In an interview with The Financial Express, Kalra said, "Immigrating to the US on the basis of family relations is becoming impossible and anyone applying today might have to wait for 30 years for his turn to come."

Kalra, an electrical engineer by training, graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, and went to the US for his M Tech. It was much later, in the late 1980s, that he started researching on the American economy, writing the controversial book, which captured the class conflict existing in the American system.

He says, "If you are going to be a part of the middle class in the US, then it is fine. For that, you must be coming in with some professional skill so that you find yourself in the propersocial strata. Otherwise, it becomes very difficult. I know of people who have voluntarily surrendered their green cards."

Having professional skills might not always be enough, Kalra feels, since some American states do not recognise degrees of other states and an immigrant has to clear a host of examinations. "So, age is an important factor as you must be ready to spend time gathering the required qualifications," he adds.

Kalra divides the American population into four classes. The rich who own the productive assets are the top 10 per cent. The middle class, the next 40 per cent, who have savings and qualify for home loans. The working class, who live in rented accommodation and have very little savings, constitute the next 40 per cent, and after that comes the under-class or the poor who are without jobs and survive on food stamps.

According to him, "There are a number of Indians in the US who would fall into the working class. These are people sponsored by their relatives or friends, brought in towork in their businesses for very small salaries."

"American Indians prefer their own countrymen as employees. The motel business run by the Patels from Gujarat is well known. The Sikh taxi driver is as common in New York as anywhere in India. Gas stations are often run by Punjabis with employees coming from the same village as the owner. The contract for selling newspapers in the New York's subways is also held by an American of Indian origin," Kalra says.

"When these people lose their jobs, they end up surviving on food stamps. The issue takes a political dimension as politicians, especially the Republicans, start questioning the wisdom of letting these people in," he avers.

"On the other hand, there is a dearth of software professionals and the door is being opened wider and wider for people with software development skills," Kalra says.

According to Kalra's theory, the American system is not the ideal world of equal opportunity as it is made out to be. The rich and the middle class are heavilysubsidised and as they constitute 50 per cent of the population, they also corner the political control.

"Adjustments are made in rules and regulations to keep the figure at around 50 per cent so that political control always remains with the rich," Kalra says.

"Migrating on the basis of family connections and ending up in the working class, you may not be able to provide proper education to your children. Schools in the US are funded by property taxes gathered from the area and the quality of education differs from locality to locality," Kalra explains.

The same is true of healthcare, where the big companies provide their employees with free healthcare, and the cost is worked into the price of the products. In a way, therefore, the general consumer pays for the healthcare of the employees of the producing company.

Kalra feels it is very important to decide on the social strata at which a possible immigrant will be targeting himself and then consider the implications in the light of the class systemexisting in the US.

The one area where Indians can benefit from the system is the culture of tokenism that is promoted as a cover for the inherent racism of American society. For instance, both the personal secretaries of Bill and Hillary Clinton are black women.

So Indians, willing to study or research difficult subjects such as Physics, Engineering, Mathematics or Economics, will always be patronised in the US as they will serve as showpieces to counter allegations of racism, Kalra concludes.