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.

I was born in Sri Lanka and though I had paperwork to show that I was an Indian citizen (by virtue of my parents being Indian citizens), the passport office in Chennai, India, was refusing to grant me an Indian passport. Though I had all the paperwork to come to the US, I had no passport. I would spend days in front of the passport officer begging for his mercy, but he refused. I took up a job as a high school teacher of Chemistry, having given up hope. Then I found out that one of my well wishers knew the passport officer. A half hour trip from him solved the passport problem.

I had absolutely no money to buy plane tickets! So, like all the others, I applied for a student loan for plane ticket and to take a little bit of money in hand. That was a few days of walking to banks and begging the managers. They needed someone with money to secure the loan! I found another kind soul to help me and bought my ticket through Swissair to New York. It was the cheapest at that time.

I boarded the plane and all through the flight I was cursing myself for taking this path and was depressed, thinking that I made a huge mistake. I was terribly homesick already. Hardly ate anything on the flight or at the Zurich airport. And then I landed in JFK around 3 PM on Sep 10th.

I had heavy suitcases, mostly filled with hardcover text books. Everyone said that the books are very costly in the US, so take as many as possible from India. I came out and waited for a fellow Indian grad student from Hunter College to pick me up. There were a lot of Indians picking up others, but no one seemed to be looking for me. As someone from India coming here for the first time, I was literally scared and terribly homesick, I was just waiting for someone to approach me and take me to their apartment so I can make a phone call home. Most who came with me on my flight had been picked up and it was almost 4:30 and no sign of anyone. Passengers from a few other flights came and left, and it was almost 7 PM and nothing. Finally the lady at the reception in International arrivals took pity on me and asked me who was I waiting for and I said “Vasu”.

She announced it a few times and nothing. She asked me if I knew where he lived and what was his full name so she could look him up on the phone book and call. Well, I only knew him as Vasu and I had absolutely no idea where he lived. That’s not true – I knew he spent a lot of time in Hunter College 🙂

She asked me where I was going and I told her Hunter College. She asked me if I knew their phone number. I said No, because I really didn’t. She asked me if I had a letter from them. I showed a letter. Then she pointed to a number beginning in 212 and told me this is the phone number. Lesson number one! It did not say anything like Phone: 212- and how am I supposed to know!

She dialed and nothing. In the meantime, I noticed that another young Indian man would come in and out looking for someone since a few minutes after I arrived. Once he asked me which flight I came by and I said Swissair (I was hoping he was Vasu!). Then he asked if I saw a dark young Indian man of medium height wearing glasses who came on my flight. I don’t remember exactly what I said, but that would have been half of my flight!

He came back again around 7 30. The receptionist happened to announce “Vasu” again and this guy’s eyes lit up! I know what you are thinking… No he was not Vasu!

But he knew Vasu. He came to me and started laughing. Introducing himself to me as another grad student at Hunter College, he said he knew Vasu really well and that Vasu was happily settled in the couch in his apartment, watching TV.

He agreed to take me to Vasu. He lifted my suitcase without realizing how heavy it was and the handle broke!!! Anyways, we took a cab to Vasu’s apartment in 72nd st between York and 1st ave.

That was the adventure of my first day in this land. It turns out that the telegram (this was the mode of “urgent” information delivery those days) I sent to Vasu was to Hunter College, which is the only address I knew. I sent it on my day of departure (an Indian norm in those days – we didn’t want to alarm people with a telegram unnecessarily until we were sure!). And Western Union tried to deliver it but Hunter was closed on Saturday and Sunday, so Vasu never received it prior to my arrival!

On the other hand, Vasu was a huge football fan and perhaps he lied about not getting the telegram because he didn’t want to miss football on TV!