India to America: a 20-year tale of assimilation

A very interesting story, showing how people live in both cultures after immigrating here.    - - Donna Poisl

Written by Saritha Prabhu

This June marks a personal anniversary for my family and me: It was 20 years ago, June 1992, that my husband and I immigrated to this country from India.

I remember almost every detail of those first days and months. We came with four suitcases. I wore a red salwar-kameez the first day. We were newly wed, and the bridal henna marks were still on my hands. Our first meal here was bread with Indian pickle out of a jar. Like many newlyweds, we had optimism in our hearts and little money in our pockets. I remember feeling a little disoriented and homesick for most of the first year.

But the years went by, as they usually do, in a whirl. We lived in three states, moved five times, had two children, visited India seven or eight times, went from J-1 student visas to green cards to becoming naturalized citizens, and now two decades later find ourselves in an American suburb in the proverbial house with the white picket fence.
Click on the HEADLINE above to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.