Aliens

Four friends from a high school in India share a common dream of going to the US. While their reasons and routes to pursue their goal are different, their efforts are sincere. Three of them succeed in fulfilling their dreams, one of whom is the book’s protagonist, Vikas.

Vikas envisions coming to the US as a ticket to freedom from all the shortcomings of the society he is living in. Finally, when he does arrive and settle in the US, he realizes that there are still problems haunting him, except that they are different than the ones he left behind.

The story, spanning across two continents, presents an insight into the intriguing process involved in getting a student visa to the US, an H1B, a green card and then citizenship.

The friends have a reunion in the US and, subsequently, go on a road trip across the Western United States. In the process, Vikas finally realizes his true calling and the source of his happiness, which happens to be completely tangential to what he chased until then.