A beautiful university campus in Davis, a small university town in California.

A young student away from her home in Southern California who needs help writing computer programs for her class.

A foreign born computer scientist who has traveled thousand of miles at the young age of 21 to design computers which can imagine and is working as a teaching assistant at the university.

An old world romantic confused by the new definition of love in the brave new world.

A true story which is better than any fiction.

It begins as a story of an ambitious young man traveling to a land far away from his home to fulfill his ambitions. It unfolds in the fast moving technology world of Silicon Valley.

From there we hop to San Francisco and land in Southern California, where we hold our breath as our narrator survives the infamous wildfires.

Technology. Art. Wit. Ambition. Humor. Imagination. They all come together in this wonderful tale of a man's journey though space, time, life and love.

Winner of the 2009 Young Reader Views Award in Young Adults (Multicultural books) Category.

This is the extended second edition of the book. Some of the reviews refer to the first edition, which was published 3 years ago.

A young man full of hope and aspirations who travels to a new world.

A technology whiz kid who becomes a Silicon Valley executive by age 33.

An old world romantic confused by the definition of love in the brave new world.

A true story so imaginative and incredible that no fiction writer could have thought of it.

It begins as a story of ambitions, aspirations and young love at the University of California in 1987. It unfolds in the fast moving world of Hi-Tech industry in Silicon Valley San Francisco and Seattle. From the west coast we jump to Nashville for a brief detour to sample the software industry there, and then get back to Southern California, where we hold our breadth as our narrator survives the infamous wildfires.

Technology. Art. Wit. Literature. Humor. Imagination. They all come together in this wonderful tale of man's journey though space, time, life and love.

This book describes the journey of a Hi-tech immigrant through various part of United States including Silicon Valley, Seattle, Nashville and Southern California.

The book starts in 1987, at University of California campus in Davis, where it all began, where Artificial Imagination was conceived.

We then fast forward by 15 years to 2002. Our main character, a Executive in the Software industry and working in Silicon Valley. Soon, he is heading to Seattle to work for Amazon.com at a lower level management position.

We read one lively story after another about the life in the Northwest and learn about his lovely wife and two daughters.

Our adventurer then heads to Nashville to work for a software company, and then heads back to Southern California to get caught in the infamous wild fires of 2007.

Kudos to the author to be able to find humor in the middle of the Inferno -----------------------------------------------

A Review by John Lehman, the author of Everything is changing

I was half way through this book when I realized it is almost poetry in the form of prose. I am not just referring to the short paragraphs, but the imaginative leaps, stunning imagery and most importantly, words which hook us in, make us think this is our story . . . . We see them on the page but live them in the theater of our imagination.

This book reminds us that we share the mysteries of the human mind and soul, no matter what our occupation, no matter where we were born. "Why I am here may appear to be a simple question, but . . . is there a deeper purpose of being where we are?" We know that the question applies not only to the location where we spend our lives, but also to overall existence, and our place in the time continuum.

Just as the author who traveled from New Delhi to Silicon Valley felt he has traveled forty years into the future, so do I, sitting in the agricultural landscape of Wisconsin felt that I have had a glimpse into the vitality of the Hi-Tech worlds of California and Seattle.

I feel I am in the hands of a good guide. Here is what it means to do research in Computers: "Rip apart an electronic system and you see nothing moving, nothing vibrating, it's almost a make-believe world, a child's fantasy, a writer's imagination."

and what it means to yearn for acceptance:

" "I looked at Seattle's glistening skyline on one side and its beautiful waterfront on the other and asked it the same questions I had asked San Francisco 16 years ago: will it accept me? Or will its people treat me as someone different, not one of the? And will I accept it, call it my home? Right then, she appeared from no where, as if the city had sent her to answer my questions . . ." "

I loved the section addressing Seattle's slacker sun, that comes late to work, like at 9 AM and goes back home at 4, the observation that for males, until the age eight, we want every young woman to be our mother, then for the next thirty years our friend and when we have daughters, we feel like bringing every young woman a glass of warm milk and cookies.

His first day in Nashville, the author looks out of his window and sees snow. The conclusion he draws about the snow flakes very fittingly describes his life and the message we can take with us from this hip, funny, poignant, beautiful book:
""the snowflakes descend slowly, floating in the air, allowing the current to carry them with it, letting it change their paths. They have chosen not to confront their destiny, choosing instead to enjoy every second of their short lives, their journey to the ground.""

Welcome home, Kalpanik ------------------------------------

A young man full of hope and aspirations who travels to a new world.

A technology whiz kid who comes to United States from Asia to study Computer Science and aspires to become a Silicon Valley Technologist.

An old world romantic confused by the definition of love in the brave new world.

A true story so imaginative and incredible that no fiction writer could have thought of it.

It begins as a story of ambitions, aspirations and young love at the University of California in 1987. It unfolds in the fast moving world of Hi-Tech industry in Silicon Valley, San Francisco and Seattle.

From the west coast we jump to Nashville for a brief detour to sample the software industry there. and finally, get back to Southern California, where we hold our breadth as our narrator survives the infamous wildfires.

Technology. Art. Wit. Literature. Humor. Imagination. They all come together in this wonderful tale of man's journey though space, time, life and love. ------------------------------------------------ The story begins in 1987 at University of California at Davis. Kalpanik has emigrated from Delhi, Asia to the United States. His first job is as a teaching assistant while he is working on his Masters Degree in Computer Engineering. This is also where he is first introduced to the American culture. He offers interesting and entertaining comparisons of life in Asia vs. life in the United States. In one of his examples he mentions how Asian women wear beautiful and colorful clothing and American women wear jeans. Ironically, the same evening after reading this book, I attended a party given by a family from where he is from. The discrepancy in clothing between the Americans and Asians was very evident and made me think of his musings on this subject. The story then jumps ahead fifteen years to when Kalpanik is now married with children living in Seattle. In addition to being a man in a foreign land, Kalpanik also has to learn about how to deal with his own doubts and uncertainties as a man, a husband, a father and an employee. He is very open and honest about the different issues that he faces. Many of his musings are both thought-provoking and humorous. After leaving Seattle, he moves on to Nashville to become the Head of Technology for a company. Then one day he finds himself in San Diego. His family follows him through these moves and changes. At times he has to live apart from them. I found his relationships with both his wife and daughters to be very endearing. I also enjoyed his observations about the different moves that he has made. I have visited each place that he ended up at and got a kick out of seeing the locations and cultures of the people through his eyes. Even though all are in the United States, each place has its own special flavor. Kalpanik also includes a wealth of photographs to illustrate his stories. Some show the beauty of the places, others show the uniqueness of the people. "Welcome to the USA" by Kalpanik S. is a very enjoyable book to read. I highly recommend it, and think that it would also make a fun gift for both travelers and arm chair travelers. Paige Lovitt, Reader Views, 2009 --------------------------------------------------