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Six years without their father
Three years in, he went back and brought his wife and his daughter to America. The four boys stayed behind in India. One of them was eight years old when the separation began and fourteen when it ended.
His grandson has three children of his own, between ten and twelve, and can't imagine being away from them for six years to build a better life for people he would never meet. Leaving took sacrifice, and it took a vision of a life that would be better for everyone who came after.
That grandfather had 17 grandchildren, and his entire purpose was to give all of them an education. Sixteen of the 17 hold a graduate degree. All of them now care about the opportunities their own children will have.
How hard was immigrating from India in 1957?
For much of the early twentieth century, US law sharply restricted immigration from Asia. The Luce-Celler Act of 1946 opened a narrow door for India, setting an annual quota of 100 people and allowing Indian immigrants to become citizens. Immigration from India stayed small until the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 ended national-origin quotas.
How did people cross oceans in the 1950s?
Ocean liners carried most long-distance passengers through the 1950s, and crossings took many days. Jet travel changed that quickly once it arrived. Pan Am began Boeing 707 service across the Atlantic in October 1958.
Why do Indian Americans hold so many degrees?
Pew Research Center analyses of US Census data have ranked Indian Americans among the groups with the highest share of college graduates in the country. A large part of the reason is how the group arrived: after 1965, the United States admitted many immigrants through professional and student routes, such as engineers, doctors, and graduate students. Educational attainment among those arrivals was already high before they landed.
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