Hunter’s project

The person I interviewed, Naren Chawla, was born in Shikarpur, India, which became a part of Pakistan in 1949. He came to the United States in 1968 on a one year scholarship Visa, but soon realized that he wanted to remain in the United States. It was difficult for him to tell his parents that he wasn’t going to come back to them, as their family was very close knit. In Indian culture, families are very close and he would have been expected to remain close to them and let them help him raise a family, likely even living in the same house as them. The idea of starting a life alone in America was somewhat radical to present to his parents. Naren found it very exciting to experience life in a much freer society than the one he had grown up in. He shared an apartment with 3 other immigrants, and they loved being introduced to American culture, especially the music of the ‘70s. Naren was a chemical engineer, although he is retired now. After his initial retirement, he was bored, so he used his skill in mental math to find a second career as a mortgage broker to a large Indian community in New Jersey. He found this career choice to be more interesting than his first. Naren has enjoyed living in the United States, and he is glad of the decision he made to stay here.