40th Anniversary
I landed in this country on September 10th, 1978 and completed my 40th anniversary a couple of days ago. I am forever thankful for being able to come here and like several millions of others, no one ever would have predicted this would be my future. After losing my parents very early, I grew up with my uncle and aunt in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Thirteen of us in all (11 cousins, my sister and I), cramped up in a house roughly the size of a two bedroom apartment. I had no specific plans academically except I was very interested and curious. I was the only one of the 13 to pass the high school finals (which was a national exam) and since the admission to one of the then 4 Universities in Sri Lanka was next to impossible, my relatives funded my education in India.
I loved the undergraduate school I went to and then was fortunate to get into one of the best universities in India, Indian Institute of Technology, (IIT) Madras, where I did my Masters. My family wanted to me to work so I can support them financially. By that time, I was fascinated by quantum chemistry and really wanted to study further. To satisfy the family, I went for an interview at Bhaba Atomic Research Center (BARC). I was acing the interview and the interviewer asked me whether I thought of first doing a PhD and then applying to BARC. I told him that that was what I would really like to do. We then chatted for a half an hour about cricket and I left and he wished me well in seeking admission to a PhD program. I never heard from BARC!
Since almost everyone from IIT came to the US for Masters or PhD, that is what I also did. I applied to some four schools and got into one, CUNY. Thanks to students from IIT coming before me doing well, Professor David Beveridge was glad to have me in his flourishing group in Hunter College at CUNY.