials reach the university well before the deadline. Applying sooner always increases one’s chances for admissions.

Search for the University that wants You.    While you as an aspiring student are nervously applying to universities abroad, administrators at many universities are also nervously waiting for applications to arrive. Remember not every department in every foreign university is fortunate to have thousands of applications. Sometimes some departments in very well-known universities are struggling to attract graduate students and hence are keen to greet all applicants with interest. The challenge for the applicant is to try to determine what departments or universities are eager to have additional students. Avoid applying to Ivy League universities, such as Stanford, Harvard, and other similar universities, which attract applications from the top talent in not just the United States, but from all over the world. There is no shortage of decent, not necessarily top-quality universities in the Western world. In the United States alone there are roughly 5,500 universities or institutes of higher learning where approximately 14 million students are currently enrolled. As a smart aspiring student, you should be able to use the Internet effectively to develop a list of second-tier universities that offer specialisations in your interest. From that list of prospects, you should initiate a dialogue with admission officers to determine information about acceptance rates. If the department of your interest accepts only 5% of the applicants, you may want to expand your search to other institutions where your odds have to be much higher than mere 5%.

Know whom to Contact at the University.          Never send the same letter of interest to every professor in the same department. If you send an email to every listed faculty member on the department’s website expressing your keenness to join their research team, you are most likely not to get a response at all. You should do research to determine who is the right person to receive your inquiry instead of sending mass emails.

Wishing all the aspirants of a North American Degree all the best.

An Indian Army colleague had opined that the Westerner may sound helpful when brown skin is alone in open, but they detest even one occupying a table next to them in a posh hotel and socially too. Well placed whites do not prefer a brownie at their residences; probably that is how we get the taste of Indian caste system universally. Another friend found no one occupying the vacant seat next to him in the bus and the Westerners were standing and traveling. It was not that every one in the bus was racial, may be a few were.

Many of us fail to realise that it is our body odour that drives the Westerners away – an idea many Indian friends will never accept. Many call me a half-white for this or Whitewashed. You need to call a spade a spade. In case one takes it in a positive spirit, then read on.

It will be incorrect to say that all Indians emanate a bad body odour.   In case anyone has a body odour, then the reasons could be as given below. If you are travelling abroad or meeting with foreigners, it is prudent to take some actions as given in the tips, even if you feel that you do not have any body odour.

• Biological Reasons.   India is a very hot country. Due to its hot climate, Indian people have been biologically evolved to have more densely concentrated sweat glands. This allows them to sweat more in order to cool down their body temperature in the midst of very hot weather. In addition, many Indians also have longer body hair, which helps to retain the sweat to help cool down their body. Typically, sweats do not have any smell. They produces odour only upon reaction with bacteria growing on the body. Essentially, the body odour is the smell of the bacteria growing on a body and the bacteria multiplies rapidly in the presence of sweat. Due to more densely concentrated sweat glands as compared to other people, Indians have a higher tendency to produce more densely concentrated sweats, which in turn causes the reaction with bacteria to increase. This increase in multiplication of bacteria causes Indians to have a higher tendency to produce a particular body odour.
• Hygiene Reasons.   Compared to developed nations, India generally has a poorer standard of hygiene and practice. This caused bacteria to populate and multiply easily around and to grow easily in the body of many Indians. Thus, the tendency for bacteria to react with sweat increases causing many Indians to produce a particular body odour.
• Diet Reasons.   Many Indians eat curry, many other spices, onions, salted fish etc as part of their diet . These diet practice can influence the sweat samples and its reaction with bacteria, causing the body to radiate the odour.

Home Cures and Suggestions

• Maintain high levels of personal hygiene, to have baths more frequently using a scrubber and anti-bacterial soap to clean the skin.
• Dry yourself well after baths and use antibacterial and anti-fungal powder.
• Wearing clean clothes and making sure they are washed well to get rid of the odour. Never repeat unwashed clothes.
• Use deodorants and antiperspirants but they may cause skin irritation
• Store your clothes – especially winter clothes – in a closed closet so that they do not adsorb what the kitchen emanates.

A blind spot for smells.   Strange as it may seem, many people with bad body odour are unaware that they smell. Scientific research has shown that some people cannot detect certain molecules. Their nostrils may be able to register the smell of garlic or curry, but not the smell emanating from their armpits.

How to reduce body odour?

• Wash with soap daily, particularly your armpits, groin and feet where there are many sweat producing glands. Washing removes sweat and reduces the numbers of bacteria that act upon it.
• Some people have more sweat and oil producing glands than others. If you sweat a lot, you may need to shower two or three times a day.
• The use of antiperspirants and deodorants should be routine. It’s worth trying a few because they have different active ingredients, and you’ll find some work better than others.
• Deodorants work by masking the smell of sweat with fragrance, while antiperspirants reduce the amount of sweat your body produces. Roll-ons tend to be more effective for heavy sweating.
• Another useful trick is to shave your armpits. Armpit hair provides a greater surface area for sweat to adhere to and gives the bacteria a fertile breeding ground.
• It is also essential to wash clothes thoroughly, particularly clothing that comes into contact with sweaty areas such as socks, underwear and shirts.
• Never wear previous day’s clothes. However clean your body is, the clothes will retain the smell of yesterday’s sweat.
• Ensure that your clothes are stored well in a closet and will not adsorb the smell of masala from the kitchen.
• Ensure that you have a separate set of clothing to be worn while cooking. Never wear these clothes outside.

How to deal with an employee or friend with body odour.   An employee, who recently migrated, joined the pharmacy and he had a severe body odour and the other staff embers (many of Indian origin) could not stand the smell. The tips I gave to the Pharmacy Manager to deal with the situation are:

• The best approach is to think about how you’d want it handled it if it were you and have a short, to-the-point conversation with each of them (separately,) likely at the end of the day so they don’t need to sit there feeling self-conscious for hours afterward.
• Be honest, direct, and as kind as possible. You can even admit that you’re nervous about bringing it up. Start by mentioning that their work has been good and then say something like, “I want to discuss something that’s awkward, and I hope I don’t offend you. You’ve had a noticeable body odour lately. It might be a need to use a deodorant or an antiperspirant or a perfume . This is the kind of thing that people often don’t realise about themselves, so I wanted to bring it to your attention.”
• Likely, the employee will be embarrassed. But he is combative, explain that he needs to come to work clean because of the impact on the pharmacy. You might also suggest a visit to a doctor to find out if there might be a medical reason.
• Be direct, be straight, be as concise as you can without sounding awkward. Most people try to add as much verbal padding as possible when they are trying to tell delivers bad news. Get to the point, make the moment only as long as it needs to be.