My grandfather’s name is Reddi Bommareddi. He comes from a small town called Benaras located in north India. He is 76 years old and now lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. He has been living in the US for 40 years now and hopes to continue to do so until his dying breath. When he first immigrated into the USA, life was new and exciting to him. He was shocked by the culture, the lifestyle, , and everything here. This immigration was the biggest change he had experienced in his life.
When he was living in India, he had a lot of friends, hobbies, and many experiences. However, times were hard in India with no electricity, no clean water, and very little food. Even though he never wanted to leave his home country, when he was offered a graduate assistantship in Canada, he lost his mind. The opportunity that this gave him and his family was incredible. In 1969, six months after debating back and forth whether he should leave or stay, he finally made the decision to immigrate. He came to Canada with a 1.25 cents in his pocket. He didn’t have any friends, he lost his home town, and he knew nothing about this country. He felt like he had lost all his previous life, the memories, and even valuable experience & skills. He eventually started working in Ontario, Canada and seemed to be comfortable with the new journey he is just starting. Three years later, the company he worked for offered a different job working at a hospital in Texas. Just like that, he had to start from the beginning again. No friends, no home, and no information about the country. He packed up a Uhual and he drove with his wife and daughter 20 hours to the great state of Texas. He was ecstatic this time because he knew he was immigrating into the land of the free. During his first days, he was already accustomed to this new society as it wasn’t that different from Canadian life. At this point, he couldn’t even remember why he was debating about leaving India. He knew that this is where he is going to spend the rest of his life.
Now, his wife and him live in a small but comfortable two-story house in Raleigh. They both are retired and both are avid gardeners. Everything is very good for them in the United States. He told me how much he really appreciates the life America has given him. Sometimes, he thinks what would life have been like if he stayed in India his whole life. I simply replied, “Then I wouldn’t be sitting in front you right now.”
–Koen Winemiller on his grandfather’s immigration
