1974 St. Patrick’s Day, a cultural heritage story brought to you by Western Union
Western Union is a proud sponsor of NetIP’s stories of Cultural Heritage, Drops. Ripples. Waves.
Hima Dasika, Special Events Chair, for the 2011 conference submitted this family Cultural Hertiage story written by her mother.
The thought to come to USA was sudden, along with a desire to be close to family and friends. My sister was here in 1969 and my husband, Vijay’s, older brother since 1955, and many of his close friends since 1968. My Mother lived with my sister in the U.S. for several months and when she came back to India she spoke so highly of the U.S. My mom was a well read person and she knew a lot about American culture and what it stands for – democracy, freedom, progress and a model for the rest of the world.
She wasn’t disappointed during her visit as America was every bit the way she imagined it or saw in Hollywood movies. She described how impressed she was by the U.S culture, it’s fight for freedom and democracy through great leaders like Lincoln and Kennedy, TV programs , buildings, bridges and tunnels of engineering marvel, roads and infrastructure, giant stores and malls, availability of resources, and most importantly the courtesy of the American citizens.
I remember my Mom describing how surprised she was to always be greeted with a big smile, “Hello Ma’am may I help you” in a grocery store or mall. This type of friendliness was unheard of in India. My mother was instrumental in encouraging me to choose Nutrition as my major for both my undergraduate and masters degree.
My Mother, a Physics Professor, had mentioned that Nutrition as a major was unheard of in the thirties and forties. She felt that Nutrition is one of the up and coming fields with a promising career opportunity for the future. It is because of her guidance that I chose to specialize in Nutrition….and ironically, this is what helped me to get my green card to come to USA.
My husband and I got married in 1972 and my husband, a recent medical school graduate, applied for a visa to the U.S. for both of us. We anxiously waited only to find out we were denied. We tried multiple times writing endless and endless applications in lengthy writing including an application to Australia which we were denied as well. We almost gave up hope after months and months of continuous disappointment. That was 1973.
At this time, one of Vijay’s friends was visiting India and he told us that anyone with a degree in Nutrition is eligible to get permanent visa. There was a shortage of nutritionists in the U.S. and talk of accepting foreigners in the nutrition field.
I immediately applied. I still have the letter that I wrote to American Embassy in Madras. I just wrote a few lines stating my qualifications and a desire to immigrate to US. I got a reply within weeks instructing me to come and apply in person.
I wasn’t just granted a visa…I got my Green card in 6 months and we began packing to immigrate to this great country of opportunity with nothing but a suitcase full of sarees and a lot of hopes and fears for the new adventure.
Sadly, my Mother passed away suddenly and shortly before we were to leave the country. It’s amazing how great hope for opportunity and tragedy can occur at the same time. I carried the strength I had from my Mother and remembered her great description of America as well as her encouragement to pursue Nutrition as a career.
It is were not for my Mother, I would not have dreamt about moving to America – I would not have pursued Nutrition – and I would not have gotten the Green Card to immigrate to America. We arrived to NYC on March 17th 1974. Little did I know the significance of that day, as St. Patrick’s Day.
That was the drop for me – and exactly 37 years later, March 17, 2011, as I celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with my husband and daughter over some green beer and a nice dinner, my husband and I recalled the events of the day we landed in this country as immigrants.
As I continued to live in the U.S. my ripple was the involvement in my professional career. I am a dietitian by practice. Thus, food and cooking have always been an important part of my life. I saw the need to develop standardized Indian recipes with nutritional information for both the South Asian and American communities.
So I spent years working on writing a cook book with nutritional information and assisted many of my Indian clients. It was a sense of accomplishment when I finally got it published. I don’t know if I would have had this opportunity to develop my career, raise two children, and simultaneously write and publish a cook book had I still lived in India.
There were so many Indian Dietetic professionals in the Tri state area that we formed an organization and it was recognized by American Dietetic Association.. We were members in our professional South Asian organizations to promote the interests of Indians politically and be connected with our homeland.
There is a bright future for the next generations with the strong foundations laid. There is respectable recognition both politically and culturally by the community which we have adopted as ours. Some school districts are giving a day off for Indian and other South Asian holidays. The first generation immigrants have made a tremendous impact both by the adopted and homeland countries. Both have progressed with the contributions made in many areas.
My husband and I raised our children such that they wouldn’t feel we were pressuring them to stick to their traditional Indian roots – so we exposed them to very little and let them have an independent mind to explore and absorb the American culture. I am so happy to see how much pride my children take in their heritage – a decision they made on their own.
They not only carried on the traditions to pass on to future generations in an effort not to let these traditions die down from generations to come, but also they have used this to educate others through various leadership roles to make an impact in the South Asian American community.
My children have a diverse group of friends…Italian, Korean, Japanese, Lebanese, Peruvian, Greek, Pakistani, Indian etc – and they educate their friends on their Indian heritage and also are educated on their friends’ ethnic cultural heritage – and together they create new waves of culture. The diversity is the beauty of living in this country and I don’t regret landing at JFK airport in New York City on March 17, 1974. I always say that I was born in India but I really grew up as a responsible adult in USA.
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I’m fascinated with the differences in how people around the world spend and save money. Having grown up around a lot of immigrants, I can tell you that their spending patterns are wildly different than people who were born and raised in America.
