Globalisation, Information Technology and Asian Indian Women in US Author(s): S.

Uma Devi Reviewed work(s): Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 37, No. 43 (Oct. 26 - Nov. 1, 2002), pp. 4421-4428 Published by: Economic and Political Weekly Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4412776 . Accessed: 14/04/2012 18:10
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Technology Information Globalisation, in US Women Asian Indian and

The experiences recounted in this essay of Asian Indian women on an H-IB or H 4 visa highlight the deepening contradiction between economic restructuringand the emancipatory potential it offers women in the labour market. The women respondents in this study are either confined to the domestic sphere in conformanceto ideals of 'Hindu' motherhood or sufferfrom the assumptionof the labour market that an ideal worker has no family - an assumption that makes their software programmer husbands in contrast rise to dizzying heights in their profession. What emerges in turn is the perpetuation of masculinity myths and gender stereotypes in guiding behavioural and thought patterns even in a hi-tech sector as the software industry.
DEVI S UMA
lobalisation integrates the world economy through more trade and intensified factor mobility. Movement of people from one country to another links them to distant localities in such a way thatlocal happeningsareshaped and in turn shape events occurring miles away [Giddens 1994]. It transforms local and even personal, contexts of social experience... local lifestyle and habits have become globally consequential. Understanding globalisation as a process of deterritorialisationand global relations as [Scholte 1999], constraints supraterritorial of geography on social and cultural arrangements recede [Waters 1995]. In this paper we want to study its impact on gender relations in the case of the movement of software professionals from India to the US. The success stories of the Asian Indian software professionals [alumni of the famous Indian Institute of Technologies (IIT)] in US are legendary. The incredible riches its alumni have run into, riding on the informationtechnology revolution has capturedthe attentionof not only the media but also the world of finance. Equally well known is the fact that Indian or Chinese CEOs arerunningone-fourth of all technology firms in Silicon Valley andthatamong the 100 wealthiest people in the US hi-tech industry five are Indians. As a result, the Indian American high techs have become politically an important group to reckon with. Their contributions to the recent elections in US both at the state level and the national level in terms of money was not a small sum. It came close to $ 3 million (when the total sum spent for the election

is supposedto be $ 3 billion) [Rajghatta design company) based in New York is yet another name to reckon with in this group 2000]. The Asian Indian Women and IT in US What is the story of the Asian Indian women in IT in the US? They are not a We group. canatleastidenhomogeneous with of tifythreegroups womenconnected this sector:(i) the high profilesuccessful (ii) professionentrepreneurs thesoftware als on H-1B workvisa(iii) thedependent wives (on H-4 visa) of male software on professionals H-lB visa. The focus of thispaper on thesecondandthird is group, the not only becausethey outnumber first group, but also because less is known the aboutthem.Moreover, presentauthor had directlyinterviewedsome of them. AmongthehighprofilesuccessfulAsian the Indian womenentrepreneurs, namesof Cisco's vice-presidentJayashreeUllal, Yahoo contenteditor SrinijaSrinivasan, VinitaGupta, chairwoman Digitalthink's Smart ModularCompanyfounder Lata Krishnan, RightWorksCEO Vani Kola, GM and current formerHewlettPackard CEOof Tioga SystemsRadhaBasu,Gita Lal, CEO of the Austin based Daman newly choConsulting,Pooja Panjwani, of sen vice-president PeopleStreet,Camwho bridge,Massachusetts, was formerly for of the director Web architecture CVS, and others like the sisters Patel raising capital for an online venture called for an Pardesi.com, e-commerce portal the Indiandiasporaare now very familiarin the Silicon Valley. Chayya Kapadiaof Hautedecor.com, (the online interior
[Banerjee 2000]. When asked how difficult it was for them, as women, to get to the top, the answers were similar, viz, they do not consider that anything can stand in a woman's way if she is competent and is not meek. If Indian women do not make it to the top in the IT world, according to them they have to take the blame on themselves. Thus, the successful in this arena seemed to have transcended gender. For example Radha Basu says, "I am very thick-skinned. If anyone has a problem with my ethnicity or gender, it is his problem. But the company must not suffer because of that"(quotedin Banerjee 2000). However, the crucial point for us is the hours of work one has to put in as a worker in this industry.When we hear RadhaBasu or Asha Jadeja we get an idea of the work hours. For example, Radha Basu makes every employee feel thathe or she is making a real contribution to the company, and provides them with such perks as futons for taking quick naps in the office, video games and massages, not to mention health foods and laundry services ("if you are workingin the office from morningtill midnight,whencan you get yourlaundrydone?" she asks). According to her the best way of keeping up with everyone in the company working is Management by Walking Around [Banerjee 2000]. Asha Jadeja warns those desirous of working in this industry that, they must be ready to work for 24 hours x365 days [Banerjee 2000]. This raises certain other questions about the new culture of work. The modern

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corporations of course offer a sense of belonging and personal identity, but as a Californiabased psychotherapistPhilipson (2000) says, there is a catch here, because ultimately corporations are interested in profits and if people invest all their energies, time, and emotional needs in their jobs, there is little to fall back when the workplace fails them. This has severe political and psychological consequences. They are likely to feel betrayed. Moreover, such a system assumes that an ideal workerhas no family (irrespective of whetherthe workeris a man or a woman). Can such women become role models for either men or women, who do place value on caring? We shall be discussing this presently. The number of women in high-tech we are told still remains low. But it is commonly attributed to resistance among women about technology or to lack of exposures. "Women are made to think of engineering as an unglamorous field completely dominated by men" [Banerjee 2000]. The numberof women in computer science far from increasing is found to be actuallydeclining for this reason.We would however like to contest this explanation in the light of our findings about the attitudes of Asian Indian women in the US, based on interviews of those who have recently gone there on H1B visa as IT professionals or on H-4 visa as dependent wives of the male counterparts of the former. This is because for every one successful Asian Indian woman in the IT sector in US, there are hundreds of other women - trainedsoftware engineers coming as dependent wives of the male computer professionals. No doubt there are a few out of these women, who are lucky enough to get a job in the US, but their lives are different from the women millionairesses and billionairesses in this sector, described above. Before going into the debate, we would like to present below a few narratives of the lives of Asian Indian women who have come to the US in the wake of the IT revolution pieced together from our interviews,2 giving an idea of their life-style.

Women on H-4 Visa Dependent Wives

We begin with the story of Sunita who is on an H-4 visa - as the dependent wife of the male software professional Gautam on H-1B visa. Gautam came to Palo Alto, California, in 1998 from Bangalore - the

hi-tech city of India- on H-1B visa to work in a computer firm in the 'Silicon Valley'. Having completed his two-year contract with this firm, while in Boston, on his own he found out another employer, and got sponsorship from him for a salary of $ 65,000. Gautam is one of the 63,900 Asian Indians who entered the US on H-IB visa during May 1, 1998 and July 31, 1999 (forming 47.5 per cent of such entrants numbering 1,34,400). The median wage for an H-iB visa worker was $ 45,000. More than 83 per cent of them were between 20-34 years, the median age being 28.3 "Last year 29,640 Indians arrivedin US underH- B visa programme" ( 11,025 more people thanthe largestgroup from Britain).4 A larger percentage of them come from four south Indian states ofAndhra Pradesh,Karataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. As per a newspaper report, "of all the venture capital money that was pumped into Massachusetts companies, 50 percent went into a company thatwas either funded by an Indian, or where one of the partners or Chief Technical Officer (CTO) was Indian".5So it was not difficult for Gautam to find an employer in Boston. He rented an apartmentin Burlington, near his office in the 380-unit complex called the Lord Barons complex where more than 75 per cent of the tenants were Asian Indiansneedless to say mostly H-1B visa holders. "It is a way-station of sorts for the newly arrived, who rent for a year or two, then buy homes."6 Lord Barons is only one of such apartmentcomplexes in Boston and other cities of US (where computer firms have mushroomed) where more than 75 per cent of the occupants are the H-1B visa Asian Indian workers. Fax and Commons and Weymouth Commons are the other units around Boston. This is in marked contrast to the earlier Indian immigrants to the US who normally stayed with relatives or friends till they could find or afford a place forthemselves [Helweg andHelweg 1990]. Here it is usually, the company (their employer), which helps them to locate a residence. These are sophisticated 'ghettos'. This time before Gautam went home to Kerala (India) his parents had advertised for a suitable alliance for him. Thus there were many matrimonial cases waiting for his selection. Besides offering huge dowries - a house in the heart of the capital city Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), 150 sovereigns of gold, etc - parentsof eligible brides (below 25 who had passed BE

electronics or had completed Master of Computer Applications (MCA) were waiting to give their daughter in marriage to this coveted groom. Gautam and his parents chose Sunita - 24 years old (four years younger than Gautam), charming and an MCA. Her parents had been in the Gulf for more than a decade, so there was no doubt that Sunita, their only daughter, would inherit the accumulated savings, gold and all other property of her parents. Gautam had been to India for only four weeks within which period his marriage to Sunita was solemnised in the biggest and most prestigious 'KalyanaMandapam' (wedding hall) in Thiruvananthapuramthe guests for the wedding lunch running into an approximate 5,000 people, served with the four types of pudding, besides a host of other curries and delicacies. Gautam returnedto Lord Barons apartment complex in Boston accompanied by Sunita. Although, the 16 hour flight from Mumbai left her with a jet lag, the smell of curryandthe sight of.otherIndianwomen in 'salwar kammez' in Lord Barons made her feel at home and comfortable. Gautam had told Sunita about life in the US, she had also gathered information from other friends, married to professionals there. Back in Kerala in Sunita's parents' palatial house in the posh colony of therewas a full-time Thiruvananthapuram, maid, and a driver. Sunita had learnt driving, as that was a requiredqualification for any girl wishing to marrysomeone in US. There were uncles and aunts in and around visiting them often. Thiruvananthapuram, Marriages of cousins and friends had to be attended.Then there were the important festivals like 'Onam' when the extended family gathered, besides the visits to the local temple on auspicious days. Sunita had never washed the utensils, vacuumed the house or washed or ironed her clothes. She had enjoyed all the luxuries gulf-returned parents could offer their children. She had never worn jeans before. Now she started wearing jeans - an exciting experience of being really modern, but to her friends and relatives back at home she would explain that this was only to protect herself from the extreme cold, and also 'not to stand out as an odd person in the crowd.7 However, she continues to apply the bindi on her forehead.8 When she landed in Lord Barons' apartment, she found the house centrally heated, the kitchen had a dishwasher, a cooking range, etc, but all the same she had to cook for herself, wash the utensils, clean the

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washthe clothesin the washbathrooms, machine. Of course Gautam was ing to alwaysprepared help. But she felt that leaveshomeat 7.30 am and poorGautam is backonly at 7.30 pm, besides what is she going to do the whole day, hence she volunteers do all the choresherself.In to themorning prepares quickbreakfast she a forGautam packssomefood left over and frompreviousnightfor him to take with himto office. Afterhe leaves she eats her breakfastand startscleaning the house, washingclothes,etc. Then she opens the and computer, ontotheinternet, checks gets her mail. Invariably there would be one fromherparents, wouldclickreplyand she the give the detailsof whatever happened previous day,whatshehadcookedorread andso on.Thenshewouldbrowsethrough all the vernacular (Malayalam) newspapersonline to get the local Keralanews. She goes to samachar.com reading for the onlineEnglishnewspapers fromIndia.By thetimeit wouldbe 11.30amandsherings friendin the apartup another Malayalee mentnamedVinita.They chat for sometimeanddecideto go alongwithtwo other Malayaleegirls - wives of H-1B visa holders- to K martand Stop & Shop at 3 pm so that they can be back home to finishcookingby the timetheirhusbands come home.In the meantime Sunitatakes herbathandlooksintotherefrigerator for leftoverfromthe previousday and heats it up in the microwaveand finishes her lunchwatching serialon theTV. She lies a downwitha bookin handandfalls asleep. Whenshe wakesup it is already2.30 pm andshe remembers appointment her with Vinitaanddressesup andhas a cup of tea beforejoining them. They returnby 5 pm which gives her barelytime to cook an elaboratedinner. AfterGautam arrives 7.30 pmtheyhave at dinnerwatchingthe millionaire serialon the TV, talkingwhateach did duringthe day. She washesthe utensilsquicklybecause at 9 pm everyday,when it is 7.30 am in India,herparents give thema call. Sunita's parents have downloaded a on programme their computerfrom the web, whichenablesthemto makea telephonecall to the US at the rateof a local call in India.The conversation goes up to half an hour,aboutthe food she cooked today,the relativesand friendswho had visited her parents, the events in the of neighbourhood, marriages her friends andso on. By the time Gautam wouldbe yawning,theyhaveto go to bedby 10 pm sincehe hasto leaveveryearlyfor office.

In Kerala,Sunitaonly got up frombed at 7 in the morning with the housemaid waitingwith bed tea for her. Now she is forced to get up at 5.30 am to make tea for Gautam.Sunita and Gautamgo for swimmingin the evening, she also joins her friends to go to the gym. On the weekendsthey go out or hire videos of Indianmovies from the Indianstore and view it till the early hours of Sunday morning.On long holidayslike the ones for 'Thanksgiving' Christmas, and or they some of Gautam's friendsrenta housein some place of'tourist attractionin US. Sunitathrough webtriesto finda good the deal for the price of an air ticket, if the placetheyarevisitingis far.The wives of Gautam's friends Sunita and cooktogether and have fun. Sunitais looking forward to going for skiingduringwinter.9 Jyotsna,a highlytrained computer programmer,is here on an H4 visa as a of who holds an dependent her husband, H-1Bvisa.Beinga TamilBrahmin woman she jealously wants to protect her 'brahminhood'. also wants to be an She idealmother. Theirson is threeanda half years old and she does not want to take a job till he is ten yearsold. She wantsto to give 'quality-time' her son. Jyotsna's motherwas a teacherin Chennai,so as a child she felt that she did not get her mother'sattention,that is why she does not want to depriveher son her 'quality time'. Anyway, her husbandis earning $ 70,000 per annum - equivalent to Rs 3,15,000atthecurrent of exchange rate of approximately 1:Rs45 -40 to 50 times $ more than her fathercould earn even at the time of his retirement. wants to She savemoneyandreturn Indiato maintain to herculture intact.We mustremember that this is the responseof a recentarrivalin theUS. If theliterature theAsianIndian on in immigrants US is anyproof,mostof the immigrants expresstheirwish to go back to Indiaand keep planningto do so but inactuality neverdoso forvarious reasons, andpartlybecausetheyfind it difficultto adjustbackhomeafterhavinggot usedto the lifestyle abroad. Lizzy, anothermarriedwoman on H4 visawitha child,is different fromJyotsna, becausesheis a Protestant Christian partly fromKeralaandalso becauseherparents were for morethana decadein the Gulf. Hermother workedas a nursein theGulf. Lizzy hadworkedfor a yearanda half in Indiabefore her marriage. She does not wantto go in fora paid till herdaughter job is grown up. She mentioned that her

husband's family is more traditional. It was interesting to hear her say that she and her parents after going back to Kerala felt thattheir relatives do not cook an elaborate meal (may be because of poverty). In the Gulf, as well as here now in the US, she cooks a more elaborate meal. Most of her time is taken up by the household chores. On weekends they go to a MalayaleeChurch in Boston. They also regularly pray at home. It is importantto note that some of the homemakers exaggerate their role and try to spend more time than is required in cooking and other household chores. She mentioned that her parentsnever discriminated between her and her brother. But when asked why she does not want to go in for a paid job, she made it appear as though it was her choice. However, Lizzy also mentioned that work life in the US is very demanding. Quoting the example of her daughter's teacher in the nursery class, she mentioned that the teacher has to work very hard and could not take her job easy. She was appreciative of the independence the American women enjoyed, but felt they were going too far, in their demand for freedom. Sunita, Jyotsna and Lizzy or their parents back home may not know that there is an increase in the number of battered women among the H-4 dependent wives (reported by Sakhil?- a South Asian women's organisation based in New York to help battered women). There were 150 complaints lodged in the last six months by women with H4 visa and what is worse is that they are seen as a growing class. The legal right to stay in US, of the wives of the thousands of H-1B software engineers andprogrammerswho enter US every year, depends on their wage earner husbands. Such women are 'held' prisoners by immigration policies that give their husbands complete control over their lives [Chaudhry 2000]. Suiita, Jyotsna and Lizzy can feel a little reassured that by reauthorising the 1994 ViolenceAgainstWomenAct, theUS Senate is creating a 'T' or 'U' visa "that allows people who have suffered mental or physical violence - and who have cooperated with police and prosecutors - to live and work in this country indefinitely and to apply for a permanent green card after threeyears. The Immigrationand Naturalisation Service (INS) could issue up to 10,000 visas each year"[Chaudhry 2000:2]. Jyotsna who believes in giving quality time to her son and is prepared to grant head of the family status to her husband

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does not understand that the current im- professionals on H-1B visa). Both are migration laws based on the notion that softwareengineerson H- 1B visa. Prabhakar a man owns his family is weighted against Rao has been in the US for four and a half her. Under this system, women who enter years, while his wife Malati has been here the US on an H-4 spousal visa have to leave for three years. Together they earn more the country when their marriage ends" than $ 1,00,000 per annum. They leave home at 7 am and are only back at 7 pm [Chaudhry 2000:2]. If divorced on H-4, she is immediately Both have separate vehicles. Malati's ofconsidered deportable. Therefore if a fice is further away from home than woman leaves an abusive husband, he can Prabhakars'.She has to drive for more than immediately startdivorce proceedings. He an hour. Malati has also completed her can also jeopardise his wife's immigration Masters in Computer Science from the status in many other ways. H-lB visa is NE University in Boston. She used to go tied to a specific company and therefore to school at 7 pm straight from the office by simply changing the job, or applying and returnhome at 10 pm. Now they have for anothervisa through his new employer a five-month-old daughter,whom she drops (which does not cover his wife unless he in the day care center near her office. She chooses to petition on her behalf) he can visits her daughter once or twice from her get her deported. Or he can just quit his office and brings her back along with her job and leave the country, only to return at 7 pm. She has to put in 8 hours a day, but can go a little late or earlier but later on a new visa [Chaudhry 2000]. If Sunita or Jyotsna have to face such accordingly stay longer or return earlier. a situation, will returning to their native Malati is a computer programmer in a country be an option? Divorce can bring reputedbankandhas to design programmes shame and ostracism on the family. Their for the transferof funds from one bank to home country often also provides less the other. She and her husband hope to get protection for women's custody and ali- a Green Card in a year or so. Malati like mony rights. Deportation is dangerous for otherHinduwomen has a pujaroom (prayer women with children like Jyotsna, even room) and finds time to do her ritualistic when the case ends up in a US court. They worshipin the morningandvisits the temple may not be able to take their children out occasionally on weekends. She would like of the country unless they have gained to instill Indianvalues in her daughter.She custody. Immigrant women often don't does not find much difference in bringing have the financial resources to wage a up her daughter here or in India because custody battle, since spouse visas don't even in India westernisation has caught up. allow the holder to work or receive public According to her it depends more on how assistance [Chaudhry 2000]. the parents bring up their children, irreSunita andJyotsna are betteroff because spective of the geographical location. She of their technical qualifications, since they is contented and satisfied with herjob and could be helped to get an H-1B visa. If does not aspire for higher positions, they do not get the work visa and resort because that would mean more responsito working under the table - they would bility. For a few more years taking care of furtherjeopardise their immigration status her daughter is her topmost priority. She and their chance of winning child custody. would like her husband to do better and In some states these women may lose out better in his career. Theirs is an arranged if they cannot provide for their kids marriage.May be afterher daughtergrows [Chaudhry2000]. Further,most immigrant up she along with her husband would start women are found to give up when they a company of their own. Although both learn about the immense legal and finan- of them hail from Andhra Pradesh, they cial constraints.No one can guaranteethem have been in different partsof Indiaas their safety, as there are no laws to protect them. fathers had transferable jobs. Thus they were quite cosmopolitan in their attitude Women Software Professionals even in India. on H-lB Visa The case of Devi another software professional from AndhraPradeshwith a child, Married with Children and based in New Jersey is hardly different, despite the fact that she has obtained The Rao-couple are in Weymouth Com- a Green Card recently (most H-IB visa mons (another apartmentcomplex around workers hope to get a Green Card after Boston, where more than 50 per cent of spending 4-5 years in the US). She and her the tenants are Asian Indian software husband came to the US, six years back

and obtained an additional degree in computer science from a US university. Her case isvery similar to thatof Malati, except that Devi and her husband have been here longer and theirdaughteris eight years old. The daughter had been in a day care as a child. I found Devi somewhat confused about the way she should bring up her daughter. She has great regard for Indian values, but feels very guilty about not being able to spend enough time with her daughter - the latter also often complaints about it.

Single Women
I met Durga with Malati in the Indian store in Weymouth. Durga, a young unmarriedIndian girl from Tamil Nadu had come to Boston just a month back on an H-1B visa to work with a computer firm. When I told Durga about my study of Asian Indian immigrant women connected with the IT sector in US and asked her whether she would be willing to fill up a questionnaire and whether I could email it to her, she looked very scared, but with deference to my age she very reluctantly gave me her e-mail address. Needless to say that she never responded to it. I am narratingthis incident because I met a few single women from India who have come to US on H-1B visa to work in computer firms, and found that they were reluctant to talk about themselves. There was Priya whom I met in the Sree Lakshmi Hindu Temple in Framingham. She was extremely helpful and forwardedmy questionnaire to many of her friends in IT but cleverly avoided filling up the questionnaire or being interviewed. Yet two single women did allow me to interview them. There are very few single women coming from India to the US on H-lB visa, but their numbers in the coming years is likely to grow. In many cases the single women have come here along with theirboy friends and do not want to let people back home to know about it. One reason for opting to come to US in some such cases is to escape ostracism of the society back home. They were to some extent free about telling me about their fianc6es but were somewhat apprehensive to talk more about it to an insider like me. Of course, in general, many other women also were reluctant to respond to my questionnaire as they have arrived here very recently and feel quite threatenedabout revealing personal information. But in the case of some single women it was more so. The ones who did

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agree to be interviewed were very open and frank. They have been here for more than a year. Some of them share apartments with other single Indian women on H-1B visa. They get in touch with each other through the internet. I spoke to Vimala, a single woman from Tamil Nadu from Indianow in Boston. She has been in the US for nearly three years. She came first to San Francisco on H- B visa through a multinational company, which had employed her, so she said she did notcome througha 'body shop'. During the period of two-year contract, she had to locate herself in different parts of US depending on the clients her company was serving. As soon as her contractperiod was over, she found anotheremployer and now she does not have to be on tour. Vimala an upper-caste woman came along with her fiance who is from a lower caste. They fell in love with each other while in college. Both are qualified software engineers. Vimala's parents are not approving their marriage. She lived under the same roof with him in San Francisco "to save money on the house rent". Now he is in Florida. She considers herself extremely lucky, as her fiancee is a very good person. She is vehemently critical of her parents and their conservative attitude. Yet she is awaiting theirapprovaland thatis why she is postponing her marriage. However, in the course of our 40-minute conversation on the telephone, she said that her fiancee is very protective and reprimands her at times because he thinks that she is vulnerable and people take advantage of her. She said she likes this attitude of his. When asked, did she not feel thather parentswere also protective and were afraid that she should not be exploited by anyone? She evaded the question. I found that, when it comes to rearing the child she had very traditionalideas. She said she would leave her job and would like to devote full time for the care of her child. She does not trust the men with it, 'they do not have the knack to look after the children.' Vimala likes many aspects of the American society, for example, freedom, the way the superiors in office treat their subordinates, etc, but does not think that women should transgress a limit when it comes to theirfreedom. First she said 'they should obey their husbands,' but quickly issued a correction, and said that 'they should discuss everything with them' and then take a decision. She does not want to go back to India because she is afraid that people would point their finger at her child and say he

or she is the child out of an inter-caste marriage. Vimala said she is very particular about maintaining her culture and religion. In evidence she stated that she applies a bindi on her forehead and that she goes to the Hindu temple here. I gathered from my conversation with Vimala, that except for the fact that she is opting for a 'love-marriage' as opposed to an arranged marriage, her role model of a marriedlife is in no way different from the attitude of couples in an arranged marriage, with the male as the head of the family and the breadwinner. She likes the control exercised by the man instead of resenting it, because she feels more secure. One should also note that because of this relationship, she has lost her parent's support and therefore is forced to lean more on her fiancee. Another single woman respondent in our sample Champa had a slightly different attitude than Vimala. The difference can partlybe attributedto her metropolitan background. She is a Bengali raised in Delhi - the capital of India. Champa said she has become more religious after coming to the US because of fear and uncertainties of life in a foreign country.11

were in the Gulf. The rich Gulf returnees in Keralacan afford to pay the huge dowry that a male computer professional in the US on H-1B visa expects. Many respondents corroborate what Helwegs report in their study of Asian Indian Immigrants that "underneath that exterior adjustment. however, lies a tension that is manifest only to those of their kind. They often feel that they have traded the solidity of Indian culture for the tinsel and inferiority of American ways - they may have tradedheaven for hell" [Helweg and Helweg 1990].

Globalisation and the New Indian Immigrant Women in the US

How has globalisation impacted on the lives of the Asian Indian women in the US connected with the IT sector? To be able answer this we also need to know whether the lives of the recent immigrants is in any way different from thatof the Asian Indian women who migrated earlier - before globalisation? There are similarities and yet there are major differences. Migrants from India to America started coming since the early decades of the 19th century.Their numbersincreased phenomenally after the Immigration Act of 1965 liberalised the immigration laws. As a result, out of the total 40,796 Asian Indians comingtoUS during 1820and 1970,31,214 came between 1961 and 1970 [Statistical Yearbook 1970:61-64]. The recent immigration of Asian Indians to the US after 1991 (clearly due to globalisation) is different because of their very number - it is on a much larger scale than ever before. Thus in the five year period between 1991 and 1995 there were 1,91,548 almost equal to the number of Asian Indians migrating in the previous decades immediately preceding 1991. During 1971-80 they numbered 1,76,800 while between 1981-90 there were 2,61,900. Today this ethnic population in US is close to a million [Sircar 2000]. Although the H- B visa came into force in the US in the 1950s and many Asian Indian professionals had come after the 1965 Act on this visa, the professionals coming after 1991 are mainly connected with the growth of IT. In 1990, 1,70,844 of Asia Indians in the workforce (aged 16 and over) were employed in "managerial and professional specialty occupations," over 30 per cent of them in "professional specialty occupations compared to 13 per cent of all US workers. Twenty per cent

Married but Without Children

I interviewed three other women from Tamil Nadu recently marriedand working on H-1B or L- 1 work visa. They have also been in US for less than a year. They have no children. All had selected their partners on their own - their class-mates, now in US on H-1B work visa. Their partners were either from anothercaste or community. But in my telephonic interview all the three talked of wanting to leave theirjobs or to do home-based work, once they have kids. One more respondent Amrita from Kerala, now on H-IB visa along with her computer professional husband in Chicago says, "I would not like to stay here for long. Especially after I have kids, otherwise the latter will have a tendency to imbibe American culture and will hence be forbidden by the Indian society I hail from." Amrita a B Tech in Electronics has stayed in the US for more thana year, while hersoftware professional husbandhas been here for more than two years. They have had an arrangedmarriageand like Sunita's parents Amrita's parents were also in the Gulf for a decade or so. It is no coincidence that the parents of three out of eight of our respondents who have come from Kerala,

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of foreign-born Asian Indian professionals are physicians; 26 per cent engineers; and 12 per cent are faculty members at US colleges and universities, according to the Washington based Center for Immigration Studies [Sircar2000]. However, after 1995, the software professionals are likely to outnumber any single professional group among the Asian Indians. As we saw their average age at the time of migration is in 20s - the age at which most of the earlier batches of Asian Indian immigrants came as students. The software professionals in their twenties are drawing a salary ($ 70,000-$ 1,00,000) equal or at times more than what the earlier migrant Asian Indians who are now in their 50s or 60s are earning nearertheir time of retirement. This leads to a lot of feeling of envy among the latter,against the former. Similarly, the other ethnic groups, particularly the Caucasian Americans, who were the ones to set the IT into motion, also feel left out. They are agitated and are pressing the government to provide funds for their training - the usual 'sons of the soil' argument. As a result visa fees for the H-1B visa have been raised to $ 500, so that the existing American citizens could be provided training in IT by the amount thus collected. Arpana Sircar divides the Asian Indian immigrantsin the US into three segments. In the first segment she includes the largely male professionals who came in the 1960s and are at end of middle adulthood and at the height of theirearningpotential, with an estimated annualfamily income around $ 1,00,000. "A good many of the wives of these professionals are full-time homemakers and do not hold advanced college degrees. The second segment consists of highly educatedprofessionals of both sexes who came during 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. The spouses of these professionals are college-educated,often professionalsthemselves... Professional women from urban middle-class backgrounds constitute a higher proportion of the population now than ever before." In the third segment Sircar(2000) includestherelativesof earlier migrants in the previous two groups, who are sponsored under the family reunification programmeof the US Department of Immigrationand Naturalisation.The third segment falls out of the purview of her study. We would like to further divide the second segment characterised by Sircar (2000) to consist of the Asian Indian software professionals coming after 1995.

different fromtheother Theyaredistinctly as professionals we said earliernot only but becauseof theirnumber also because theirannualearningsat the age of 25 or than 28 whichis equal/more whatthefirst segmentis able to earn at the 'heightof their earningpotential.' No doubt the spouses of the software professionals(whom we would like to classifyas thefourth segmentof theAsian but arehighlytrained, Indian immigrants) manyof themareforcedto be on H4 visa as dependentwives, as they are not allowed to work in the US. The highly educated dependentwives of software from are different professionals therefore the wives of the first segment,who were but primarilyhomemakers with a lower level of education.Thus the aspiration level of the formeris boundto be higher thanthatof the latter.Time andagainmy replyto the question,'How respondents' was are different you fromyourmother?' that,theydo not havethe patience,which theirmotherhad.Does it meanthat,they could not be satisfiedconsideringwhatHousehold as everhappens faitaccompli? choressoon maystartseeminglikedrudgery to them. Even if they get jobs later, unless they get jobs for which they are may qualified,frustration set in. Suppose theyget thejobs of software professionals would they be satisfied?We found that most of themtalkof quittingit once they have kids. The discoursethey use is very deceptive.They show a heightenedconsideration theirfamilyand theirroles for as mothers.In actuality,this may be a 'forcedchoice',whenwe consider the that job of software professionals is very in demanding termsof the timetheyhave to spend at the workplaceand the new developments,which they have to keep abreastof. The long and irregular office of hours thesoftware professionals coupled withthe frequent travels(in case they are forces their wives to make consultants), in and adjustments theircareer aspirations some of thembecomeverydefensiveand offer arguments couchedin culturaland ethnictermsfor keepingout of the labour market. Globalisation theexodusfromIndia and of a largernumberof professionals, exnumber womento strains of posesa larger in theirconjugalrelationship. Studieson earlierAsianIndian in immigrants the US showthat,"immigration a foreignland, to in the absence of kin and close friends for bringsthe marriage partners the first and timefacetofacewitheachother causes

an within Indian in relations strains conjugal family...very endemic to the immigrant conditionsof both Indianand structural Americansociety"[Dasgupta1989:114]. Ourinterviewof the recentAsian Indian immigrantwomen, confirm Dasgupta's that (1989:115)statement "itis to avertthe that in relations theIndian strains conjugal immigrantspouses resort to old world values." But Dasgupta(1989) does not point out that the strainis more on the wives thantheirhusbands. However,she does mentionaboutthe loss of the female world forever to the Indian immigrant women.Theycannotforma femaleworld in theAmerican society,becauseof (a) the absenceof theirkin (b) the loss of their friends,with whom they had a long enand during relationship (c) theyhaveto act as a memberof their family, which is withother engagedin a statuscompetition Indian families. According to us it is to pertinent ask,who is gettingthebenefit of the old world values practicedby the women? AsianIndian Although immigrant it is shown as benefitingtheirfamilies,I wouldlike to pointout thatit also serves the theinterest capital, enabling male of by to be an efficient workerat the expense of his spouse. (1989) andSircar(2000) talk Dasgupta of the 'behavioral duality'of AsianIndian women at home and at work, immigrant which is also evident in the case of our respondents who are software to Thus professsionals. according Dasgupta (1989:106),the craftsman qualitieson the help them partof the Indianimmigrants to maintain dichotomy the betweenfamily andwork.Theseorientations havehelped themtopractice Indian the valuesof holism withintheirethnicenclavesof familyand communityand to practicethe American values of individualism, competitiveness within theirjob environment. Sircar that mentions (2000:229) similarly her "subjectsbehave nontraditionally at workandtraditionally homeandin the at ethnic communityin orderto cope with oppositional demands of the two spheres...havedevelopeda hybrididentranstity drawingon multiculturalism, and nationalism, the colonialdiscourseof a distinctIndianwomanhood...role overload for women still persists in these on families, as does spousal hierarchy a reducedscale." therearesome similariThus,although, ties between the earlier Asian Indian womenandthe recentones on immigrant H1B and H4 visa, there are important

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differences too. First as we said that the latterare highly educated, and if they have to continue as housewives, it is likely to cause frustrationin them. Secondly, their husbandsand/orthey areearning very high salaries at a very young age. However, theirworklife is moredemanding- whether it is monotonous or like play, either way it takes away most of their waking hours. As a group, they are arriving in larger numbers and therefore can continue to be more parochialthancosmopolitan. Access to the information technology itself reinforces such an attitude, since now they are in touch with their relatives and kin almost daily. The internet enables them to keep in touch with news of their native place. Fisher (1980), in her study of the Asian Indian immigrants in New York, talks of their dual ethnicity, the Pan Indian and the parochial. Unlike the women H1B software professionals andtheH4 visa dependentwives, the position of the high profile Asian Indian women in the IT described above. seems to be different in this regard. All of them consider themselves to be beyond gender differences. They do not think of themselves as women or being different from men.

Gender Division of Labour Fordist and Post-Fordist

What does the scenario of the women in the Asian Indian diaspora in US connected with the IT, have to offer to the currentdebate on gender division of labour in Fordist and post-Fordist era? The latter is supposed to be characterised by mass production and mass consumption, while flexibility in both production methods and the use of labour is the predominant feature of the former. The male H-IB visa software professionals in US can be categorised as the 'frenetic proficians' just below the elite on the top of the seven-fold stratification of the labour market described by Standing (1992). "Keycharacteristicsof this group", according to Standing (1992: 429) "is their relative youth, their frenetic work schedule and their self-satisfaction. Their expansion has been a feature of 'flexible specialisation'. They have little labour security, but they have taken advantage of enterprise flexibility and the advantage of firms of using flexible specialists for short-term purposes." They are the upper echelons of 'popularcapitalism'. Story of their H-4 visa wives like Sunita or Jyotsna

is very different. Even the position of their wives or female colleagues with H-1B visa, working in the computer industry is different as seen in the story of Malati or Vimala. The experiences of the Asian Indian women in the US on an H- B or H-4 visa highlight the deepening contradiction between the economic and social restructuring between the spheres of production and reproduction. We also tend to agree with Mcdowell (1991:389 that the feminist critics "who believe that current economic changes are beneficial for women are like many of the Post-Fordists, overtly optimistic about the consequences of economic restructuring.Long held beliefs that women's entry into waged labour has emancipatory potential may have to be re-evaluated, at least until current labour market conditions are challenged." While the highly qualified H-4 visa dependent wives like Sunita and Jyotsna are confined to the domestic sphere to perform the role of reproduction,thereareothers like Malati who suffer from the assumption of the labour market that an ideal worker has no family. The male H-1B visa can survive and climb up in their profession as they are into their computers. "They are absorbed by thechallenges of design. They love the puzzle-solving character of it all...these people do not just work long hours, they wake up in the night thinking about it and stumble off to the computers in the next room... If there is a job to be finished they stay late andfinish it."Massey (1993: 401) So it is not surprising that the women software professionals on H-1B visa are all talking of leaving the job once they have children or the ones like Malati have self-imposed limits on their career aspirations. For similar reasons many dependent wives on H-4 visa, like Jyotsna with children, are not planning to go in for a paid job. Such adjustments by spouses of high-tech employees are not unknown. They are reported in studies from UK's 'knowledge-based' industries in Cambridge. Masculinity is not only socially constructed in the 'heroic brute strength and of the male role as that of financial provider/breadwinner.' In the hi-tech industries it is no less sexist, it is only constructed on different axes. According to Massey (1993), there is a combination of factors ranging from market pressures and the requirementsof competition to the characteristics of a certain kind of masculinity, resulting in a job design that requires long and unpredictablehours to be

put in, which incapacitates those doing this work to do the work of reproduction andof caring for otherpeople. Some people have been attributing the success of the software professionals from India in the US to their ability not only to work hard but also for being able to do monotonous and repetitive jobs. But nowhere, the drudgery of domestic labour shouldered by their wives is acknowledged as a facilitating factor,enabling theirprofessional husbands to perform well. These are the unsung heroines partially eclipsed in the sunrise IT industry in US. [n
Addresses for correspondence

sumadevi54@yahoo.com

Notes
[This paperis partof a projecton "Globalisation, Human Development and Gender Concerns" fundedby the VanguardFoundationduring20002(001,carriedout by the authorin the Center for Working Families, University of California at Berkeley in Spring 2000 a(ndin The Women's StudiesCenterof Harvard Universityin Fall 2000. I would like to acknowledge my gratitude to Vanguard Foundation and to Professors Arlie l-ochschildand BarrieThornethe co-directorsof the Center for Working Families, UC Berkeley and to Juliet Schor the then Director of the Committee on Degrees in Women's Studies, Harvard University for providing me all the facilities for carryingout this research.However, noneof themareresponsible fortheviews expressed here, nor tor any errors, which may have crept in. I must also thank Lise Widding Isaksen, the Editorof KvinneForskningforpublishinga shorter version of this in her journal. A word of thanks is due to KirstenBang, Center for Women's and GenderResearch,Universityof Bergenforhelping me withcorrectingthe floppyversionof thepaper.] 1 H-1B visa came into existence in 1950s to allow foreign workers to hold temporary positions with American companies. According to a reportreleased in September 2000 by the US General Accounting Office, Indiansaccounted for about half of all H-1B in the last fiscal year. The current limit of H-IB visa is 1,15,00 and the US Congress is considering whether to raise it to 2,00,000 (San Francisco Chronicle, September 21, 2000). (Subsequently the US Congress has raised it to 2,00,000). Critics of H-1B visas, including many US programmers and engineers, say tech companiesareoverstatingthe scope of worker to a shortages maintain steadysupplyof foreignbornemployees willing to work longer hours for lower wages. "H-1B is reinforcing indentured servitude", said Rob Sanchez a from Phoenixwho maintainsthat programmer he lost his job last year to an H-1B visa holder, he says, "that's the whole idea behind it". It has become a stepping-stoneto Green Card. (SF Chronzicle September21, 2000). H-4 visa is called the dependentvisa, which enablesan

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H-1B visa holder to bring his spouse to US under certain conditions. 2 All the names of male and female software professionalson H-1B visa/wives on H-4 visa mentioned here are fictitious, the stories have been pieced together on the basis of the response of 18 Asian Indianwomen in US to a questionnairesent electronically to them (outof which 10werealso interviewedover the telephone- each for half an hour and more). No storypresentedherecorrespondsfully with any real person interviewed, yet the picture presented here is very close to the reality. for 3 "Theyrecruitworkersoverseasandarrange their visas. They then farm out the workers to US companies often cutting themselves in for as much as half the employees salary...These middlemenare at the heartof manyof the chargesof visa fraudand abuse." San FranciscoChronicle,September 2000. 21, 4 US Consulatein Chennaionline information. 5 The Boston Globe, September 21, 2000. 6 Ibid. 7 Most of my respondentsmentioned this as a reason for their adapting to western dress. 8 Time and again my Hindu respondents mentioned this as an example/evidence of their maintainingthe Hindu culture. 9 Note: the lives of the dependentwives on H4 visa who have arrivedrecently (have been for less than a year) are very similar to that of on Sunita- bordering being stereotypes.In my sample of 18 Asian Indianwomen in the US, 9 are on H4 visa out of which 7 were married recentlyand have no children,while the other 2 have children. 10 Sakhi is not the only such organisationof the South Asian women in the US. There are at least three other organisations in Bay Area, in California,Narikahelpline Berkeley, Maitri in San Francisco, and Aasra a shelter and hotline in Fremont.Nihonmachiis a growing network of supportand assistance for South Asian women. (See Online Rediff.com of December 19, 2000 an articleby JulianFoley, " 'U' visas offer New Hope to Battered Women). 11 Almost all our respondentsmentioned about the theirmaintaining religiouspractices.Some, in fact, have become more religious after coming here. This is in keeping with what studiesof AsianIndianimmigrants otherearlier in US report.For example, according to one study,"itcanbe affirmedthatreligiosityamong Indianimmigrantsliving in New Yorkhas not declined because of immigration. On the contrary, it seems that there is a greater consciousness about Hinduismand a need to practicesome religious ritualsindividuallyas well as communally...One reason is that religiongives securityto a personin a foreign country..." (Parmatma Saran, Baidyanath Varmaand Ainslie T Embree, "Hinduismin a New Society" in The New Ethnics: Asian Indians in the United States edited by ParmatmaSaran and Edwin Eames, Praeger Publication, New York, 1980..

- (2000): 'In the Business of Help', Silicon India, September, www.siliconindia.com. - (2000): 'Women in Venture Capital', Silicon India, August, www.siliconindia.com. Chaudhry, Lakshmi (2000): 'Battered Wives Trapped by their Visas', AlterNet.org, October26:1-4. Dasgupta, Sathi, S (1989: On the Trail of an Uncertain Dream: Indian ImmligrantExperience in America, AMS Press Inc, New York. Fisher:MaxineA (1980): TheIndiansof New York City: A Study of Immigrants from India, Heritage Publishers, New Delhi. Giddens,A (1994): BeyondLeftaindRight, Polity Press, Cambridge. Helweg, A W and M Usha Helweg (1990): An Immigrant Success Story: East Indians in America, University of Pennsylvania Press. Philadelphia. SouthAsians', India,Silicon(2000): '50 Wealthiest com, April. www.siliconindia. Massey, Doreen (1993): 'GenderGeographyand High Technology' in N H JohnBryson,David Keeble and Ron Martin(eds), The Economic Geography Reader: Producing and Consuming Global Capitalism, John Wiley and Sons, New York, pp 399-404. Mcdowell, Linda (1991): 'Life Without Father and Ford: The New Gender Order of PostFordism' in N H John Bryson, David Keeble and Ron Martin (eds), The Economic

GeographyReader:Producingand Cosuming Global Capitalism, pp 388-97. Murali,KrishnaBala (2000): 'SrinijaSrinivasan', Silicon India, April, www.siliconindia.com. Philipson,Ilene (2000): 'Marriedto the Job', San Francisco Chronicle, Jandary 30. Rajghatta, Chidanand (2000): 'Brain Curry: AmericanCampusesCrave for iIT of Glory' in The Indian Express Online, December 7, a report trom Washington. - (2000): The IndianExpressOnline,November3. - (2000): 'Femme Fettle: in US Indian Women Too Get a Taste of Tech-Tonic' in Indian Express Onlinc, November 13. Sand, Mark (2000): 'The Search for Silicon Valley: Part11'in San Francisco Chronicle, September 15. Varna, and Ainslie Saran,Parmatma, Baidyanath T Embree(1980): 'Hinduismin a New Society' in P Saranand Edwin Eames (eds), The New Ethnics: Asian Indians in the United States, Praeger Publisher, New York. Scholte, J A (1999): 'Globalisation:Prospectsof a ParadigmShift' in M Shaw (ed), Politics anId Globalisation: Knowledge, Ethics and Agency, Routledge, London. Sircar,Arpana(2000): WorkRoles, GenderRoles and Asian Indian Imnigrant Women in the UnitedStates Vol22, The EdwinMellenPress, New York. Waters,Mary(1995): Globalisation,Routeledge, London.

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