My mom, Ashi was born in 1977 in New Delhi, India. Her parents ran away from home to be together, and then gave birth to my mom and her older brother.
שקופית: 2
"Although I was close with my parents, my cousins were my best friends. We all went between each others houses for months at a time."
שקופית: 3
mom, why did you decide to move here?
my childhood was so loving and warm, yet there were still things that made me decide I couldn't raise a child there.
שקופית: 6
As I got older, I began to notice some of the less magical things in Delhi.
There were many safety concerns,=involving physical safety and also airpollution. I decided this wouldn't be a good place to start my family
שקופית: 7
Additionally, I was very serious about my education and wanted to go somewhere else for my college education. I felt that India didn't have a good enough education for me
שקופית: 8
Current day, San Francisco
When I was 12 years old, I went to the United States of America by myself. I stayed with my aunts, and I discovered the magic of the 'American Dream'
Idecided I was going to move to the United States by the time I was 20.
שקופית: 9
I also became a flight attendant, and moved to Singapore for a year, when I met the love of my life.
Thank you for choosing Singapore Airlines!
שקופית: 10
I always had a passion in writing, and I needed to save up money in order to move to the United States. So, I became a journalist for the largest newspaper in India
שקופית: 11
New Delhi, 1995
Saying goodbye to everyone I know was to this day one of the hardest things I have had to do.
שקופית: 12
Yet the anticipation of a new life gave me so much to look forward to
שקופית: 13
In December of 1999, I arrived in the United States and attended the University of Minnesota, although it was a lot colder than I was expecting.
שקופית: 14
It wasn't just the weather, the people were much colder here too compared to India
I quickly started to get homesick, and with no phones, I had no way to call my family
שקופית: 15
After 911, I started to notice that many of my friends were looked at and treated differently. I never noticed anything like this until now.
שקופית: 16
Hi!
Oh.. um never mind we're closed sorry.
שקופית: 17
Hi, welcome in!
שקופית: 18
Me and my husband got married in 2003, after his brother unfortunately passed away
שקופית: 19
One year later, we decided to move to San Francisco for more opportunities andinclusivity.
שקופית: 20
March, 2002
Moving to San Francisco was the best decision we could make. We both got jobs in the tech industry and are in a much more welcoming community.
שקופית: 21
In 2006, we gave birth to our son Sumaer, followed by Mehr in 2009, who I told this story to.
שקופית: 22
I'm so grateful to be able to give my children the same warmth that I felt in my childhood, and to give them these opportunities.