In 1961, at the age of twenty, I arrived in the United States (US), landing at the port of New York after three weeks at sea with only $300 in my pocket. Coming from a small village of only 200 people, I had never seen anything like New York City before. I had made it here on sheer faith, by staying focused on my goal of acquiring education in the US. I'd overcome peer pressure to stay back in India, lack of funds, the feeling that I was abandoning my family and so much more just to get here. An
