Atal Agarwal - The Ironman Fighting For Indian Immigrant Rights

Tune into the Indian Community Podcast as hosts Amit Gupta and Rahul Mehra welcome Atal Agarwal, an IIT alumnus, founder of Immigrant First, and a fierce advocate for the rights of Indian-origin immigrants in the USA. From his roots in a village in Uttar Pradesh to becoming a beacon of hope and change, Atal shares his journey of activism, entrepreneurship, and his relentless pursuit of justice.

Atal's story is one of courage and determination. He sheds light on the struggles faced by Indian-origin immigrants in the U.S., from the green card backlog to the challenges of maintaining legal status during uncertain times. He passionately discusses his fight against the systemic issues that keep immigrants from fully realizing their American dream, emphasizing the need for fair treatment and equal opportunities.

With his venture, Immigrant First, Atal is not just advocating for change but actively providing solutions and support to those navigating the complex U.S. immigration system. His commitment to uplifting the immigrant community and ensuring their voices are heard and rights are protected is both inspiring and motivational.

This episode is more than just a personal story; it's a deep dive into the heart of immigration issues affecting millions. Listen now to understand the plight, the fight, and the bright future Atal envisions for Indian-origin immigrants in America.

Empower your journey in the U.S. and explore innovative solutions for immigrants. Visit https://immigrantfirst.ai/ to unlock a world of resources and support tailored just for you!

#indiancommunity #AtalAgarwal #ImmigrantRights #h1bvisalife #IndianImmigrants #InspiringJourneys #JusticeForImmigrants #pravasibharatiya #iitkharagpur #iit #ImmigrantFirst

Discover more inspiring stories and exclusive interviews that celebrate the spirit of our vibrant community. Visit https://indian.community now and immerse yourself in a world of inspiration!

Transcript

Rahul Mehra: 0:12

Welcome to Indian Community. I'm your host, Rahul Mehra. With me is my co-host, Amit Gupta. And together we are thrilled to host Atal Agarwal IIT Alumunus, and founder of Immigrant First, a tech savvy, community focused, activist and athlete Atal's journey. From a bright student to a business leader and immigrants advocate is truly inspiring. Indian podcast Atal.

Amit Gupta: 0:44

Hey Atal. Welcome to the Indian Community Podcast.

Atal Agarwal: 0:48

Hey, thank you so much. Yeah. Thank you so much for having me, Rahul and Amit. To be getting reconnected with my roots back in home in India. And I think the intro that you gave definitely speaks very highly of me. I don't think I have achieved anything.

Rahul Mehra: 1:06

We think very of you. Don't worry. We think very high of you. You are doing good.

Atal Agarwal: 1:11

Yeah. Yeah. So very glad to be connected and sharing how I think and our community, for the world and why I do what I do. And very glad to be here on your podcast. Thank you for inviting me.

Amit Gupta: 1:24

Yeah. Excellent. I think there were the privilege is ours, right? And

Rahul Mehra: 1:27

Yeah.

Amit Gupta: 1:28

let's dive in. Let's start and I would say, let's start from the beginning. Your early life, your upbringing I believe was in India. So just wanted to understand how was it what was your journey and what influenced in you becoming who you are today?

Atal Agarwal: 1:44

I feel like that's such a very deep, hard question. And Steve Jobs on his deathbed says, I can connect all the dots in my life, which does that it's very hard to say why I am what I am. India and the community is the bright light of it being in a country where we have more than a billion people. And you have to keep trying to figure out, navigate your path and hustle through and build a life. bY itself a journey that puts someone on a track of learning and like looking at life from a very different perspective. So I was born and brought up in a village called Rampur in UP Uttar Pradesh). And that's where I studied till Sixth Standard. I was not a smart or studious kid. My sister was way ahead of me and I would, I used to get like 23rd rank in, in school she would be among the toppers. And I was always, as an, as a kid in from Asia, I was always told Hey, you should do better in your school. Yeah, so then we moved to Meerut. So I started till 10th in Meerut and then 11th 12th I did from Delhi. That's when my dad got a transfer to another job in Delhi. And then during 11th-12th, I started getting more and more into Hey, I wanna be someone. And two things came at that point. One was this thing about IIT because Indians are crazy about IIT that, Hey, you should crack this exam. My dad was very much inspired and said, Hey, if you can crack this exam then I won't have to worry about you. So just do the one thing is just get into IIT once you make it, I, my job is done. That is one thing that came at that time and I was like, I was not studious or self-disciplined to study, so it was pretty hard for me to crack the IIT exam. But at the same time there was another feeling that was in me that time is about reading all this history about Gandhi and everywhere and looking up to these leaders and saying, I wanna be the change I wanna see in the world. Um, and activism was also at peak in India where. Anna Hazare was doing all this movement of against corruption and he was sitting at Jantar Mantar there and Arvin His supporter. And I would go For my IIT exam and watch news after coming back home about what happened for the fasting today. and there were days when I missed my test exam on Sundays just to show up at Jantar Mantar. So I would sit there. I would go to these movements because I was like, I can't say that corruption is bad if I don't show up to the causes that truly matter to me. So there were times when me and my friend, both if we have to go for a test, which was important for IIT, and he's bro, why are you not eating today? I'm like, because I'm fasting. He's but you are not in Jantar Mantar that you don't need to fast. But I'm like, it just feels like this is the right thing to do if I'm not able to do it. So somehow that activism and cultivated at an early stage where I would go and post and have these posters that I would put on the walls in Delhi telling people about awareness against corruption. Then I slowly, when the Aam Aadmi party started, I was initially involved in supporting that party too, because I was like, yes, I want Some new change to come in the country. And that change when Arvind Kejriwal was proposing came out in big way. And then when I learned that Arvind Kejriwal went to IIT Kharagpur, I think that was also a part in my life, which was like, I would like to study at a place which inspires me. And there were a lot of leaders from IIT Kharagpur at that time who were bringing change in their own ways to the world. And I was like, this college would provide me with a platform where I can see what change I wanna bring. I don't need to agree with changes of other people, but I can be the change that I believe in. And that's what motivated me to go to IIT Kharagpur. so Once I got into IIT Kharagpur, I feel like this activism kind of started. Taking shape. And I got very popular in my first year at IIT when I was advocating for reforms in the student mess. And I was like, why would I have to eat this bad mess food? I did some kind of like protest, some kind of like advocacy. I got all the students together we improved the food a little bit. Then I also got elected to be the mess secretary and then

Rahul Mehra: 6:19

You get free stuff.

Atal Agarwal: 6:21

Yeah. Yeah. So I became the Mess Secretary and I started bringing like more and more changes and at some point they ended up suspending me from my role were like, this guy's too vocal about these things. Then it's crazy how I never thought, but just because I had the right intentions to serve people, I ended up becoming the student college president with the highest votes in my third and third end of third year, I really thought they are not gonna even allow me to become the college president because I was suspended once from a mass secretary role. But, this tells me that there is justice in the world and you see me fighting for Indians, it's that I have trust and I have hope that things can change for a better. And one thing that inspires me when I live in San Francisco. Is that when I go to this Ferry building here, there is a statue of Gandhi on the side of it. And that statue of Gandhi's Gandhi says that where Albert Einstein, if I remember, has said, it's unbelievable that a man such as Gandhi walked on earth. And I saw that probably four years ago for the first time in my life. I sat by that statue and I asked myself, given they might have only met once in their lives, but it's a bold statement from a bold and a very successful and inspiring human being to say something about Gandhi this statue, which is in San Francisco, a land which is far away from anything where Gandhi created impact. This just tells me that there is truth, there is justice, and there is value in. Being on the right track, leading with right intentions. So I think that has been very inspiring to me over all these years since I have seen that statue, that fighting for right thing is more important than me as an individual. if human freedoms are respected than we are all in this challenge together. that's why I advocate for immigrant rights I feel like if immigrants won't get their right to vote, or if they would be put in this a hundred plus years of green card backlog, means their right to vote is getting delayed. And in a democracy delaying someone's right to vote is delaying someone's say into the system. as a legal taxpayer, just feel that is unethical. It is immoral and it's a crime. And once I started thinking deeply about it, I was like, I have to do something about it. It's not that how many people support me. Even during the time of Iron Man Race, I was the only one running because I believed in it. thought, no, this is wrong. And of what other people believe in it or not, if I don't stand up for wrong, what is wrong and I don't stand up for fighting for the right things, I would be the one who would be contributor to actually keep it this way and believing that it's okay. And I was like, this is not okay. At least if a hundred years down the line someone else comes in, I would want them to know that no, I fought for the right things because that would make me feel a lot happier than anything else. So that's how my all this journey has cultivated into activism and or advocating for rights and where we are today.

Rahul Mehra: 9:59

Atal I had read somewhere about a kayaking incident a near drowning incident that you encountered in your life. So did that, did that. You and you overcame that adversity, so has it somewhere helped you, shape your philosophy.

Atal Agarwal: 10:17

Yes. So that was a big incident. So let me give you some background. So I like exploring in life and I like trying out new adventures. Some of them are Of them end up failures. Some of them are success. you only know what the successful ones because that's just how the world

Rahul Mehra: 10:35

So we can say successful and not so successful ones. Why call it failure otherwise nobody would try it.

Atal Agarwal: 10:41

Yeah, exactly. I was very curious about living in a forest in America where I was like, I wanna live by myself and experience nature. So I took this Cabin in near Navarta City in California, it Cabin and isolated cabin where I was by myself. So I was dating someone before that, and I was going through a breakup. And Breakup I was the only one by myself in that cabin. And that gave me six months of time to spend with myself. And that was not the easiest part of my life because I just felt the most disconnected from the world in those six months by myself. And there was another thing that happened in the cabin I was living in a year ago. In that same cabin, someone did a suicide. I didn't know the whole story of it, but just knowing that feeling of someone took their life in that house and I'm living there by myself, completely disconnected from the world. I would go through a journey by myself every day figuring out why would someone think about taking their life? And I was like, no, this is not how the world should be. Like we should, we are always together. We always, there are 8 billion humans. There is no point of taking your own life because life by itself is short. And we have only few years that we get to live on earth. So that just like really me to the core of my thinking and made as a part of my lifestyle. at the end of these six months is when I planned out this kayaking trip and I didn't know how to swim. And it was in Lake Tahoe. I was with my friends and I was very excited that, okay, everything is coming to an end. Now I'm starting my new face of life, moving back to San Francisco and everything. And I was just like having a good time in Lake Tahoe. And it was a one person kayak and I'm in the water and my kayak just because some waves came in, my kayak flipped and I was definitely not very conscious and I didn't have a life jacket at that time. And I was like, holy this water is cold. this water doesn't let my legs move in this moment. And I'm holding on kayak on one side and my legs are not moving. And I'm, friend Todd was there and I'm like, Todd, bro, help me now. And Todd is like a, he's he loves kayaking and he loves adventure sports. He's bro, and he has sim similar, one person kayak, but he's an expert in all these things. And he's I shout to him that, bro, save me now. And he says, bro, you can't get back in the kayak because Kayak got water,

Amit Gupta: 13:26

Okay.

Atal Agarwal: 13:27

I can't jump back in it. And I was like, so you help me with your kayak and take me back? And he says, I can't because my kayak is gonna live too.

Amit Gupta: 13:37

Oh my God.

Atal Agarwal: 13:37

I was like, but dude, that's what you promised me that you're gonna save me and Kayak. And

Amit Gupta: 13:43

If Todd

Atal Agarwal: 13:44

And

Amit Gupta: 13:44

is listening, Todd If Todd is listening to this. Really, Todd, this is, you're the star of this story,

Atal Agarwal: 13:51

yeah, he's the star of the story. I still meet him and he is still the star in my opinion. He said, bro, but I know you can do this swim. I was like, no, my legs do not even move. And I'm realizing that I'm feeling all this hypothermia and all where my legs are slowly to be like not able to move. And I'm feeling like being in this water is more dangerous than being out, even if I don't know. And I look at the side of the ocean of the beach there at Lake Tahoe and I'm like, I'm not gonna survive today was such a bad decision. And I'm like, what's gonna happen in, I'm gonna start moving towards the shore slowly I will go sinking and I'll sinking and sinking in the water. And I'm like, that's fine. just how, whatever, in a way was in a way very hopeless position over the last six months trying to figure out how to break up and this loneliness in this society, in this house and everything. And I'm like, it's crazy how the life just shapes up. But in that moment I'm like, okay, let me swim. And I did that swim and I was, there was no rhythm in my breath that day. literally like breathing and I didn't even know how to watch outside the water to see which side the show is and if I'm going in the right direction or not. But I just kept going and I kept going and I was crazy like fast and trying to use all my legs and everything, and I reached the shore and I just fell down there. like, what? Life was not supposed to be like this. This is not what I,

Amit Gupta: 15:29

not know swimming, and you did not know swimming.

Atal Agarwal: 15:32

did not know how to, I have tried, deep water was my biggest fear. I didn't go into deep water before that day. I would just swimming pool here and there and try to make some moves here and there. But that day was the first time when Deep Water was there cold. And when I reached the show, started looking the top. I'm like looking at the sky and saying, I didn't sign up for this. Life was not supposed to be like this. This was like going to be a fun trip. I invited my eight friends. I booked all this campsite and everything, and I just sat there and I was like, today is the day. No more. I'm not a victim. Today is the day I'm gonna change my life for what I believe is the right thing. And then after a few hours, I went back into the water I just kept being around the shore a little bit, but then That area and keep going in the water because I didn't want to carry that trauma from that location back into my life. Home. And slowly, I did it for half an hour and I'm like, okay, I feel now better about this incident. I feel better and better. But that's what changed my life into okay. Then I was like, okay, now I feel better in the evening, I went back and I was like, now I'm gonna learn how to swim because I can't avoid this. I ha the only way to break out is to break through it. So from the next day I started going to swimming pool and I was like, I'm gonna learn how to swim now. So I did it for three months. Every day I would just like keep swimming with my hands and legs and see how far I go. And then I was like, okay, now I'm able to get better at swimming. I got the wetsuit and everything and I was like, what is the hardest swim, which will make me feel that I'm free. So when I came back to San Francisco, I found this group, golden Gate Triathlon Club. oNe day I remember. I went to their 6:00 PM like small training session, and I say to this lady that, Hey, can you just watch me as I'm gonna jump into this water at this place? just want you to be around me because this is my first time getting into water. And she was around and slowly I kept doing it and I come back and then I go in again and I'm like, okay, not that bad. And after that, once I realized, okay, it is not that bad. I should sign up for the swim from Alcatraz and that's when I signed up for the swim. They drop you around Alcatraz Island and you swim back from there to the shore. And in the middle of that ocean, there were two feelings. One feeling was of this freedom about now I'm free. Like I wasn't free until that Lake Tahoe incident until I did this. And I was like. a way, I was like, there were tears in my eyes. There was this feeling of freedom and there was feeling of breaking free of my fears in that moment. I'm like, now I'm proud of myself that I went this far for my freedom to just get out of it. So I feel like that incident Lake Tahoe incident taught me how close death is in life we don't even know when death can happen. that has been a lot of my thesis in life since then where I am. Like if I have to think about life like long, no life can be as short as today. Today might as well be my last day. And that's why at the end of the day, I try to make sure that I'm ending my life on a good note so that. Today is the last day. It's still I'm able to leave the world better than I found it, and I try to make sure to do that every day now because might very well be true and it is going to be true one day for sure. It's not about which day it is, and we do not know when that day is going to come. So I feel like a lot of my thesis formed on that day, in Lake Tahoe.

Amit Gupta: 19:33

No. Excellent. I think there were a bunch of different stories in there. I until some inspirational some motivation and I'm also, I. And, some fun, we love Todd for what he did or did not if we may say so. But I think the core message is very clear. If you wanna learn to swim you have to jump into the water. And you found yourself in that position. Not by choice but, eventually you did swim through and you broke through that wall and became who you are today. And in fact Atal this is how I also noticed you. I saw this young man outside. Was that was that in Washington DC You were in Washington DC standing outside the White House.

Atal Agarwal: 20:17

Was.

Amit Gupta: 20:19

Yeah. The US Capitol. That's where I did see you. And I'm like, look at this guy. And, you had this video talking about what you're doing and why you're fighting for immigrants. And I just wanna bring that story back here to our listeners and viewers in terms of why are you fighting for the rights of immigrants in this country. What is the motivation? Is it a personal story or what inspires you? Because I see you every day on LinkedIn, on Twitter, there is this one message that you'll always post, right? And which is great because you've got this voice going on for the rights of immigrants, but why are you doing this? What is in it for you?

Atal Agarwal: 20:58

It is funny. Why I am doing it, by the way, I'm not in the green card backlog,

Amit Gupta: 21:04

Correct.

Atal Agarwal: 21:05

Which,

Amit Gupta: 21:05

know.

atal-agarwal_1_01-04-2024_084032: 21:06

which is, I have not applied for my green card backlog. I think, my reason for this comes from a place where I just if there are people who are power and who are rich and there are people who don't have power and who are poor, it is, I have seen a lot of richness in life and I've seen a lot of power as a student college president. If, first of all, you can't be the president of the whole 8 billion. So you are always the president of a very small community, be it America, India, any country. for me, that was my college because that was in a village and there were only 15,000 people. So in a way, I have seen a lot of power in that. About what power makes you feel like, and very popular. I have seen what fame feels like. And fame is something which, not that I like having, just comes naturally to me. It's not that I don't like having it either, but it just comes naturally to me. I know fame comes naturally to me. Third thing is the money. And given my story about being adopted in a way by one of the most successful alumni from ID Akur who saw me, he paid for my education for masters and then living in Hawaii six months and then traveling in his private jets and realizing. What money can offer and what money can't offer. was also a very interesting revolution to me, that what I'm chasing is not money. What I'm chasing is not power. What I'm chasing is not fame because I've got all these things. Then what am I chasing? And think Marcus Aurelius did inspire me a lot. He was a Roman emperor and he has shared, he has written a book, his own vulnerabilities and meditation in his book meditation. And that meditation book came out handy to me when I was depressed myself. And I was reading his book and I was like, wow, this person was at the highest level of powers in the world at one point of time in history. And he talks about how hard it was for him to wake up every day. To believe that there is a purpose to life and that there is a meaning of life, that he has to get up and do his duty. And I was like, if this person who is some one of the most powerful person in human history had to undergo all this pain and struggle through waking up, I am just no one. So when Marcus Aurelius inspired me by sharing his vulnerabilities, I was like, he's able to help me live a better life and my to do justice to him and to justice to me. I have to share my vulnerabilities and be honest about it. And if I'm not honest about it, then I am not even living his legacy and I'm not even leaving my legacy of being an honest man in the world. So that's how kind of it started. Now, why I am fighting for the rights of immigrants. I feel immigrants from India are some of the most talented people in the world right now.

amit-gupta_1_01-04-2024_114032: 24:20

Absolutely.

atal-agarwal_1_01-04-2024_084032: 24:22

US is taking like around 70% of H one B immigrants from India. 35 to 40% of students who are coming to America are from India. Now what I'm feeling is I am very, I trust people blindly, and when I started realizing that what is really happening is these people are put through a system where they're stuck in their lives and they are not offered hope. I was like, this is wrong because I looked up to America as a great land, which is all about freedom and dreams. Like the whole idea of America in my mind is an American dream, a dream where you can be anything you want. I. As, so if I look at the world where every human being born on anywhere in the earth has the right to rise to any position of power, money, fame in the world, irrespective of where they are born, that is truly very important to me because that's how the world should be. If we do not create app opportunities for people to be born anywhere not allow them to rise to any level in the world, then this is not a free world. And how free is America if it's not happening in America? So I realize this is wrong, where who because of their quality of mind, is not able to rise to the top top places in the world. I found this is happening with Indian immigrants and a million of them. I stuck in this backlog where they don't even have a say in the process. To be able to justify that, Hey, I have my right to vote. I wanna have a say in the political decision making of this country because I am a legal resident. And I initially thought it's just the backlog of Green Card, but we need to understand that this backlog changes into delaying your right to vote. And if someone's right to D vote is delayed for a hundred years, which means they spend their entire life without any rights in a country and they are paying the taxes. So I came back to the thinking like, okay, what was happening in 17 SEC 76 when America was going on this first fight for freedom? And it was all about, there is a North, which was like, Hey, we should have equal rights. And there was a south, which was like, Hey, our economy works on keeping people on a system where people do the physical work while we make money out of it. And that's how our economy is based. There is all this fight for independence because America is like, okay, British britishers are there, but we wanna have our own freedom in this country. We do not want to be run by another place. So I was like, okay. So we got independence here in America, 1776. People did not believe that slavery existed in 70, 76, and some people believed in that, that this is wrong. And in 18 hundreds it led to a civil rights movement where people are like, Hey, I want equal rights. All men are created equal. That's what the Constitution promises. And here, I just grew up learning all this philosophy of America as a great land offering, all these things. And there, here I found that there is, there are a million people won't even have the right to vote, which means they're similar to was happening in 18 hundreds. It's no different than how it was there and how it's happening here is just that systems have changed. The moment I realized that tech CEOs are actually fighting against cleaning this backlog, was an enlightening moment for me because I was like, so their incentives are more about because they know they're able to keep these people high retention thEy're on green card backlog. Given how capitalism works is like economy and economy is about how much you are able to keep their talent and all, and I was like, they are the ones fighting against cleaning this backlog. they are no different than the South, which was there who was like, Hey, I'm building this economy because people work for me and I will keep them working like this. Yes, there is more freedom than how it was in the past. It's like you can change jobs between these tech companies, but if they are fighting against the, against getting these people out of this green card backlog, then I am fighting very big players in this world. At the same time I am, like if I have to leave any of myself on the world, it's about fighting for what's right and the right thing is having freedom an individual, having them voting rights, providing them with an app opportunity to access everything and anything in the world, especially in a country like America, who is looked up as a free country of freedom and dreams. So I feel like that's what kind of overall took me on this journey about being an advocate for immigrant rights. I just don't think anyone in backlog is right. You can not have a backlog. can let these people be in Canada, be in South America, be in India now, pay the salaries in India, pay the salaries in Canada, but do not bring them to America not show them a part where they would have a say while paying for, while paying all the taxes. So that's how it started. And I thought about it deeply and I'm like, this is fundamentally wrong and it's gonna continue. If people do not voice about it, it's gonna continue 10 years, 20 years, 50 years, a hundred years and 200 years. And one day it's gonna pay it, it's gonna change the faces because po positions of powers change around the world. One day when the other country, let's say, might have more power, then they would try to do the same system in a democracy. And I was like, this is gonna have long consequences for the whole world. The rights of people who are invited to the country are not there. So I feel like that was the right thing to do and that's how I started advocating. And even though I might have been the only one standing outside the US Capitol that day, I just knew that makes me free. That able to fight for what's right and be able to be vocal about what I believe in, that's most important to me. So I felt very happy that I did that because a lot of people now understand deeply about why I care about this so much and why it's so important to solve.

amit-gupta_1_01-04-2024_114032: 31:11

And excellent ex, Atal because you're truly an Iron man. You're living the the Iron Man philosophy with with your fight for justice for immigrants and their rights. So I truly admire what you're doing and congratulate you and wish you success in that endeavor. And I think, let me segue straight into startup which is called Immigrant First, would you like to talk about that? Since we're talking about your fight for immigrants, you've also established an organization which is helping immigrants through it's called Immigrant First. Would you like to talk a little bit about that?

atal-agarwal_1_01-04-2024_084032: 31:48

Yeah, so it's probably like the way I think the thesis of that organization. Basically what happened is I lost my job last year. And as an H one B immigrant, I only get 60 days. That's when actually so what really happened is I lost my job. I was running, I was on my 11th mile. 11th mile run. And I got a call with my HR and and the hiring manager and the manager and they were like, Hey, company's going through another round of layoff and you have been impacted. I was like, okay. That moment I just didn't realize the gravity of the situation, but I kept running, I did that 15 miles run that day, and I came back home and I'm like, okay, so things do change with this. Now I have to build a life from scratch again and figure out what I should be doing. And I was like, okay, I'm gonna take it slowly. I didn't think about applying to a lot of jobs. So I applied for a few jobs in the starting days and that's it. But then I made up my mind that I'm going back to India, and I was like, okay, that's fine. What are the things I wanna do before I go back to India? And even though I had no plan to run this Ironman race, I was like, actually, let's run this before leaving. So the only race which was left, which was an Ironman race in Arizona. And I was not trained for that either. So I was like, at the same time, I believe in taking my shots. For me, winning is not the thing that motivates me, but taking my shots really matter to me. So I was like, okay, let's sign up for this race in Arizona. And they were like, Hey, we don't have any slots. I'm, if you wanna run, you gotta raise money. I. So I raised like around$3,500 for this Ironman Foundation and that's how they gave me a slot I was not trained, but then I was like, okay, I will just keep pushing myself and is the game of the mind and not the game of the body. So I was like, okay, my, in terms of mind, I can push through it. So that's how I signed up and I ended up running Iron Van Race on day 20 of my layoff. And then I also started creating content around immigration from my day zero of 60 and day two of 60 and day one of 60 and everything. And I started sharing how I was feeling because I was like, this is what's gonna go down in my history as one of the important points in my life that years down the line, I can look up to that, how well I did that. lUckily I was able to find a job. My manager actually read that I. My blogs and she was very inspired by it. And she's I wanna help this person. This tells me the fact back there are good people in the world and there are always good people in the world. So she got me this job and I, it everything got settled, but I realized my friends were going back to India here and there. They were not as fortunate as I was and doing this tech layoffs and everything. And I was like, what I'm gonna do in this country if I don't even have my friend's hair? And there is this all this guilt that is in me, which is about my friends are not able to get what I got. And I felt like either world is unfair to them and not, I got, I felt fair because I got a job, but in the same way I was like, this is so unfair to them. aNd that started okay, what can I do for this community and help people? And as I was writing my own petition for EB one A green card using charge GPT and ai, and I was like, okay, I can create a product actually for immigrants where they can get their O one visa, one A, EB two NIW. And that is one way for me to show how much I care about this problem. And especially when someone is going through this layoff and they're like, like screw in a way. They're like, okay, I don't know what to do with my life now. I'm like, you have one more resource to leverage and understand what are your options and what can you do and find you a solution. tHat's how this whole idea of immigrant first started and the name Immigrant first, it's a very provocative name too to people who are not immigrants. but I think what I'm talking about is a high skilled immigrant who's building the world. Should be treated as a first class citizen and not a third class citizen. And because I left a lot when I moved to America, I left my friends, I left my family just to, just for the true care of the world and leading the world in ways I care about. And I felt the world has to do justice to my desires, to my ambition and provide me with the right a ity and the right support. And if that I didn't get it, I will open the doors for other people to get it. And whenever I got it, I was grateful and I'm thankful that I got it. At the same time, I have a duty. To the next generation keep that door open, to keep fighting for what is right, to keep fighting for their dreams. And I was like, I will keep that door open in whichever way I can. And that's how this whole idea of immigrant first started.

amit-gupta_1_01-04-2024_114032: 37:07

That's excellent. Which visa holders are the right persona for immigrant first? Is it a specific category that's eligible to move up into these new categories?

atal-agarwal_1_01-04-2024_084032: 37:19

so Immigrant first right now is like an AI powered marketplace. So you have lawyers there, you have experts there in immigration can help you resolve your immigration challenges. So it's like a, it's like a place where as an immigrant, you go there and say that, Hey, I got through this layoff and I wanna know what I can do now. Or if you are like, Hey, I'm on H1B and I'm stuck with my current employer. And I wanna know how to move out of it. And there are lawyers and experts who can guide you, where you can start building your profile your green card, which is through EB one A or O one Visa, which I consider O one is one of the most free visa, you have more control of your life in your hands. I felt like I'm moving people towards O one Visa. So the right user persona is someone who is on H one B or someone who is on F1 who wants to have more control in their life, in their hands, can move to O one visa. Throw our product and get help from people in adverse situations when they have nothing to hold onto. Like their employers have, their employers are not supporting, and they're looking for someone who's gonna be there and guide them through this journey in a new country, different country, from their home country, and have that as a resource hub.

amit-gupta_1_01-04-2024_114032: 38:38

Excellent. Thank you. Is for our listeners and viewers. So if you are on an H1B and you're thinking about. What do you do? And you're waiting for this backlog to clear. Then please look up Atal. We'll post his links in the description below. So do look up to Atal on Twitter, on LinkedIn, and of course on immigrant first, right? So the, it's a beautiful venture out there. And Rahul I just wanna share one thing before I, I hand it to you. And mentioned this the human side of, the, they're immigrants, right? So in fact, we were speaking to this gentleman, Ankit Jain yesterday. He's a senator a shadow senator for Washington dc So he's standing up for the same sort of subjects that topics. And he's also the son of an immigrant. And he was describing his parents' story to us where his parents stayed overnight outside the immigration immigration office. They stood they stood and slept there in that queue just to file in their papers, right? And to to submit that application. So they have to stay there. Both husband and wife, they stayed over 24 hours in queue just to submit an application. And while they were there there were people who were offering them food and, they thought they're homeless, right? So a lot of people who were passing by thought that they're homeless and people who were offering them food, talking about back in the eighties. So if you think of how this situation is since then, even today a lot of those things, while a lot of it has changed you don't see people queuing up that long, any anymore thanks to technology and the progress that we've made. But I think the whole human angle of how things affect immigrants and then future generations, because Anket is so young and this is the story that resonates with him because he's grown up listening to this what his parents have gone through. And that's also shaped. His opinions and views of this world. it, it is incredible of what you're doing. And again, I wanna congratulate you for everything that you're doing for the rights of immigrants just like us, right? Thank you.

atal-agarwal_1_01-04-2024_084032: 40:49

No thank you. And thank you for sharing that story. So the way, so America does not exist without the world. We have to acknowledge the fact that are all together in this good, bad, in the ugly world that we have created. America, India Canada, south America, Russia, everything is together. We are all towards this one consciousness. This is like my Buddha side speaking like we are all together in this. It's not an isolated island. America is not an isolated island, and immigrants are the real leverage of America. And Reagan has spoken about it in 18, 1980s and how country is a nation of immigrants. So I am not, I know I don't, I'm not asking for much, I'm asking for equality. Basic respect and justice, and I'm asking if you wanna close your border, please do. But do not put through people through suffering through this journey when they're coming to the country, especially pe, putting people through this a hundred plus years of green card because then this is like a wasted potential of Earth. So earth creates human beings and human beings have to live their dreams and be free. when some country is limiting that freedom, that's not right. That's against the kind of constitution of the us. So I hear stories like where people have struggled in the past, yes, struggle has not struggle has changed in the ways how a struggle is. But we have to acknowledge as we are moving up and up in the Maslow hierarchy of needs, and our basic needs are getting fulfilled, we have to acknowledge we are moving towards a higher consciousness. And it is important for everyone to be respected on merit and treated equally. And we should always be thinking from the higher consciousness in these things. And that's what I'm fighting for.

amit-gupta_1_01-04-2024_114032: 42:52

Excellent.

Track 1: 42:53

Good. Good one actually. Commendable. You speak very well,

atal-agarwal_1_01-04-2024_084032: 42:57

Thank you.

Track 1: 42:59

I'll actually I'll go back a little back in your story when you were talking about your layoff, and so you said that you were able to recover from that layoff and a lot of your friends are not. And you knew, you had a mindset. You did some a few things. So would you like to, and layoffs are still going on. They can happen anytime. So for all those immigrants who are working here and they go through such, incidents in life, like layoffs and they're on H one B or something. So what mindset and strategies do you think you can help somewhere to those people

atal-agarwal_1_01-04-2024_084032: 43:36

Okay. The.

Track 1: 43:37

cultivating mindset or strategy, some sort of strategies to recover out of those, come out of those, Situations?

amit-gupta_1_01-04-2024_114032: 43:43

mindset. Half Buddha, half

Track 1: 43:44

Yeah.

amit-gupta_1_01-04-2024_114032: 43:45

man. What is that? How do you actually get into.

atal-agarwal_1_01-04-2024_084032: 43:49

Yeah. I think, I think the first zone in there is knowing that people do not die hungry. Human beings just do not die hungry. Like we have enough food in the world. It's about disbursement of that food, which is the problem. The problem is not having food. If we go in the mass malow hierarchy of needs, need shelter, food, and clothing. These are the basic things. By going through You are not deprived of your clothing. You would still have clothing, you still would have food to feed because that is not the real problem. It's the efficiency challenges, and you would be able to figure out how to get that food. And the third thing, what is at stake is a shelter, which you are concerned about. But it's not that you have lost shelter, you have just lost shelter in a country which is not your own and which is not ready to accept you. For God knows what reasons, which is a different territory, but that just does not make that is a different thing. What is at stake is basically your current shelter, and you are like, okay, I'm gonna do with my housing I have to figure out, get rid of the car. What I'm gonna do with this, all this debt that I have taken, what I'm gonna do with my housing leads, how I'm gonna rent it out Again these are the real challenges. When you are through a layoff, I feel like we need to understand that the end is shelter, and in the end, that shelter that you have back in India, even if it looks like it's bad, because maybe there is a fear of judgment around layoff, like Indian culture looks at layoff from a, as a taboo.

Track 1: 45:29

Absolutely.

atal-agarwal_1_01-04-2024_084032: 45:30

It looks like,

Track 1: 45:31

Yeah.

atal-agarwal_1_01-04-2024_084032: 45:31

got laid off. Oh my God, you must not be a productive person in the society or America rejected you. There is this fear of judgment, down the line, people will understand that American economy is very cutthroat like that, where in this layoff is a very possible scenario. And if you are on a hundred years of backlog, you can't be on a race throughout your a hundred years where you won't run into the scenario. So when I thought about it, I'm like, every human being probably who's an immigrant in this country would go through this, or once in life for sure. Like it's very hard to escape this in your a hundred years of life. So that, that just helped me understand, okay, so everyone is going through this. There is a taboo in the society about it. People don't wanna talk about it. maybe that is my act of courage and that's why I started writing about it and talking about it. So knowing that you are not alone in this layoff. Everyday people are getting laid off in this country, not just immigrants. American citizens are getting laid off too. So it's like happening for everyone in this economy that is bad. Immigrants are just the worst impacted people while they contribute the highest kind of some of the highest value in this country. So you create the most value, but you are the most impacted and you are like thrown on a street during this layoff, which is unfair. But I feel like you need to know India is a growing economy. It's growing at 7% people thinking about it yesterday. People do not immigrate. Immigrate to a new country. People immigrate to a better leadership. People immigrate to more hopes. People immigrate to more dreams and more freedom. Though it looks like in a short term that hey, what I'm looking for is simply Hey, I can make few more dollars in this country and When Indians come to this country, they're like, Hey, I wanna get more money here, make some million dollars and then I can dip out and go back to India that's the mindset which a lot of Indians come, is down the line when they realize five years down the line that, Hey, I'm stuck in this economy'cause my family's growing up in here now I don't. I can't think about that option because that's far away from my reach. I have not been to India in a while. My kids would not be able to live in that country anymore. So those challenges actually happen over years in this living in this country. But they are not the, this is not the mindset people come to America with. They are like, Hey, I want just more money and I can make that now. Those situations are also changing as and as people do not immigrate to a new country. People immigrate to better leadership and more hopes and more freedom. Even the perspective of this money that used to be there about, hey, you make a lot more money in America. Once you understand inflation and all the things that happen in America, you would realize it's not a, it's not a crazy amount of dollars that you thought you are going to make. So the money part is going away in terms of leadership. When you leadership, which is about freedom and dreams. If that is also getting challenged, then you would look for better leadership and it might very well be po It might very well be possible that as a human being, you will grow more and you will thrive more back in India with the current

Track 1: 48:49

Right.

atal-agarwal_1_01-04-2024_084032: 48:49

is growing, which is, and the economy that is growing at 7%. And that might very well be a better life. So just being very honest, I am not fighting for America. I am not fighting for India. I just truly feel that every human being who has potential. Their potential need to be accepted by the society. And our job as our leaders in the society is to ensure that they are successful, like every human being able to live up to their potential. So if that potential is not getting resolved in America because of a bad immigration law, if you find other places, and you can very well use that potential in India and contribute a lot more, and that might be a better satisfactory life overall. So just like knowing all these things and having a perspective that nothing is bad, India and America are the same. It's about my individual dreams. are democracies, and that's what actually, what is the hardest thing for me to believe that people from one democracy are struggling to come to another democracy, which tells me about the flaws of democracies overall too. But we have to understand that our job as an individual, collective good of the society, we talk about America and India, but when we talk about individual, which is the biggest and the most important thing for any democracy, it is that can, am I able to live up to my potential or not? Is the country lifting my dreams up or is the country killing my dreams? And every time I go towards dreams, I would always go towards a country a place which will help lift up my dreams. So that's what I look at from a mindset, which means during the layoff, I was very calm because I was like, whatever's gonna come. It's a great life. would go back home to India. I would live with my mother. I wanna spend time with my family. And that might anyways be, start a new chapter of my life. I'm here to write my story, my own story. And my story is not an American story. It's not an Indian story. My story is my story. My story as me as an individual with authenticity, living with courage, fighting for what I believe in. And that is all that matters in the end. So I felt that's the mindset with which I approached my layoff, which turned out very well, I guess

amit-gupta_1_01-04-2024_114032: 51:19

It did actually I wanted to share a little bit of my story as well, right? Being an immigrant, I left India about nine years ago. And I was living in different countries and when I landed in US the same dollar Dreams, right? In fact my kids have a picture of me sleeping with with dollar signs, so they're saying This guy is dreaming of dollars and stuff like that. Early days. It does look like this, and you feel nice and it's a great milestone, from a personal ambition or aspiration. And then slowly you start living and you start spending. And then you say, okay, now you need a house. You need a car. You, because, where I live we have terrible infrastructure in terms of public transport, right? So you have to own a car if you have to do anything in in, the part of the country that I live in now. After a point in time, I started realizing, hey. I came to this country at a very late age in, in my life, right? I don't have the kind of savings that I would need to retire in this country. And when I retire, what am I going to do? Am I going to go back to India? Am I going stay here? And I was speaking to my wife and I was like, what do you think we would be doing? When we are like sixties or seventies, are we gonna be able to afford to live in this country? and that's when I thought of. just me. There are, millions of other people who would pretty much be in the same boat. We come as immigrants, we leave everything that we have established back home and we come here and now we are pretty much starting from scratch. You are you're literally on ground zero. And then

atal-agarwal_1_01-04-2024_084032: 52:55

Yes.

amit-gupta_1_01-04-2024_114032: 52:56

to start building upwards and build that foundation down so that you're able to sustain retirement. And that's when I thought, okay. I think the answer to this is entrepreneurship, right? And how do we help understand what it takes to be an entrepreneur in this country? How can immigrants learn the intricacies of entrepreneurship? And that should help them build some sort of a sustainable future so that they're able to stay closer to their families and friends when they're retired. Because that's another thing. If I have to go back to India after my retirement. gonna have to make friends all over again, because I would've to leave my friends from here and then go back over there. Maybe Raul will still be friends with me, so I'll be with I'll speak with Raul, but otherwise we would have to build from scratch. And that's when I thought, okay, how do we build a platform or a forum for Indian immigrants to learn more about, other immigrants who made it happen. So we are trying to speak with people like you who can inspire them to, look outside at Shell and something which is memorable and unforgettable at the same time. That's our goal with what we are trying to do with Indian community. And likewise, even for Rahul, he's trying to help people in India become global. Entrepreneurs, right? So there are a lot of Indian entrepreneurs who are building great products, which, deserve a global stage. And that's exactly what Rahul does, is them themselves as a global organization or global entrepreneurs. And this is why we are trying to build this whole Indian community, right? So we're trying to talk to people, get their stories upfront and simultaneously we are also learning. So really a pleasure speaking with you at.

atal-agarwal_1_01-04-2024_084032: 54:48

Yeah, no, definitely.

Track 1: 54:49

Yeah.

atal-agarwal_1_01-04-2024_084032: 54:50

I feel like, you are touching on the right thing, entrepreneurship, we wanna make sure that people have a chance to be an entrepreneur. the challenge. Another challenge with America, which we didn't talk about is middle class is not there that much. And when there is no middle class, then people, there is no prosperity happening of the whole society. Poor are most of the poor people remaining poor and most of the rich people getting richer. The inequality And there is no middle class, which means the poor doesn't get to middle class, which means prosperity is not there. And that is another challenge. And I feel like immigration law actually has a part role to play with it because in H one B, you are struck with your employer, which means you would not be able to get to middle class or do entrepreneurship. And that's another problem, which in a way, O one solves which the visa we are helping people get. So I feel like you are touching on a very sophisticated, very important topics to actually improve the prosperity. Of our community overall and bring these people together. So thank you so much for actually everything that you are doing. feel there is a lot of value to be created and as we are creating it for our community, our responsibility is always for the entire world to show path

Track 1: 56:01

Okay.

atal-agarwal_1_01-04-2024_084032: 56:01

that we have, that we wanna create for everyone. always think from a higher consciousness. Because in our philosophy, in my philosophy as an Indian, what I learned is all human beings are indeed equal. And it's our responsibility to show them a higher path. That's our spirituality and everything that comes into our culture So I feel like whatever you are doing for our community has a lot of benefit for the entire world, and definitely it's it's a great effort.

amit-gupta_1_01-04-2024_114032: 56:31

Thank you. Yeah. And that's also our motto, right? So

Track 1: 56:36

Yeah.

amit-gupta_1_01-04-2024_114032: 56:36

whole world is our home and we have coexist.

Track 1: 56:43

And they're very hardworking people on both sides of the world, and they're really intelligent. They work very hard in their studies and everything, even in their professions. So they must achieve, they must achieve what they're poised to. Perhaps, it's yours and our efforts, perhaps it, goes a little much in a little bit in direction. Do people have, be able to make use of it?

atal-agarwal_1_01-04-2024_084032: 57:06

Yeah, I hundred percent agree with you. I think people should be achieving they want because that's what we are

Track 1: 57:15

Yes.

atal-agarwal_1_01-04-2024_084032: 57:16

a world that, hey, if you work hard, there is success. When the hard people, hardworking people are struggling, what are you gonna tell to the people who are not ready to work hard? Are you gonna tell them to work hard? It doesn't even make sense. That there is justice to the people who work hard study

Track 1: 57:34

right.

atal-agarwal_1_01-04-2024_084032: 57:34

Follow at least the world suggests them. So I feel like definitely this is all great work and hardworking people must get what they want and there should be a path for them to enlightened self-mastery and show the part to the next generation. So thank you for everything you are doing.

Track 1: 57:52

Yeah. Amit do you think we would

amit-gupta_1_01-04-2024_114032: 57:55

time for

Track 1: 57:56

to the next part? Yes. Yes, we do. We should do that. That's very quick one.

amit-gupta_1_01-04-2024_114032: 58:02

Yeah, go ahead.

Track 1: 58:04

Yeah. Should I do that? Okay. Okay. So I'll ask you very quick questions, very objective answers, so I'm just starting it right away. Coffee or tea.

atal-agarwal_1_01-04-2024_084032: 58:22

Now Tea, no coffee

Track 1: 58:24

Okay.

atal-agarwal_1_01-04-2024_084032: 58:25

I got rid of. Yeah.

Track 1: 58:27

Okay. Okay. Early Bird or Night Out.

atal-agarwal_1_01-04-2024_084032: 58:31

Early world.

Track 1: 58:33

Okay. Great. Favorite book that inspired you?

atal-agarwal_1_01-04-2024_084032: 58:38

There is a book by Krishna Moti called as Relationships, relationship with oneself, with others, and with the world. Talks about how everything in the world that happens is a kind of like a partnership of different types of relationships. once you Master these relationships in different forms it can really change one's life. So by Krishna Mutti is one of my favorite book,

Track 1: 59:06

Great. One word to describe your experience at IRD. Credit Person

atal-agarwal_1_01-04-2024_084032: 59:12

Freedom.

Track 1: 59:14

Freedom. Great. Great.

amit-gupta_1_01-04-2024_114032: 59:16

was gonna say food

Track 1: 59:19

tHat's your core. That's you at the core. Freedom

atal-agarwal_1_01-04-2024_084032: 59:22

Yes, at the core Freedom

Track 1: 59:23

Hardest Ironman discipline. Swim, bike, or run

atal-agarwal_1_01-04-2024_084032: 59:29

Bike

Track 1: 59:31

bike. Okay. I was thinking swim Alright.

amit-gupta_1_01-04-2024_114032: 59:35

The swimming thing at the Lake Tahoe and then so after that he can swim in his sleep. Now,

Atal Agarwal: 59:43

Yeah.

Rahul Mehra: 59:43

Yeah.

Atal Agarwal: 59:43

can swim. I think

Rahul Mehra: 59:44

Amit?

Atal Agarwal: 59:45

became,

Rahul Mehra: 59:45

Yeah.

Atal Agarwal: 59:46

to Golden Gate Bridge from my house was the Really enjoyed. There was no net, there is no network around that area, so I spent like an hour With no network, just on the bike ride in nature. And that was Just was the basic foundation for everything.

Amit Gupta: 1:00:01

Cool.

Rahul Mehra: 1:00:02

Okay.

Amit Gupta: 1:00:03

Your favorite Bollywood

Rahul Mehra: 1:00:04

Amit.

Atal Agarwal: 1:00:06

Bollywood movie. I think I, yeah, three years is still one of my favorite movie. Haven't been watching movies a lot these days, but I think three years still inspires me.

Amit Gupta: 1:00:16

and

Rahul Mehra: 1:00:17

is again your I connection.

Atal Agarwal: 1:00:20

in a way. Yeah. Yeah.

Amit Gupta: 1:00:21

in a way. Yeah.

Rahul Mehra: 1:00:22

Yeah.

Amit Gupta: 1:00:23

What's your favorite

Rahul Mehra: 1:00:24

Okay.

Amit Gupta: 1:00:25

buster activity?

Atal Agarwal: 1:00:27

Biking.

Amit Gupta: 1:00:29

Biking, which is also your hardest discipline, you said, right? For the, so I think my answer that out of these three things, what I enjoy is biking. Biking is also the one which is whenever I'm like having a lot on my plate, I'll just leave everything and I just take on my bike ride and go. So I feel like biking I always feel good after biking. I just noted this down that Biking makes me feel better about myself. So always choose biking over anything else For the Ironman discipline, I feel like Ironman discipline is just about falling in love with the process than anything else. me, as I said, I did it without training. It was basically just falling in love with biking and everything, and just started enjoying the feeling of being healthy. I just started enjoying that when when my heart is healthy, the thoughts that come out of it are also more pure. And once I realized that, I'm like, okay, this is the right thing to do. And Iron Man discipline and everything just came, discipline, just came along with it as a byproduct, Ironman came as a byproduct. It was not the, was not my goals to which I was chasing towards. Excellent. And if you had one wish, which would be that technology that you wish existed today.

Atal Agarwal: 1:01:52

I think I mean it is interesting question because technology and I crave for is bringing people together and connecting human beings and able to have open dialogue and communication. And I feel like though technology is looked at a way to do it, but as we all know about the social media, it makes people more alone. So it doesn't do do justice to the mission that it was established? Yeah. I feel from a technology point of view, I just feel bringing people more and more to a real environment to be able to have real meaningful connections and interactions. It's probably better than anything else that we should be looking for. So I don't think there is a technology that exists which is an app opportunity to bring

Rahul Mehra: 1:02:37

There was,

Atal Agarwal: 1:02:38

in real

Rahul Mehra: 1:02:38

I'm sorry, There was a technology,

Atal Agarwal: 1:02:40

uhhuh.

Rahul Mehra: 1:02:41

there was a technology to connect people. It used to call connecting people. I'll not take the.

Amit Gupta: 1:02:48

Nokia.

Atal Agarwal: 1:02:49

Yeah, you think about,

Rahul Mehra: 1:02:51

That was a poor joke.

Atal Agarwal: 1:02:52

yeah.

Amit Gupta: 1:02:53

In fact, I was reading this the other day while mindless scrolling on the internet is how the social media made all of us isolated and alone, and now companies are trying to build communities to bring us back together, right? So it was a good take at community building, but I think that's also the need of the day because there is just one earth right now. We haven't been able to find intelligent life outside of this planet. So we all have to live together and coexist. And I think people like you at who stand for their name you're actually proving that you're, truly utter in that sense. And you're fighting for the rights of immigrants. You're living a healthy lifestyle. You're inspiring millions of us. So I wanted to thank you once again for being on our podcast. And we would love to

Rahul Mehra: 1:03:42

Thank you.

Amit Gupta: 1:03:43

sometime when we do a specific series on opportunities for immigrants. And we would love to see you on the show again.

Atal Agarwal: 1:03:50

Definitely. Thank you so much for having me ul.

Rahul Mehra: 1:03:55

Thank you.

Atal Agarwal: 1:03:56

Really appreciate it. I think I had a great time and looking forward to helping more people, more immigrants, and understanding their rights and being an advocate for them in this country.

Amit Gupta: 1:04:06

Thank you.

Rahul Mehra: 1:04:07

We had a great time.

Atal Agarwal: 1:04:08

Thank you.

Amit Gupta: 1:04:09

Rahul I call Atal the Iron Man smiles because he's always smiling. He's got,

Rahul Mehra: 1:04:13

Yeah. Big broad smile,

Amit Gupta: 1:04:15

and

Rahul Mehra: 1:04:16

actually brings smile on other people faces.

Amit Gupta: 1:04:18

and he is also an Iron

Rahul Mehra: 1:04:19

Man

Amit Gupta: 1:04:19

that's excellent. Thank you so much,

Atal Agarwal: 1:04:22

Thank you.

Rahul Mehra: 1:04:22

you. Thank you. Yeah.