In the 1960s when I was born, India was still catching up with the Western world. Coming from a remote village in the outskirts of Bangalore, one of India’s most cosmopolitan cities, I knew there was a lot more to life than herding cows and growing grapes, as my parents and grandparents had done throughout their life. Our village school was a one room building with students from kindergarten through 5th grade. I grew up in a middle-class family, the oldest of four children. We stayed in a one-story house along with eight other people sleeping on the floor with no cots, beds, toilets, or electricity.
After excelling throughout my early educational career, I was accepted to a Pre-University Course (PUC) in Bangalore city where I studied to pursue a career. During PUC I decided to become a physician and help people. After attending PUC, I was accepted into Bellary Medical College. After receiving my degree from there I got married to my wife who (luckily) had a well-to do father and mother. They gladly sent us to the United States where they had already lived for a while.
Going to America was a no-brainer. There was so much more that could be accomplished there, however packing up and moving to the other side of the world made me a bit nervous. Nonetheless, my conscious was clear and my hopes were high. After arriving in the U.S., we did lots of moving so I could find the best place to do a medical residency: from Michigan to Texas, back to Michigan, and then to Ohio and then finally, North Carolina. Throughout this process I had all three of my children, Sneha (17), Sachin (14), and Sapna (11).
My transition into becoming an American was quite smooth. However, my main problem upon arriving to America was the language barrier. The first time I was introduced to English was when I started PUC, however I didn’t learn much of it. After more than 20 years of living here my English has obviously improved a bit. Life in America has become the norm, as it would anywhere after living there for twenty years. Coming to America was one of the best choices I made, higher standard of living, higher socioeconomic status, better amenities (24-hour water, electricity, toilets, stoves), and better opportunities for my children. In other words, life is good.
