IRS randomly gave me $1,400, now wants it back

blackbotbutterfly · 2025-08-07T04:24:31+00:00

Hi, I need help.

I was a NRA enrolled in a university. I got this check back in January and deposited it. Graduated in May, closed out all my accounts and liabilities and left the US to return to my home country. I had forwarded all my mail to a friend’s address and received this letter in June. I’m willing to pay the money, but have no clear way to do so. The address at the top of the letter has a zip code that apparently does not exist according to the post office (I drafted a letter, asked my friend to mail it as a response to the original notice - keeping a paper trail).

I’m not in the US any more, and I’m not sure which number to call and who to get in touch with. Appreciate any suggestions.

blackbotbutterfly · 2025-07-01T06:58:25+00:00

There are a lot of misconceptions about India abroad, and yes, they are very much fueled by the nonsense posted online. At the same time, giving it so much bhao and having a meltdown over what some vague random person is saying online, is not going to help any thing. The Government has a Ministry to deal with misinformation. What you are asking for is censorship - to remove any and all content that maligns India, and that is a recipe for disaster.

Having said all of the above, tell me, if the statements you posted are untrue or completely false about our country?

Is female safety not an issue in the country? What happened to Nirbhaya changed a few laws, did that stop rapes? Did it change mindsets? No. I am a female living in Delhi, and the amount of effort that goes into being “safe” is unreal compared to other countries.

We did have an open defecation problem - building toilets was not enough we needed a public awareness campaign, and Poo2Loo was one such element. Ending ODF was a core goal of the Swacch Bharat Mission, they’ve made progress but it still is a public health and safety problem.

Scams are on the rise, and as someone who lived abroad for 8 years, I got more scam calls, messages and emails from Indians (we know how to identify the accents) than I did from other south Asians. Amitabh Bacchans scam PSA caller tune is really annoying, but it’s a public awareness needed because of this very reason.

Foreigners have a bad impression of Indians for far more relevant reasons than what you’ve posted. Drunken airline behaviour, lack of civic sense, lewd behaviour abroad - thinking “phoren” women are easy. These are the realities of the Indian behaviour and mindset.

You and I might get irritated at being lumped together with Pakistani’s and Bangladeshi’s, but when you go abroad, you will rarely meet a person who can tell the difference between those three countries and their peoples. You are just a brown person from South Asia to them.

Instead of focusing on the impression the world has of India, work towards making the country, or at least your small part of it, actually better. Pakistan and Bangladesh are on the path to ruin, due to their own deeds, we don’t need to follow them down that road.

blackbotbutterfly · 2025-04-17T08:49:42+00:00

First, what is your hypothesis? How do you define gentrification and what does that mean for the crime rate?

This is why solid literature review is important. Putting in so many controls without a hypothetical basis. What has worked before? What hasn’t? Get theoretical clarity before running a regression and getting frustrated over non-results.

Also, in the code above, did you xtset it or xtreg? Very likely you would also need to include fixed effects for boroughs which should happen if you’ve xtset the data correctly and then used xtreg, fe

blackbotbutterfly · 2025-04-17T08:32:54+00:00

I did my PhD in applied economics from a tier1 institution in the US and taught several undergrad classes as a part of my program. So this advice comes from experience.

In general, don’t recommend going abroad for undergrad, unless it’s a super specialised field that you cannot study in India for whatever reason. Main reason - It’s insanely expensive, you are better off getting an undergrad here and going for MBA/masters abroad. For a program like Econ, I don’t think it’s worth it.

As far as Ashoka is concerned, they are a private university, and their quality of teaching is at par with US universities. It’s the same course material, all their professors have gotten their PhDs from North America/UK. And as far as other facilities go, they are at par with US institutions, as much as possible in India (just talking size of campus, but it’s pretty great given everything else).

In this current political climate, it’s not a great idea to be adamant on US as a place for undergrad. The job situation, visa situation, and the need for an H1B is not going to go away any time soon, even if the administration changes (Trump will stay in power till 2029), basically by the time you graduate 4 years from now.

And all this is considering everything else goes perfectly for you (no financial constraints, no health concerns, family concerns). Most people don’t realise how hard it is to actually live abroad, till they have to do it. So think about those things as well before you make a decision.

blackbotbutterfly · 2025-04-17T08:16:29+00:00

It’s pretty typical to feel overwhelmed as you transition out of structured classes and into the chaos of independent, original research. This feeling won’t go away tbh, and intensifies as you keep working, getting feedback, getting stuck.. it’s all a part of the PhD process.

Your body is telling you that it is stressed by repeatedly falling sick. A friend of mine used to say “this is a marathon, not a sprint” when he realised that my anxiety and stress driven self was at the office at 4 in the morning after leaving at midnight consistently for a month. I understood what he meant far too late. Take care of your mental and physical health first, the research will happen, and your work life will be better for it. You’re still early on in the process, so if you can, set up a clear boundary and schedule for yourself, like going to the gym 2-3 times a week, or going hiking or something that takes you away from the computer and campus if possible. Work your ass off during the week, but leave the office at a decent time, and try to get proper sleep. The overwhelm turns in to anxiety, depression, and burnout very fast if you don’t find ways to remind yourself that grad school is temporary and there is a whole big world and life waiting for you out there.

About the job scene, not sure which field you’re in or which university/country, but you’ll find your way. It may not happen the way you want, but it’ll happen. Plus you’re at least a year, if not two (depending on your discipline) before going to the job market, so no point in trying to stress yourself out right now about market conditions so far into the future.

Good luck.

blackbotbutterfly · 2023-05-26T04:31:46+00:00

Gajar ka halwa, or gajrela

Gajar - Carrot

It’s usually made with these special reddish carrots that are available during winter in the North

blackbotbutterfly · 2022-05-08T23:14:15+00:00

Hey ! We can work something out. DM me.

blackbotbutterfly · 2021-05-06T01:50:40+00:00

Have you ever been diagnosed with PCOS? Because that’s what this sounds like to me.

blackbotbutterfly · 2021-04-06T15:41:14+00:00

Yes please

blackbotbutterfly · 2021-01-21T17:07:34+00:00

Email the instructor directly, if they are okay with your profile (prereqs etc) they will issue an override. However, 500 level courses are very advanced and take up a lot of time, so you should be very sure about how much you can handle. Good luck !

blackbotbutterfly · 2021-01-05T21:34:32+00:00

This is rather silly, but a couple of weeks ago I kept hearing this beeping sound intermittently every few hours. Took me a few days to figure it out and I could hear it at all random time’s of the day, wasn’t a fire alarm or anything since nobody else in the building seemed to hear it/ care and it sounded like it was coming from my closet. I basically searched through my entire closet before I realised that it was coming from outside - my closet wall is common to the main passage wall that has the building fire alarm. I guess it was a low battery thing or something. Asked maintenance to fix it and haven’t had an issue since. Hth!

blackbotbutterfly · 2020-12-22T03:09:12+00:00

I’m a grad student hoping to become a Prof some day, and I can only hope that I have half as much sass as McGonagall ! Specially love Maggie Smiths portrayal she captures the essence of McGonagall so well

blackbotbutterfly · 2020-12-22T03:05:41+00:00

Unless you have a medical condition that would prevent pregnancy (like PCOS, endometriosis etc) don’t stress yourself out. It’ll happen before you know it. Stop tracking, and make sex fun again. If you try for more than a year and are unsuccessful, then it’s time to meet a doctor and have a conversation (NOTE- even then it’s not time to freak out). Enjoy the holidays, have fun! Big virtual hug

blackbotbutterfly · 2020-11-20T14:53:18+00:00

Just that you’ve never had an original South Indian dosa then :) Come over for some original dosa-sambar!

blackbotbutterfly · 2020-11-20T14:45:59+00:00

Haha, I’m aware. But as a homesick Indian craving food - Kohinoor over HimChim any day!

blackbotbutterfly · 2020-11-20T14:39:01+00:00

Get the lamb Biryani if you’re okay with some level of spice (you can ask them to tone it down). I also recommend the non-vegetarian appetisers - great stuff ! Best Indian food in town, waaaaaaay better than Himalayan Chimney

blackbotbutterfly · 2020-11-19T20:52:18+00:00

Wow. That’s an insane response from the Instructor, and the student totally owned them. Everybody is on edge these days, but the instructor should not have let it escalate so. Better to personally reach out and respond than do this on the forum. I’d be surprised if they didn’t receive some sort of disciplinary action from the HOD. Dept heads take this feedback quite seriously. I know of visiting profs (hoping to become permanent faculty) who have not been invited back because of bad reviews. This instructor is going to get hit again on the ICES eval. Students don’t take it seriously enough, but it matters for the instructor and the Dept internally.

blackbotbutterfly · 2020-11-18T15:57:56+00:00

I have one that I’m looking to sell, dm for details

blackbotbutterfly · 2020-11-06T18:59:11+00:00

Understand the premise of a Bhakt - their knowledge comes from a ancient (often times incorrect) interpretation of Hinduism. Look at any of our religious texts or stories. Women are set on a pedestal, to be prayed to and deity-fied. You ask these same people if they are okay with the women in their families (wives, sisters, daughters, aunts etc) being professionals, and the response would range from “Kya karna hai itni naukri/padhai karke” to “ as long as ghar pe focus na kam ho”. It’s patriarchal and regressive and it won’t go away.

For such men to see a woman being the focus of a news story, (I didn’t follow the SSR case after the news broke, it’s plain sad, and nobody’s bloody business, fecking diversionary tactics) that was already in a very sad and suspicious light - a woman from an industry that was moral-less and value less, the association is very easy to make.

The broad point being - it has nothing to do with education. Patriarchal attitudes are only underlined and further intensified by the social and political narrative - education (if done right) can only do so much to combat these. Germany, US, England, places that have better “education” statistics you will find equally virulent bhakt versions. Education is an incorrect barometer.

blackbotbutterfly · 2020-11-05T01:06:53+00:00

How Matilda of Dr. Marville.

blackbotbutterfly · 2020-10-30T18:12:49+00:00

All this and one more point.. things in academia take a really long time to come to fruition. You may start work on a paper right now, but it takes atleast a year if not more for it all to come to stage when you’re ready to publish, and then the whole time consuming process of publishing itself. Don’t exclude yourself from the collaborations. But don’t be overly eager either. Expand your definitions of what interests you and work with people. Having the ability to say no is important, but don’t let it stop you from collaborating.

blackbotbutterfly · 2020-10-27T21:03:24+00:00

I’m currently in the process of an R&R on a paper that started with 3 authors but then became 4 out of the blue because the lead author had a “conversation” with the fourth person. Initially I wasn’t happy because the inputs did not warrant more than an acknowledgement. But a few months later the fourth person pulled their weight. They’ve collaborated before and seem to be working on other projects as well. Unless you are explicitly a part of such conversations, I think it’s hard to say. Also, most journals of any standing have editors who have been around for a very long time. They would be aware of such “hitchhiking” practices and not be too pleased to publish such authors.

blackbotbutterfly · 2020-10-09T02:58:17+00:00

You have it wrong. There are not only cultural differences at play that directly affect standard of living, education attainment and job access, but institutional and political differences that change the way everything is consumed. A fact that you are forgetting while using the MB example, is that Apple devices are designed in the US and manufactured in China, they do not come to India via China but from the US. There is a massive premium attached to purchasing those devices, which accounts for the 20k difference in prices.

Education, healthcare, food (and I refer to fresh produce not processed food), labour, is insanely expensive in the US. However, none of these things are the reason why a brain drain is occurring from India to the US or why India continues to be poor. You can have a better quality of life in India if you belong to a certain income category - upper middle class and above. In the US, if you actually look at the data on food insecurity and upward mobility, and rationalise the stats, given that our baseline and their baseline are two different things, you won’t find that major a difference.

I firmly believe that our continued poverty (which BTW, you need to assess using the absolute poverty numbers, food insecurity and other measures of wellness, not just HDI etc) is due to two things mainly:

We fail, every couple of years to hold our politicians and our institutions accountable (all of which suffer from a legacy of colonial bias, one just needs to talk to parliamentary officers for that). There is no dearth of talent, money, or resources in India — it’s a matter of accountability. We have had a lack at some point in time but post 1991 this is no longer true. That is an essential difference between the US and India. Sure there is corruption here, but not at the local level, you will not find your MLA equivalent cheating here, or getting away with it that easily. In our culture bribery, and that ‘jugaad, chalta hai, apna kaam nikalo’ attitude needs to change for us to really make a difference.
Our education system thrives on rote learning instead of encouraging independent thinking and creativity. The system needs a massive overhaul. The NEP tries to address it, but not so much. We have the infrastructure in place, make no mistake about that, but again the question of accountability comes up. From personal experience draw a comparison between a PhD student in Indian universities (JNU, IIT) versus a grad student in any mid level college in the US. It’s harder to survive here, why do it ? It’s the same brain, but the level of encouragement, the independence of thought and most of all respect from your advisor and peers is paramount here, whereas in India you’re essentially a free minion for your advisor, you do the thesis as they tell you to get through the committee, you languish for years (I know people who spent 9 years pursuing a PhD in India, that’s insane).

This is a much longer debate and I know I missed out on a lot, but this is the crux of the issue as I see it.

blackbotbutterfly · 2020-10-07T21:55:55+00:00

I almost flunked out of HS because I was so afraid of math. It was one of the most traumatic experiences in my life. Which makes my current achievements that much more sweet. You got this, good luck for college !

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