This was circa 1970, in a beautiful home in Providence, Rhode Island. My father had emigrated to the United States months before bringing us here. That's me -- three years old, in the blue dress at the far right in this photo. My mother is in the silver saree holding my baby sister. And my big sister is in the back in the red dress. I remember this house vaguely. I do remember that it is here that my six year old sister first went to school, and came home with a black eye - she was beaten up because we were one of the few non-white families at that time. Providence has changed since then. We still have a photo somewhere of her smiling up at the camera through her swollen eye. Despite that sad incident, we moved to Cincinnati and my father made the acquaintance of some wonderful people who taught us that not everyone in America would resent us for being different. One of his friends, Norb Schutte, would later visit India with my father and become my Dad's dear friend. Norb and his wife (then girlfriend) Patti would visit us every Christmas and bring gifts for everyone in the family - our first lessons about Christmas and giving. They were truly kind and generous and embodied the spirit of love and friendship in every way. Norb would go on to become a medical doctor and they would have a beautiful family of their own. The landscape and face of America has changed so much since then - the immigrant experience today is not nearly what it was back in the '70s. But I struggled growing up with being different. Through it all, my older sister took the brunt of it - being beat up and getting into verbal altercations with other children who didn't like us, protecting me when I was ready to go to school. She is still sadly suffering the impact of that childhood today. I have some of my own sad memories - too personal to share. But I wouldn't change my Dad's decision for anything. Despite our early struggles, we persevered. We made friends and found the goodness in people. Most of all, we realized that we are American too, and America is part of us. And we realized that here is where we belong.
