“I like him,” she said to her mother after just meeting him, “Of the four boys we have met with, Sayam is the one that I think is a good match, but I am not sure if I am ready to face the struggles of going abroad and starting from scratch.”
“Nutan, it is only six months isn’t it? Besides, it will go by very fast, for there are a lot of things to do in the United States of America,” her mother reassured her.
The sign said: “Nutan Weds Sayam” and almost eight hundred people flooded the wedding halls to see the spectacular wedding. It was only a matter of a few days until Nutan, who had just changed her name to Sanjana Bagade, would leave India for the first time with her newly wedded husband. In a few hours until she would leave her home, and in a few minutes until she would leave her family and go live with a different one.
On January 26th 1996, Sayam and Sanjana flew to Seattle, Washington. Upon days of arrival, Sanjana thought this country was so amazing, developed, and systematic. She missed her family and her home, and she also got bored while Sayam was at work, but she kept reassuring herself that she will only be here for six months. She couldn’t work here either because her visa didn’t allow her to do so. At the end of six months, their stay in America was extended. They moved to Baltimore in 1997, where they had their first child named Soumya. They kept going back to India to visit their family and wanted to resettle there, but they knew it was better for Soumya if they stayed in America. Sanjana decided to go back to school to learn and she got a double degree from Baltimore Community College. They later moved to Hickory, North Carolina and finally to Cary, where they had their second child named Shon.
As Sanjana started accepting America as her home, she started feeling happier in this country. She made friends and also got a job here. When she came to America she still considered India as her home but today, she considers herself as an American.
