It's cool to be a desi again in the US after Mobama!

"A note to all fellow colleagues. Indian sweets on my desk brought in my Obama from his India visit." read a funny post on Facebook, posted by one of the several thousand Indian professionals based in the US, who are a part of the all too familiar Indian story now.
A lot has been read into and said about the recent Obama visit to India, the first for any American president attending as a chief guest, at India's republic day celebrations. The Indian community in the US at large has been ecstatic and a sense of euphoria is pervading amongst the Indian people, the likes of which have never been seen to such an extent before.
This was last seen to a certain degree, before the economic collapse of 2008 when India was at the cusp of a global growth story with back-to-back high growth rates in successive years. This was when the term "BRICS" (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South-Africa) was coined primarily in the American media and everyone here in the US was grooving to the tunes of Slum dog millionaire, AR Rehman accepted his Oscar and Manmohan Singh accepted the invitation for being the first state guest of Obama, both in their earthy humility. " Dude! It's cool to be a desi, here in the US!" said a young 2nd generation Indian Banker in NewYork to me. Every panelist from Fox news to CNN, in discussions centered on the American primacy in the emerging global scenario, would bring up the "perceived" threat of competition from India and China.
And then Lehman brothers collapsed, the subprime-mortgage mess created in the US triggered a global economic downslide, the worst, seen in many years. India faltered in its growth story, rocked by several issues from scams to crimes. The "S" in BRICS was the first chip that fell-off and eventually the coined term remained a mere phantom of the past.
But this time, the deal seems to be completely different altogether. From Dewan Street in Chicago to the Indian street in New Jersey, from the Mini-India near Silicon Valley/SanJose to the Gandhi district in Texas the Modi era seems to have dawned. The Modi jacket seems to have been a hit even among the 2nd generation Indian lads who are usually comfortable in their jeans and sweatshirts. There were all sorts of parties, live discussions and neighborhood get-togethers accompanying the weekend that President Obama Visited India. This writer himself was a witness to a flyer in his apartment complex inviting fellow South Asians (meaning Indians) to a night of chips and samosas, sodas and sweets while watching the Republic day parade graced by Mr. Obama. The all-too happy Indian media was replete with live coverage of everything from Obama-Modi's "Chai pe Charcha"to their "Mann ki Baat" together. This was preceded by the rock star concert of Modi in Madison garden, during which he promised a bunch of goodies to the Indian expatriates. In-fact the "Mann ki baat" also got some mentions in NPR (National Public Radio), based in Washington DC, that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. But, the coverage of Obama's visit in the rest of the mainstream American media could at best be termed as "Sparse", as it did not garner much prime-time or space and was largely eclipsed by other domestic issues, and the subsequent visit of Obama to Saudi Arabia.
Sudesh, a grocer at one of the numerous Indian grocery stores crisscrossing across the garden state of New Jersey, largely owned by Guajarati's, beamed with pride in his eyes, his chest swollen he said "Modi hugged Obama, like a solid friend! Look at where he is going to take India next!" referring to the bear hug given my Mr.Modi to Obama.
While Parekh a plastic importer from India, based in the US was a bit more apprehensive, "I hope this culminates in the stopping of my containers from India getting delayed here in the ports, for various reasons. It is bad for business and very expensive!"
But to a friend of this writer, an IT professional based in Houston and several thousands of similar Indian folks spread across the breadth of US the biggest expectation from Obama's visit is the untangling of the very complex mess called H-1B visas issue and the subsequent path to obtaining the coveted "Green card". This particular IT professional friend of mine has been waiting for his Green card since the past 9 years and now has second-thoughts about settling in the US. While the executive action proposed by president Obama on immigration did raise the hopes of the Indian community rocket high, but the subsequent lull on the part of the administration and the lack of clarity in the details, especially to the part concerning legal immigration and per-country permanent visa slots (Indians seem to be the worst-affected of all segments due to this limit) had led to a somber mood.
But the Obama-Modi friendship has changed the mood, raising expectation again especially due to the "visa" issue being raised by prime-minister Modi during his talks with Obama in India. Everyone is looking forwards to drastic changes that will negate the limiting of the number of Green card slots assigned to Indians annually, paving the way for several Indian professionals to settle down, buying homes, changing jobs easily, opening businesses linked to India and traveling to India frequently.
As walk into the building, I see the slowly fading poster in the apartment complex, about an evening with snacks to celebrate the "Modi-Obama" friendship. And it makes me feel hungry, asking for more.