And then I knew I must leave my beloved parents behind, although I had promised my mother I would return to stay for good. This broken promise weighed me down, and as I bowed to touch my parents’ feet, the tears welling in my heart overflowed from my eyes. My father wished me safe travels and many blessings for the road ahead. My mother, downhearted to see me leave, hugged me one last time, her tears wet against my face, mixing with my own.
My heart was torn. While I wished to stay near my parents, a larger, stronger part of me longed for America and the terrain on which I had initially sown the seeds of success, growing up from nothing and reaping the reward of a fruitful career. Now I must start all over again. How long would it take to reach the top again?
On the plane, I sat in the window seat, looking out at all of India sinking far below me as the plane rose higher and higher until we were above the clouds, and I could no longer see the people or villages or countryside. It would be a long flight, and I would have much time to think and to plan the next steps I would take once back in America. I hoped I could pick up where I left off with my career in healthcare administration. Even though I might start at the bottom of the ladder once again, I was thankful for my family being with me every step of the way.
Someone once said, “Men make their own history, but not in circumstances of their own choosing.” We try our best to live our lives, go a certain way, do what we think we should do, but when all is said and done, a mysterious force takes things out of our control. Maybe a majority of events play out the way we would like, but as I look back over my life, I see jobs that came and went, classes I failed, dreams that did not happen the way I planned, a career with more ups and downs than all the roller coasters at a theme park, and a beloved son with medical issues and endless questions of whether I could have done something differently. I have learned to not worry about uncertainties, but instead, to do my best and leave no stone unturned.
It was a long flight, and with thoughts of the future heavy on my mind, I dozed off. Next thing I knew, I woke up to hear the captain announcing, “Fasten your seat belts. We have started descending and will land in twenty minutes.”
Our plane landed in Boston on a beautiful afternoon on August 10, 1991, and as I stumbled off the plane, I dropped to my knees and kissed the ground, thanking God that we were finally in the US for good. This was my true home.
Acknowledgements
With a heart full of gratitude, I am first thankful for my good-looking wife, Raj, for bearing with me through the tough times and helping me remember many details for this memoir. I am indebted to her unconditional love in supporting this long, painful, and rewarding endeavor. I would also like to thank my parents who made my very first dream of moving to the States possible. They never stopped praying for me, especially my mother. Many thanks to the Cheemas for befriending me as a struggling student in America and for all the years we kept in touch. To Dariush Hanrahi from whom I learned to eat American food and enjoy simple things in life. To my friend Sewa Singh, a guy with a huge heart, who always helped me throw a good party. I am indebted to Professor Buchan for making it possible to achieve my engineering degree and for becoming a friend. I am grateful to Mr. Earl Gilreath for providing me with the opportunity to grow professionally and also becoming a lifelong friend. I am very thankful to Ved Bedi and Dr. Usha Bedi for providing us with unconditional moral and medical support when we moved to India. I wish to thank Satish Verma for teaching me business sense and for providing business opportunities for me. Thanks are also due to my relatives for entertaining us while we were in India. Much gratitude goes to Raj Dev Bedi and Swaraj Bedi for all the times they lent a helping hand, and for being friends I could always count on after my family and I returned to the States.
I am truly blessed to have very understanding, undemanding sons. Their wives have exceptional spirits as well, and through them, Raj and I feel as though we have truly inherited three daughters. I wish to acknowledge Manu Sharma Bedi, who not only inspired me to write this memoir, but gave me tremendous feedback for the writing and publication of this memoir. Subhash Bedi’s encouraging words that this would be a bestselling memoir kept me going through this journey. I would also like to thank Emily Winne for helping me articulate my stories in a clear and concise manner. She made several revisions from a 200,000-word memoir to bring it to less than 100,000 words and still retain the deep meaning of my story.
Thanks
