I just completed two years at Wellesley. I can’t believe how fast the time has gone by.

There are certain things that you always remember no matter what. One of them is my first Thanksgiving. I had arrived in NY during early September in 1978 to do my graduate work at Hunter College. I knew the exact area where I wanted to do my work, so I had written to Prof David Beveridge there and he had accepted me into his group. So, right from the get go, I was part of his group. He invited the group to his house in Westport. It was barely two months after I arrived here. Deeply homesick and highly suspicious of the so-called vegetarian choices, I joined others for a ride to CT. Prof Beveridge and his wife had cooked up a storm and had plenty of vegetarian choices. We had a good time walking outside the house. Coming from a small basement apartment in Queens, the backyard looked so beautiful and vast! We had a great time, lots of stories and good food. The Turkey (picture on the left is from Wikipedia) looked foreign to me at that time and I took a seat far away from it. I may have nibbled on some of the food, but what I remember is living that evening on delicious apples!

I always say how thankful I am to Prof Beveridge. He is the reason why I came to this country and he has been a true mentor all along. He is the reason why we moved to Wesleyan, which, we consider to be the best move we made. We are still connected to them and meet up for dinners.

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