Leave the country and go somewhere that appreciates who I already am. America is the land of the free. Everybody is treated equally. The institutions put in place, take discrimination very seriously. Did a baker refuse to bake cake because you were gay? Such prejudice is stuff of national headlines. In India, unless you are brutally murdered and your corpse was cut up and strewn across the city (which is a regular occurrence), your story of discrimination is not newsworthy, let alone have the legal system fight for you in a timely manner. Who needs that headache anyway? Plus, Americans strongly strive to make themselves seem equal; at least superficially. Managers and bosses go out of their way to appear friendly. If you mess up, the management looks for systemic failures and tries to address those before blaming you. You will never be shamed at work for being an irresponsible lazy bum. There’s no such thing as “scolding” here in America.

2、离开这个国家，到欣赏我的地方去。美国是自由的土地。每个人是平等的。体制落到实处。烘焙师因为你是GAY拒绝为你烤蛋糕？这样的偏见上了国家头条新闻。而在印度，除非你被残忍杀害，除非你被分尸到城市各处（这种事情很常见），否则你的歧视经历没有任何新闻价值。更别说法律为你讨回公道了。谁想要那样的头条？

另外，美国人努力让自己看起来公平，至少表面上如此。经理老板们费尽心思让自己看起来友好，如果你搞砸了，管理者会寻找体系上的失败，在责备你之前将问题归咎于此。在工作中，你永远不会因为是一个不负责任的懒人而感到羞耻。在美国没有所谓的“责骂”。

In India, you pay for your mistakes with your dignity and pride. No wonder so many Indians appear so risk-averse. In the US, even though there are real consequences to your mistakes (such as being sued or losing your job), you are still going to be physically and mentally safe. That way, American culture is good.

在印度，你的错误代价是尊严与骄傲。难怪那么多印度人规避风险。在美国，即使你的错误引发真正后果（解雇或丢工作），你的身心仍旧健康。美国这种文化很好。

Since I’m not particularly social and I don’t have any significant attachments, the decision to leave India was easy. Here, I’m able to be myself and still prosper. I have lots of avenues to express myself without fear of persecution. I can fearlessly say what I want on Quora, without worrying about death threats. If I see something online, I can instantly give away my credit card information and buy it without worrying about being scammed. If I was scammed, the credit card company is going to reverse the transaction and bear the losses if any. Heck, I can bring my expensive iPhone outdoors without worrying about being jumped! Or targeted! Or Judged! Most importantly, I worry a lot less about being intimidated, bullied or talked down to. If I feel my person being threatened even remotely, I know that respite is just a tiny 911 call away.

我社交不多，做出离开印度的决定就很容易了。在这儿，做我自己也仍能获得成功。我能毫不畏惧地在Quora畅谈，放心拿出信用卡消费，不担心使用时被骗，如果我被骗了，信用卡公司将会撤销交易并承担损失。我能把iPhone带出户外而不担心被抢！

最重要的是，我用担心被恐吓、不用担心被欺负或被瞧不起。如果被威胁，仅需打一个911电话就够了。

To enjoy this level of basic comfort in India, I’d have to be ultra-rich, ultra-smart and ultra-influential. I’m going to have to befriend many powerful people so that basic necessities are accessible. My parents worked extremely hard to gain that influence in the community. My mom is a doctor and my dad studied an MBA in the best school in country. Both go out of their way to earn power and influence in the community. My mom sees patients at her private clinic for a very low price and my dad is an extremely jovial person who is constantly on the look out for new friends. In return, we have a guy who fixes our computer for free. Another neighbor filled out all forms and did the passport paperwork for the entire family for free. A chauffeur is on call for us every day. He comes by whenever my grandparents need to travel to a neighboring town. If he’s not available, then he’d send one of his trusted friends. Best of all, my mom is able to give all of us the best medical treatment across the country. Do you have a rare blood disease that your doctor didn’t know what it’s about? Ask her and she’ll point you to Hematologist in some remote part of the country. Turns out, this hematologist was her dad’s classmate’s husband. Then, she’d put in a good word so that you don’t get fleeced financially. Do you think all this is fine and dandy? They aren’t. It’s because for a regular guy, finding a reliable computer repair guy is impossible.Public transportation is uncomfortable and crowded. Doctors are negligent. The only alternative to all this power and influence is a disproportionately large wallet or your ability to instill fear. Even then, that chauffeur you hired might be a rapist; or the tenant you brought in was a fraud.
This is the kind of functional-quality basic necessities my parents got access to, through excessive amounts of sacrifice, hard work and schmoozing.

在印度要享受到这种基本舒适，就得很有钱、难免要与权贵交朋友。我父母非常努力工作，在当地说话还是有分量的。我妈是护士，我爸在印度最好的学校就读MBA，两人都尽其所能在社区建立影响力。我妈开了一个私人诊所，为人看病，我爸随和乐观，一直在结交新朋友。其中就有一个能帮忙修电脑的朋友，一个能为整个家庭填表办理护照的邻居。有个司机每天都来接我们，每当我的祖父母需要去邻近的城镇旅游时，他就来了。如果他不来，就会让一个他信任的朋友来。

最重要的是，我妈见多识广，要看什么病，她能推荐全国最优秀的医生。患上一种罕见的血液病，你的医生不知道怎么治疗?问问她，她就会告诉你在这个国家某个偏远地区的血液专科医师。原来，这位专科医生是她爸同学的丈夫，然后我妈说了几句好话，就不用花冤枉钱了

这一切很完美对吗？不对。对于一个普通人来说，找到免费修电脑的人几乎不可能。搭乘公共交通，不舒服又拥挤。医生看病会疏忽。

这些待遇，是我父母努力工作和拍须溜马换来的。

I on the other hand, love sitting in my room and faffing around with Quora. I could never afford this level of comfort my parents achieved if I worked a regular job and stayed in India. I’d probably have to rely on my parents’ influence to get basic stuff done. In return, they would hold a lot of power over me. Societal pressures and obligations kick in. Eventually, I might be forced to get into a mediocre marriage, have a kid I don’t want, work a job I don’t like and be suicidal for the rest of my life. For anything more, I’d have to hustle and I’m no hustler!

而我，喜欢坐在房间里刷Quora。如果工作普通，又留在印度，靠我自己，就享受不到父母得到的待遇。我可能得靠父母的影响力，才会有工作。而他们也会以权势压迫我作为回报，社会压力和义务随之而来。我最终可能会进入一段平庸的婚姻中，生一个不想要的孩子，做一份讨厌的工作，在余生中自杀。

In the US, I don’t have to work for this kind of influence. Nobody really has power over me. I’m free. All I have to do is pay taxes so that the whole system is honed in such a way that my basic exstence and happiness stays without friction. Doing the bare minimum will give me a decent life. Doing something extra could reap exponentially higher rewards. The choice between living a decent life versus living large is entirely mine and not dictated by circumstances or outside pressures.

在美国，我不必如此卖命。没人会给我施压。我是自由的，我所要做的就是纳税，体制就这样被磨练出来，我能用最小代价获得体面的生活。加大努力的话，就能取得更高回报。是过体面一点还是富裕一点，完全取决于我，而不是由环境或外部压力决定的。

It’s pretty much the same story with anyone deciding to emigrate. There is always a choice between being exceptionally talented in one’s home country or being just skilled enough to fill your own niche in a foreign country. Indians move to the US for IT jobs. Americans move to Asian countries to teach English. And so it goes.

移民都是这样。精英才干选择留在祖国，能力一般但想满足自身要求的则出国混。印度人到美国找IT工作，美国人到亚洲教英语。就这么回事。