This is for you Casey. I believe you are as cynical as I am.

This is about Devi. Devi’s dream has been to own a hat from Amrika. “Sano thakur ko jastai.” Like many others, Sano Thakur went to his son’s “graduation.” Between the Thakur man and wife, only old man Thakur got his visa. Both husband and wife applied, but he was the only one who left for Amrika. Old man Thakur made his first passport, got his first visa and traveled abroad for the first time. Old man Thakur came to Springfield, Illinois, his whole highlight of the Amrika trip being the graduation that he witnessed, fell asleep halfway, came back home and stayed home for the next two months. Forgot to mention, he did visit WalMart, bought tons of deodorant soap to take home. After mustering enough courage, he told his son that he wanted to return back to Nepal. His son gave him two things, a hat and a plane ticket back home. The son won the hat in a bingo, the ticket cost him 1500, half of his savings. That’s the hat Devi wants.

If you want to come to the US, you have 3 choices:

1. Marry someone who has gone to Nepal for a bride.
2. Get admitted to a campus in US, do puja and then apply for a visa.
3. Fill the DV forms every year faithfully without fail.

Devi, who ate, dreamt, slept and talked of Amrikan hats could not fulfill the first and second criteria, paid 1000 rupees every year to have someone fill her DV out and then went to Mankamana Mai after that.

I met her here recently, said she’s been here for sometime. Five years of hard work and between the savings of herself and her husband has managed to open a “stall” in a mall selling hats. She even has a condo, bought a second hand car, but of course no health insurance. You have to see her face; it lights up when she talks about her hats in general though her favorite topic is Amrikan Hats.  Otherwise she shows no emotion, she would make a pro poker player. And I thought all hats were made in China.