FEATURES • 29 January 2025 • 16:20PM

Immigrant Experiences from India to USA | TheraWin Tales | Ep 3

[Music] [Applause] hey everyone and welcome to therawin Tales your One-Stop shop for exploring the beauty of culture and therapy we have weed together and expert advices and heartwarming stories for you to navigate on your mental health Journey today we have a very special guest uh today we are interviewing swen who was a Indian national came to us for a job and 13 years later he is now an American citizen he has faced a lot of challenges throughout the journey 13 years is a long long time and for everyone out there who has just landed in us or has been here is trying to become an American citizen he's going to share a lot of challenges that was to be very interesting for everyone to hear so without wasting any time let's get started thank you so much for joining us so we generally talk when here a lot more about mental health journeys of people especially immigrants who are moving to us and who have moved to us you yourself has been like such an inspiration right working here helping startups and so many people out here in us right would love to get to know you more and learn a lot more about your journey right why don't you introduce yourself a little more to our audience yeah no uh thank you for having me today very excited to have this conversation uh I mean I learned about I'm beside you uh and which is probably your parent company and Therawin few months ago and very impressed with the solution that you have built now talking a little bit about me um as you rightly said and it's been almost two decades and time flew by I came here to us that I landed in San Jose and i' I've still been around the B area but in 2007 and I was I came through another company and then was on H1B Visa at that time and then went through the entire uh journey of you know as I call it three phases right it's almost like adopt immigrate and responsibilities and I me you might think that why immigrant comes second right why it should come first I in my mind and many of my friends have seen is that when they come here uh they are thinking that they're going to go back for the first 3 four years because uh for some reason everybody has different reasons but the outcome is same that in after fourth year or so they changed their mind that now we we decide to we want to stay here and and that's when I feel that the immigrate phase begins it's not when you land here so I've been through the same journey and uh it's been exciting fulfilling sometimes thrilling and sometimes you know anxious and stressful so happy to chat about that yeah so as I was saying earlier you know it's been quite a journey and you mentioned time just flew by with all of these challenges you have overcome so many things and so many you know challenges over time here so that's just something very inspirational for people to hear about right so uh let Begin by the first phase of the when you got here right what was the initial thought process there what was going in your head you came as you mentioned on H1B which is I think like company oriented so you got a job here and then based on that you got a chance to be here right so tell us a little more about what was going in your mind what was the expectations at the time yeah I guess if I look back and it's been as some time ago but I still feel the excitement in in me of being able to come to us Silicon Valley and work in The Cutting Edge technology and the companies that are kind changing the world right so that was pretty exciting to come here and I was personally very interested in emerging Technologies and that's kind of how I thought of Silicon Valley so that was the good part there were other other parts but the way I think about it it's almost like you transferring a a plant from one land to another land and and the other land is much more fertile but the plant in the other land definitely needs caring watering H and the same thing I felt uh when I came here otherwise if you don't take care of the plant then you know the obvious outcome same thing with us is that you feel stressful anxious and sometimes depressed right I mean that was the early part of the journey I mean adjusting to the new culture um and new Society I mean simple terms right you know the driving left side to right side getting getting used to the the the spoken norms and the unspoken Norms right I think that's that takes time and and you don't have support system of friends or family who you can get this information in in in formal manner so you have to figure everything by yourself everything is different it's just like bank account to credit cards to driving licenses to renting to getting new friends so so that's kind of what the early you know one or two years just goes in that so the most basic stuff is so you know complicated ha as well right so it is a like struggle to just figure it out okay my banking works like this my you know finances work like this all these things are it does take like one or two years and and yeah especially when you're like I was off from a a middle class family in India so I think everything is taken care of for you and then then you are you study and then you get a good job and most things even in my times in India used to get done by a phone call like you call the banker they will come and open an account for you Etc this was very different here so I think it just and then you are trying to settle into a new job so there are so many things going on with you and then you just feel like oh you're always behind and so I think that was kind of the emotional state at that time so like were you really overwhelmed with how things were going absolutely and then um also you are trying to fill the void that you have by uh not having friends and family uh around you right it's the emotional support and being able to talk to them and they knowing your context so they could give you specific advice that would work because even if you were to talk to them on phone they're not here so they don't know this environment so just you have to figure everything out by yourself I mean there are some co-workers that are very helpful and they help you yeah but still most you have to figure out so it's a more of a laner journey overall like okay you have to figure out banking housing all of those things what kind of support did you have at that time I mean as I said I think not like I think the co-workers were very helpful uh but that's about it after that it's just figuring out everything on your own and and that's very different from India where you could focus on your job long hours you could get done get things done over the weekend and here it's not that way so a lot yeah yeah I think in India if you have to do something or get done something for the house you'll wait for the weekend and then get it done here it's a little more complicated yeah but uh tell us a little more about just a acquaintances people living by neighbors for able to talk to them actually it's funny that you ask about neighbors because I mean I used to live in a rented apartment yeah the neighbors never talk to you yeah I mean everybody and that's that's the other piece that I referred earlier was spoken and unspoken norms and different culture like everybody has their life so cut out and planned minute by minute that they don't have time for you um usually I mean you talk you see your neighbors like and say hi hello over the weekend maybe when you cross by in your like Ali that's about it usually it's it's not that true yeah that's something I have been noticing here as well like no one knows each other right even in the same Colony same like Street you'll be living for 20 years and no one would basically be knowing basic details about you right right so that was kind of a strange was it like a cultural shock for you when you came here yeah it is a cultural it was a cultural shock and it is still a cultural shock I mean it's a it's a sad story but it's a true story that there was a professor sitting or living next to my current house where I live and he actually passed out passed out in his house and nobody knew not including me until their owner came and called 911 so that it's just it's just unbelievable unheard in the Indian context right where we come from so it's just uh yeah yeah I mean like that is a very shocking thing first of all uh not know anything what about now like are you able to speak to your neighbors now or has it improved any yeah I think it's it's much more like you know what their interests are you can assess their personalities and you can find common interest to talk to them and initiate a relationship yeah it's very uh like individual Focus individualistic and India you don't like Focus too much on yourself as an individual generally uh how was your experience with that culture coming to you like uh were you able to more focus on yourself was it difficult to adjust to this I mean I think I was you know personality wise I was always more independent so it was I feel like it was much easier for me to be able to adjust compared to somebody who is like much more uh friends family oriented but it is still very hard to adapt to this is like true capitalistic way of living right it's India is like social capitalistic uh but here it's um you know it's not just your work product but also your ability to network and your ability to raise awareness about your contributions and your ability to talk to three levels up in the organization and build their Network and relationship matters a lot more compared to like in other countries or like growth markets where you're truly dependent on your Superior one level up to kind of represent you and help you so that's something that I learned along the way too yeah uh again like another thing I think which might be an issue is uh most of your friends would also be immigrants as well right so they also have their own situations working out so and you I buil a lot of local friends yeah but and they they're really nice and understanding and supporting but they have no experience of going through this journey sry uh so I mean it's it's much hard for them to understand yeah first like why is why is government doing this this doesn't make any sense I I know but they're doing it so yeah true like for them it's just like such an alien concept of like oh you need visa like even people living in us can travel so frequently with Visa in India we can't do that it's such an alien concept to us like okay you can't travel there why we need a visa yeah it's a it is a very difficult thing were you able to maintain any type of long-term relationships here uh with friends acquaintances yeah I've had a couple friends who helped me through that phase and i' I've had strong bonding with them and stayed yeah they are still friends so that that that's been and they have also been in this area so yeah I I think that was the good part okay that's nice okay so uh how difficult was it or uh how did you do that for example let's say someone is in your stage who's trying to build up relationships what would be your advice or what did you think you did trite with these people yeah I I don't know if there is a generic advice it's much more contextual I read the book many times D car of how to wins and influence people but some of that could be applied yeah uh but most of it is like contextual and uh and work and yeah so there is I I don't have any any specific advice that's that's all right but I'm really glad you were able to make friends and especially the longterm one because uh what it seems like is in two months it's can be like all you'll have to leave all your relationships everything and go back and there's a very high chance you might never come back right as well so those kind of challenges is just is still bothersome and very stressful some someone uh I'm really glad you were able to move past that phase and say okay uh so in general how long did it take you to get that uh green card at the end I think um like from the beginning to end it was probably 8 years which is pretty pretty fast but the in terms of the stressful period I think it was like probably three to four years right almost half of it yeah half of that time yeah that's that's that's interesting and what about like citizenship in general like yeah I think after green card I I I think I was able to like feel much more confident uh bought a house and had a kid and uh yeah I think that after that life was pretty smooth and enjoyable like you were able to travel and and go and meet your family that's one thing I didn't mention like I I didn't meet my parents for four years or something like that uh during that early phase because you have to go if you go out of the country you have to go for restamping can't get an appointment the uncertainty around you know approval or rejection and remember this was the time of the great financial crisis yeah right so uh you have to be cautious uh in terms of what you do so I would say that phase probably lasted a a few years and then your kid is growing up right and then that that brings a different set of challenges and you know Joys both right so def yeah W that's that's that's also another fact right because a lot of people you know as you mentioned come with an ambition that okay I'm going to just spend three four years make a lot of money go back to Al right but that doesn't happen and you're stuck here and let's say when you decide after 4 years that okay I want to spend my life here then also you have to wait such a long time to just buy a house there's just so much restrictions building a life is not easy either right so uh you mentioned 8 years is still very early to get a green card what is the general time frame right now my friends um who came along with me it took them anywhere between 12 to 15 years years to get a green card that is another challenge and then citizenship takes another five years after that doesn't matter too much after you have green card but you still um have to abide by certain condition so so uh before you mention you get more confident as a person right so uh before that is there a feeling inside that I'm an outsider um well I mean the culture is very inclusive and the co-workers that have found even with the company that I employed with or the clients that I worked with they they were very experienced of having so many immigrants coming in here so I never felt it that way I always felt welcome and supported so I'm grateful um and this area uh also has a lot of uh other cultures you know cultivating and growing so it's just lucky to be in this area I've heard friends are in other parts of the country they may not be they are not as lucky yeah yeah that's true it's true but uh these are very important struggles that I think everyone will might go through even if they decide to build a lifeare right it's such a struggle to just match everything at the same time and also there's a lot of luck involved here as well right so uh tell us a little more about what happens next you mentioned you had you kid how is that how was you know because Indian kids are raised in a very different environment and we have a lot of different set of values that we want to teach our kid but Western culture has a lot of influence now it's funny I I I would if possible I would like to show this picture that I have on my phone was from my kid's whiteboard he's 13 year old and there's only one line on the Whiteboard which says in caps families life and uh relationships are messy and it's a 13y old so wow okay I I don't know if you will expect that from a inia right like so to your point I think it's a joy to be to see them growing and and raising them and helping them learn different skills but then it's also another set of adaptation that the culture we grew up or at least I grew up in India was much more hierarchical respectful uh focused on education academics right it's it's very different here in terms of what Society expects you or what what you want to be right in terms of being a wholesome kid you know learning different skills I think this is probably too strong a word but obedient versus influence and being in kids here especially the teenagers think that they're as grown up and they needed to be treated they need to be treated with respect and and that's kind of a shock to the person who has seen many generations before him respect each other and follow the hierarchy and follow the rules that your parents and grandparents lay out for you versus here it's just like wild wild bestest right yeah especially with uh social media and gaming changing the behavior and how they spend their times it's been another interesting which I'm still living through that's that's nice actually like of course having a kid is obviously very joyful you have a family uh you feel like you belong here and so on but yeah raising a kid in US compared to what how you have grown up in India is just extremely two different things right and uh you mentioned about independence of kids like kids here are a lot more independent I think maturity comes a lot more earlier here because of the influence that you get outside as well when they are kids they have uh they go to school they face a lot more American audience Western audience who has that influence but at home they have that Indian Housewives right so there's a lot of Duality going on where you have to like constantly not just for kids I think even for adults also that might be true that there's a lot of duality in terms of how you behave and uh treat others at home orse is that in outside your house right so how did you deal with that especially with your kids yeah I guess um again I I say like I don't have an specific answer but I I feel like it's you're almost like a pendulum you know on the one extreme you feel that you have full control of everything and and other side like the next hour you might feel that you've lost control of everything uh and you don't know what what is happening right with your kid and family and and they are also influenced by a lot of their peers and how everybody else is doing and what what they want what they like is is very different so you're just just trying your best to adapt and learn and you know grow with them yeah yeah that's true so how difficult was it to like come to you know terms with this behavior and this is how I will have to parent Now versus way I was that's a great question and I honestly don't know that I fully come to TS with that okay okay so you still have like some sort of Indian parenting skills that you're applying trying to apply at least I was really good with academics in in school and college life so I I almost feel like you know if you don't get A+ grade then you're not good enough right yeah and that's not how they want to live so just always that's one example but then there are many others right in terms of healthy eating or spending time too much time on YouTube or Netflix things like that I I would I always think in my mind like I wouldn't do this if I was him but I'm not him so yeah so you can't really of course like in India as you mentioned it's a lot more about obedience and hierar key level so people would still kids will still listen to you a lot more but yeah I don't know I I mean I am or I I'm only thinking about the life that I grew up now it may be changing who knows I don't know of course like kids are like a lot more different now so there is a sense of some Western culture that has been in India as well because I've seen my uh you know friends kids or like neighbors and other people who are grown up they have a lot more more Liberty now compared to how let's say I was grown up so that's why I wanted to know a lot more about you know how you deal with it how you deal with parenting in general right I mean I like there are a lot of seminars and resources that school provides how to work with your team how to influence your team or even the work benefits have some of these and I never used to actually go to those webinars or read those tips when I was growing up I never needed any like any anything like this right like I I would follow what my parents asked me to do but then I realized my wife started going to that one of those uh a few of those event and she asked me to join and then I realized that yeah these these could be actually useful I mean they take too longer time for the message that they deliver but there is there is some good nuggets in those those resources that school provides or your work provides in terms of I still feel like I mean they should just do it this is the right thing to do yeah but they don't so but that's that's good because like you know it's important to that you are you are the one who's adapting and learning okay uh you know and in India we don't do that in India we ask the kid to adapt and learn that okay this is the way we grew up this is the way the culture has been you need to follow that uh you mentioned earlier that uh you your son was born before you got the green card right so uh what was your you know thought process in during that time because you didn't have a green card you mentioned there was some sort of lack in confidence as well as a person in general so was there any type of fears involed because I can imagine starting a family is a big step right yeah I I guess I mean was kind of the stage of life that you were in and then age and biology is another factor that yeah I don't think it was I mean we we knew that anything could happen in life but then another thread of Life needs to go on and that's kind of what was our thinking that's that's nice but uh did being in a foreign country uh has any influence on it or in the sense that again it comes to the support system right that you you you don't have a regular support system like your parents or her parents to help you through that journey and then on top of that you have doctor appointments that you have to go in middle of your work or her work schedule and just very disruptive and because doctors don't work on the weekends true yeah and then I guess you can't bring your family here to to support you even when your child is born right you're mostly on your own taking care of everything including pre-birth after birth and then you know the sleepless nights you so you're trying to balance your job your responsibility to family and then on top of that the same like visa and yeah immigration related issues so the support systems get slightly weak but it does like you know bring a lot of fear inside and okay how will I manage and so on but those are General fears as well as a father or new new father yeah I don't know if you if you get so much time to think about all this like you're just like getting through the day like there's so many things to take care of so you you have no time to reflect back right yeah right that's that that seems fair I think during that time you have a lot going on anyways don't think about okay immigration or anything else what happened when you got green card after the sun was born that how what was the you know environment like at home uh I think I think as I said like right after the green card I think it it just became much more enjoyable you you now lived in the country you know the way Etc so yeah I think that was probably the best like period of you know enjoying the land of opportunity as they say yeah so I would say that yeah yeah that that that's good actually because it's a huge milestone right such a huge milestone as well such as aspirational thing to get because especially for immigrants that is one thing that everyone's after but you mentioned also like there are still some restrictions on green card I a citizen now so it's not not a challenge but yeah for for green I think is that you you can't stay more than 6 months out of the country or to inform the government so that they can know that you're out of the country right right right so uh tell us about a little more the citizenship aspects of things like after Green Card how long it took yeah I think it took us like almost 5 years to get the citizenship funny that uh our citizenship interviews and the oath taking ceremony was during pic so I think it's it's a big day for anybody to get citizenship there a lot of Celebration but for us the ceremony was in the parking lot everybody got out of their car with masks on the officer was speaking on a loud speaker and that's how we all got the oath so it's it's it's it's a Memory in your mind always it was kind of a little bit of nonevent I would say in terms of citizenship uh compared to the Green Card celebration and the prior yeah phases yeah yeah but uh it took you or 13 years I guess the average time would be 25 years it could be yes yes if you are in eb2 category or things like that right yeah that's such almost a lifetime Lifetime right I mean you're you come here when you are 25 to 30 and then for the entire almost your adult working life just waiting for that being care I saw a funny post I think one of our College mates he works here and he got his number plate like the California number plate you can customize it so he changed it to say H1B for life that's that's nice wow okay but uh have you gotten your number plate customiz no I'm not into that but I think a lot more freedom and lot more ability to do things that you like right I changed from classic Consulting to more working in start of more ability to take risks yeah and just doing things that you like compared to sticking with your job that would keep your H1B alive right that's kind of uh what I feel the the freedom and the Liberty after green card and citizenship absolutely yeah this tell us a little more about how many startups you're working with so far like yeah I mean I think I have been working with probably a ton but in the campus there are around 40 startups in the Japan Innovation campus right there are office members so depending on who wants to support I usually am able to uh either help them personally or get the right Network to help them right whether it's the venture capitalist or Partners or customers or any sort of product Market fit insights like you always learning about what these Founders are trying to build and how they are changing the world a bit by bit right everybody's taking their short and solving a problem that they believe is crucial for society to make progress right so I it just inspires me to be around these people and uh you know help them learn from them you know make friends and build community with them so I think it's just yeah that's that's nice because you know uh living in sakon Valley you cannot escape the startup ecosystem in general but uh seems like you have a is your job very high paced or is it slow is it how oh I mean it's multitasking doing so many things at a time so pace is pretty high and you're you're physically tired but you're mentally very engaged and energized right so some I think that's how I feel many days right right is that does not get stressful anymore uh like if it does what type of support systems now you look up to yeah in terms of uh like stress I I think one is you get better as uh at coping with stress right as time progresses because you kind of expect things to happen and you become ready for unexpected in some ways but I mean the stresses are part of everybody's life I don't know for the coping that I do anything specific as that's right I think I should like I was looking at the health app yesterday yeah from Apple yeah and I didn't realize that they have the mental health questionnaire now I was like very surprised that mental health is now becoming like top of the agenda for everybody I think I should work on it but it's just it's just how you grew up that this was not a thing yeah that's so it's just not the default option uh on your mind when you get stressed or are anxious right so so I think it's just changing the wiring of your brain and making that a default option that's kind of what I think I need to work on that's true but what you said like in India or let's say in South Asia in general we are not really taught how to deal with certain things especially stress if you for example if I go to my parents and tell them okay I'm stressed they would just say oh just stop thinking about it right so that's that's a common advice you get right don't think anything negative but uh yeah like I'm glad now you have some understanding at least that okay we need to deal with certain things in certain ways uh what about before this when you were going through so much struggle did you have any coping mechanisms back then were there any support systems back I mean no and I I I didn't even know that I should look for support systems or anything like that so it's just I look back and I feel that if there was things that were there uh like easily accessible I could tap on them and it came to my mind that this could be a for the life those years could have been with much less stress and anxiety what I did yeah true true I think there's a lot of Education that goes in here and the just the awareness of it is missing plus sometimes you are so in such a situation where you are so overwhelmed with you cannot make mental health or yourself a priority anymore uh take some time I think just to understand that this is a priority um are you able to do that now yeah I think much more and also the resources are easily accessible and there's a lot more talk in the society media also as I said you know practically from my kids's uh like school and and the resources that I get from work everybody talks about mental health right as I said even Apple started looking at mental health so I think yes now it's it's more like yes there is something there that I could go and tap into but I haven't actually spent time on on that to figure out what is it that would help me in what scenarios what situations of course there is chat and you can ask anything but the point is that you should find time to do that that's true but it seems like now you're a lot more open to the idea itself like okay but I think it takes some time to understand okay these support systems are needed there are some mechanisms that I need to bring in place just to support my life in general right so the amount of stress you have can be reduced through these mechanisms and that awareness I think is now increasing but still there is a lot to do there right uh so uh what changed that you know what brought these Concepts in your life no I mean I I guess it's it's more organic than you know a one incident or a two that made me change my mind but uh the more I I saw people being positive and how they react to situations by like around you uh seeing people what's happening with them and how they react just make made me learn that few of my workers got co-workers got cancer or or things like that but they were still very positive and hopeful and and things like that uh so that kind of raed like a question in my mind is like one is what is happening which is beyond your control but how you react and how you how you respond is is you can control a little bit of that and and that brings you in a better state of mind yeah and the time that you have you are able to better enjoy that compared to like being stressed and all the time because something didn't work out the way you wanted it to be it could be professional or personal right so it's a lot more about your outlook on the world like okay this happened fine I'll deal with it in a positive way just dealing with things is not something we taught as well you it takes some time to learn about it right uh would you recommend something uh like this like throughout the challenges that you have mentioned a lot of people go through the same thing right would you recommend this type of help to someone like this or is it a particular stage where you think this is the most helpful like I feel like this should become kind of part of their lifestyle right and it shouldn't be that you go to this when you need it if it becomes part of your life then you naturally become much more calmer and much more uh controlling of your own reaction and and how you respond so your personality your behavior your mind becomes calmer maybe with these uh tools and techniques that that is available now true I agree yeah that's true I think uh there's a lot of uh you know understanding that goes into here right just the lot of psycho education about how you deal with yourself and things happening to you that's really important to and as you said like it you need to make it a lifestyle you need to bring it in one of your four values that I'm going to take take care of myself so that is something which not a lot of people are able to do even though it's so difficult right I want to first of all understand within all this since you didn't have a support system right what drove you and those times like what got you out of it not just from a mental health perspective of a stress was there and we understood that will be there but what drove you to keep pushing and just keep trying again and again and not just go back yeah I think going back was not a bad option I mean kind of what I really wanted to do for the first four years but then as I learned more about us and career and technology and I've personally been very very interested in you know new tech all my life so I realized that there is no better place to build a career like this other than us and maybe Silicon Valley that realization drove me right that yes uh somehow things need to work out for me to kind of build a career here yeah that ambition that desire uh just kept me going I think uh yeah that's great because these are certain things which are you know you have to hustle a lot and it takes a lot of ambition a lot of drive that you know gets lost somewhere when you are in a situation like this but uh I'm glad that drive was so strong that you were able to push through all of this because now also like these days you see a lot of people just talking about going back to India right or just staying in India is a lot more easier option India has grown up a lot like on in terms of startup ecosystems and just corporate in general uh and there has been a lot of things that have developed over the years uh for someone coming to us now what kind of options do you think there are like do you think it's still a viable option or if there are differences in terms of what they value what those values would look like in terms of staying in India versus staying in US yeah I I and we have this you know discussion all the time in our house friends and family are still back home parents are not getting younger by the day and you lose many life events right siblings the nephews the nieces married have kids and uh and you have never met them right for many many years whereas when you grew are growing up you were playing with them almost every day right so you miss a lot of things and even when you go back to India for two three weeks you can't catch up with everybody uh everybody's busy with you know their lives things like that right so that's one side of it that always comes to your mind and the other side is you know the the life you built here you have great education for your kids and you have a successful career and you enjoy the work that you're doing brings purpose to you so it's just always like trying to balance and see which side is more uh forceful or impactful in that particular day or situation but yeah for for I feel personally and this is my personal opinion that for technology career uh working with emerging tech companies in a concentrated like space of you know 50 miles this is as good a place as any in the world and I still love the emerging Tech the new tech and want to be part of it so that's kind of what still keeps me around here which is kind of has been my ambition even since the beginning so the the founders the the ecosystem that is here comes up with something new and world changing all the time so if you want to be part of the action I think this is this is my desire and that's why I am still here that's amazing I think there's a lot more happening here so according to you you do think there's a good chance and good future staying here as well of course I think India is still an option but most people do you think for most people it's still a good idea to come to us and work here at least yeah I think I think it's a personal choice but I feel like uh working here learning from the founders and uh thinking like them is always it changes your perspective on your professional life I and who knows what happens in future but India is growing so fast that now it's changing pretty rapidly and there are a lot more opportunities in India I think this this place is as good as anybody else or as it was many years ago yeah yeah so like I think uh then that case I think the recommendation would be at least to come here spend some time so that you get an exposure type of things okay this is how things are built here right that would be a really valid option for most people right I think on that note that's all the questions I had so far incredible insights overall like so much to learn so much to experience Through Your Eyes it just it's great thank you so much s for joining us today I hope you really have a lot of fun with working with startups here and of course raising your kids make building family right I wish you all the best for all of it thank you so much again for joining us yeah thank you for having me and I really enjoyed the conversation so and I wish you good good luck with tan Health oh thank you so much

About the guest:

Meet Swen—an Indian immigrant who came to the U.S. on an H1B visa for work and, 13 years later, is now an American citizen. His journey is one of resilience, adaptation, and growth. From navigating the cultural shock of moving to a new country to dealing with the long and often stressful immigration process, Swen has faced it all. Over the years, he has built a successful career in Silicon Valley, worked closely with startups, and even embraced the complexities of raising a child in a dual-culture household. His insights into the immigrant experience—from the emotional struggles of leaving home to the challenges of building a life in a new land—are both eye-opening and deeply relatable. Whether you’re a new immigrant or someone considering the move, Swen’s story offers a real and honest look at what it takes to not just survive but thrive in the U.S.

Episode Briefing:

This episode of TheraWin Tales features Swen Mehta, an Indian immigrant who has been living in the US for 13 years. Swen shares his experiences of coming to the US on an H1B visa, adjusting to a new culture, and eventually becoming an American citizen. He also discusses the challenges he faced along the way, such as finding a job, navigating the healthcare system, and raising a child in a foreign country.

Key Questions Answered:

  • What were Swen's first impressions of the US?

  • What were Swen's biggest struggles as a new immigrant?

  • How did Swen navigate the American immigration system?

  • What advice does Swen have for future immigrants?

  • What are Swen's views on US immigration policy?

  • What are the pros and cons of working in the US?

  • What challenges did Swen face adapting to American culture?

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