WEBVTT

1
00:00:26.879 --> 00:00:29.559
<v Speaker 1>Good morning, good morning, good morning, and welcome, welcome, welcome

2
00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:32.840
<v Speaker 1>into his time now for our community connection right here

3
00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:37.039
<v Speaker 1>on K one, the one you trust. And today it's

4
00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:39.960
<v Speaker 1>a it's a very special day today because we're going

5
00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:42.840
<v Speaker 1>to be talking about a gentleman who did so much

6
00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:44.200
<v Speaker 1>for our community.

7
00:00:44.719 --> 00:00:47.920
<v Speaker 2>And uh, the legacy is going to live on. Jonah

8
00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:50.000
<v Speaker 2>christ nine is with us here and we're going to

9
00:00:50.039 --> 00:00:55.679
<v Speaker 2>talk about father. How are you doing today? I'm great, Well,

10
00:00:55.719 --> 00:01:00.600
<v Speaker 2>that's great. Now Vasu. Everybody knows him as Vasu and

11
00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:04.959
<v Speaker 2>it was just, you know, it just fed and such

12
00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:10.920
<v Speaker 2>a right and energetic fella. And we're gonna be remembering

13
00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:12.560
<v Speaker 2>him in a special occasion, are we not.

14
00:01:13.519 --> 00:01:20.599
<v Speaker 3>Yes, much of Bartlesfield does know that Kaivasudevin passed on

15
00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:27.000
<v Speaker 3>September sixth, on a Friday, and for us from India

16
00:01:27.200 --> 00:01:30.159
<v Speaker 3>and who are Hindus.

17
00:01:30.879 --> 00:01:32.519
<v Speaker 4>Friday is a very good day.

18
00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:35.519
<v Speaker 3>And it happened to be also a very special celebration

19
00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:41.200
<v Speaker 3>on that day, so worldwide people were praying and Dad

20
00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:45.599
<v Speaker 3>passed that evening. So yeah, I hope I won't get emotional.

21
00:01:46.159 --> 00:01:48.599
<v Speaker 3>I was very much a daddy's girl and was his

22
00:01:50.439 --> 00:01:54.079
<v Speaker 3>and it was his shadow for many, many many years

23
00:01:54.159 --> 00:01:56.159
<v Speaker 3>and so I.

24
00:01:56.079 --> 00:01:59.719
<v Speaker 2>Miss him, and we all do, but you especially because

25
00:02:00.159 --> 00:02:01.760
<v Speaker 2>of being Daddy's girl.

26
00:02:01.959 --> 00:02:06.239
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, and we understand and unlike a lot of people,

27
00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:12.439
<v Speaker 3>if everyone's attached to their parents, but I spent well

28
00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:16.520
<v Speaker 3>all but ten years of my life with my parents,

29
00:02:17.240 --> 00:02:20.560
<v Speaker 3>you know, growing up, and then typically you go to college, right,

30
00:02:20.639 --> 00:02:25.280
<v Speaker 3>so that's four years, and then you get married, and

31
00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:27.719
<v Speaker 3>you know, the normal way of going is you get

32
00:02:27.719 --> 00:02:30.639
<v Speaker 3>married and then you have a independent house.

33
00:02:30.439 --> 00:02:31.360
<v Speaker 4>Of your own and.

34
00:02:35.039 --> 00:02:36.680
<v Speaker 3>Then you got on with your life, and of course

35
00:02:36.680 --> 00:02:39.759
<v Speaker 3>you're connected to your parents, but there's that amount of distance.

36
00:02:39.919 --> 00:02:43.960
<v Speaker 3>But my story is a little different in that I

37
00:02:44.039 --> 00:02:47.639
<v Speaker 3>was married when I was eighteen, and Kumar and I

38
00:02:47.919 --> 00:02:52.759
<v Speaker 3>were pretty much an arranged marriage, but not totally. And

39
00:02:53.560 --> 00:02:55.960
<v Speaker 3>we had known each other before, the families had known

40
00:02:56.000 --> 00:03:01.080
<v Speaker 3>each other before, which isn't uncommon. And he had already

41
00:03:01.080 --> 00:03:03.280
<v Speaker 3>had a degree and I was getting ready to go

42
00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:06.400
<v Speaker 3>into college. So he went back to get his engineering

43
00:03:06.439 --> 00:03:10.319
<v Speaker 3>degree at Wichita State University, and I went and got

44
00:03:10.360 --> 00:03:14.199
<v Speaker 3>my undergraduate in business and then a master's in business.

45
00:03:14.840 --> 00:03:19.800
<v Speaker 3>And then afterwards we moved back to Bartlesville because Dad

46
00:03:19.840 --> 00:03:24.120
<v Speaker 3>had a dream of owning a family home and he

47
00:03:24.199 --> 00:03:27.240
<v Speaker 3>called my brother my sister in law and Kumar and

48
00:03:27.280 --> 00:03:31.599
<v Speaker 3>I and my brothers. As many of you know, is

49
00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:35.159
<v Speaker 3>doctor Gopie Voster Davin, who was the gastin gerologist here

50
00:03:35.199 --> 00:03:39.240
<v Speaker 3>in town for twenty six or twenty two years, and

51
00:03:41.240 --> 00:03:43.759
<v Speaker 3>called us all together and say, hey, I have this vision.

52
00:03:43.879 --> 00:03:46.280
<v Speaker 3>I have this dream of owning a big house. And

53
00:03:46.599 --> 00:03:50.560
<v Speaker 3>it's very much more of a traditional We're from the

54
00:03:50.639 --> 00:03:55.080
<v Speaker 3>state of Katala, Katala home where there's extended family who

55
00:03:55.080 --> 00:03:58.680
<v Speaker 3>all lives together. And it's a beautiful situation in that

56
00:03:58.759 --> 00:04:02.120
<v Speaker 3>when the kids are growing up, you have grandma and

57
00:04:02.159 --> 00:04:06.400
<v Speaker 3>grandpa's influence, where it has been shown that children who

58
00:04:06.439 --> 00:04:09.840
<v Speaker 3>are around their grandparents they just do so well that

59
00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:12.639
<v Speaker 3>you know, they get a difference perspective than that mean

60
00:04:12.680 --> 00:04:16.480
<v Speaker 3>old mom and dad, you know. And then as the

61
00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:19.959
<v Speaker 3>parents get older, in turn you take care of them.

62
00:04:20.160 --> 00:04:22.720
<v Speaker 3>And some of even in Europe and stuff. I remember

63
00:04:23.279 --> 00:04:27.879
<v Speaker 3>Gail came brought over a bunch of her a bunch

64
00:04:27.879 --> 00:04:31.120
<v Speaker 3>of people from her congregation, and they were talking about

65
00:04:31.519 --> 00:04:35.120
<v Speaker 3>in the old days in Israel and other places that

66
00:04:35.240 --> 00:04:37.800
<v Speaker 3>you know, traditionally this was not uncommon.

67
00:04:38.920 --> 00:04:41.079
<v Speaker 4>So we live that way.

68
00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:43.800
<v Speaker 3>And so I lived with my parents for forty five

69
00:04:43.879 --> 00:04:49.000
<v Speaker 3>years and it's then it's really tough. You guys can

70
00:04:49.079 --> 00:04:54.399
<v Speaker 3>imagine it. It's really tough because they become not just

71
00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:58.120
<v Speaker 3>your mom and dad. They become your friends and people

72
00:04:58.160 --> 00:04:59.399
<v Speaker 3>you look up to highly.

73
00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:00.319
<v Speaker 4>You know what I saying.

74
00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:04.639
<v Speaker 2>The relationship changes for the better as you age.

75
00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:05.959
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, I feel lucky.

76
00:05:06.839 --> 00:05:10.399
<v Speaker 3>Sometimes people find it hard to let go of being.

77
00:05:11.079 --> 00:05:13.360
<v Speaker 4>Mom and dad. Like Dad. You know, people who.

78
00:05:13.240 --> 00:05:16.000
<v Speaker 3>Knew Vasu he was a very He was a very

79
00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:18.480
<v Speaker 3>bright and living guy. But he was also a go

80
00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:21.360
<v Speaker 3>getter and a no nonsense man. People who dealt with

81
00:05:21.399 --> 00:05:24.519
<v Speaker 3>him in business knew that, and so sometimes there were

82
00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:28.000
<v Speaker 3>little conversations about Dad, you need to kind of back

83
00:05:28.079 --> 00:05:32.480
<v Speaker 3>off a little bit here, and he would smile and say, okay.

84
00:05:32.519 --> 00:05:36.639
<v Speaker 3>But whether that really happened or not, I leave it

85
00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:38.639
<v Speaker 3>up to the audience to decide.

86
00:05:39.480 --> 00:05:42.959
<v Speaker 2>We're gonna have a very nice remembrance of Vasu coming

87
00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:46.120
<v Speaker 2>up on Tuesday, October eighth. Tell us where we're going

88
00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:46.560
<v Speaker 2>to hold this.

89
00:05:47.600 --> 00:05:51.160
<v Speaker 3>That's going to be at the Service and Technology or

90
00:05:51.399 --> 00:05:57.279
<v Speaker 3>STC building. Dad started three companies, for sure. He had

91
00:05:57.319 --> 00:06:02.399
<v Speaker 3>a vision to start like two or three more. Gave

92
00:06:02.439 --> 00:06:05.079
<v Speaker 3>it names and everything. It was in the process, and

93
00:06:05.079 --> 00:06:06.959
<v Speaker 3>then the Good Lord took him when he was eighty

94
00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:09.319
<v Speaker 3>six years old. But it's going to be at the

95
00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:14.720
<v Speaker 3>STC Building one five South penn And for those of

96
00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:19.240
<v Speaker 3>you who are not too savvy about, you know, using

97
00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:23.199
<v Speaker 3>your phones or other stuff, if you go down Frank Phillips,

98
00:06:23.480 --> 00:06:26.000
<v Speaker 3>you know that where the Frontier pool is, well one

99
00:06:26.040 --> 00:06:29.839
<v Speaker 3>block west of Virginia. You'll make a right turn and

100
00:06:30.040 --> 00:06:33.639
<v Speaker 3>we own that whole block, so you will come back

101
00:06:33.920 --> 00:06:36.560
<v Speaker 3>more towards the Texio side and you'll see the main

102
00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:40.120
<v Speaker 3>entrance to the building and they'll be parking there. But

103
00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:45.560
<v Speaker 3>there's also parking around on the other side on Roger

104
00:06:45.639 --> 00:06:49.199
<v Speaker 3>Street in the back, so there's plenty of parking. And

105
00:06:49.519 --> 00:06:52.639
<v Speaker 3>we just welcome anybody to the bartles of the Bartlesville

106
00:06:52.680 --> 00:06:56.399
<v Speaker 3>community who would like to come and pay respects to Vasu.

107
00:06:56.959 --> 00:07:01.000
<v Speaker 3>There's no set program as such. It's more of a

108
00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:04.240
<v Speaker 3>come and go. As we were talking about this morning,

109
00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:08.000
<v Speaker 3>Dad was and our families, but mostly Dad. It was

110
00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:11.600
<v Speaker 3>Dad that was selected into the Legacy Hall of Fame.

111
00:07:11.720 --> 00:07:14.319
<v Speaker 3>I shouldn't say dad, because Mom was just as much

112
00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:18.519
<v Speaker 3>a part of his success as as he was. Mom

113
00:07:18.560 --> 00:07:21.680
<v Speaker 3>and Dad were selected him of course. With the legacy

114
00:07:21.720 --> 00:07:24.199
<v Speaker 3>that means your family is typically involved as well, so

115
00:07:24.319 --> 00:07:28.959
<v Speaker 3>Gopi and I were honored as well. But we have

116
00:07:29.079 --> 00:07:33.120
<v Speaker 3>a little tape of his that they interview the person

117
00:07:33.160 --> 00:07:37.519
<v Speaker 3>who's getting the Legacy award and others from around the community,

118
00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:39.480
<v Speaker 3>and myself and Gopy talk about him.

119
00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:41.439
<v Speaker 4>We might play that in the background.

120
00:07:41.680 --> 00:07:45.120
<v Speaker 3>I haven't really talked to Kumar about it, but having

121
00:07:45.199 --> 00:07:47.120
<v Speaker 3>talked to you, I think that might be a great idea.

122
00:07:48.600 --> 00:07:50.839
<v Speaker 2>It will be a great idea. I really think it'd

123
00:07:50.839 --> 00:07:52.839
<v Speaker 2>be nice to hear the voice again and everything.

124
00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:56.519
<v Speaker 3>It would be nice, but it's also kind of hard,

125
00:07:57.000 --> 00:07:59.000
<v Speaker 3>you know, I know, I mean, it's comforting, you know,

126
00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:00.360
<v Speaker 3>it's a bittersweet sit situation.

127
00:08:00.680 --> 00:08:02.319
<v Speaker 4>It's comforting, but it's kind of hard.

128
00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:06.800
<v Speaker 2>To be a little bit now your story with your

129
00:08:06.920 --> 00:08:13.160
<v Speaker 2>entire family. It's an immigrant experience. It's interesting because so

130
00:08:13.240 --> 00:08:16.839
<v Speaker 2>many people whose families have been here in the United

131
00:08:16.839 --> 00:08:20.839
<v Speaker 2>States for a long time really have no comprehension of

132
00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:23.680
<v Speaker 2>what it's like to pick up your family from halfway

133
00:08:23.680 --> 00:08:27.399
<v Speaker 2>across the planet and move them someplace else where. The cultures,

134
00:08:27.560 --> 00:08:30.480
<v Speaker 2>the languages, and expectations might be a little different, if

135
00:08:30.519 --> 00:08:31.439
<v Speaker 2>not completely different.

136
00:08:31.480 --> 00:08:37.200
<v Speaker 3>You're absolutely right, you know. The migrations started in the

137
00:08:37.240 --> 00:08:41.080
<v Speaker 3>fourteen hundreds, to find America with good old Christopher Columbus

138
00:08:41.080 --> 00:08:47.799
<v Speaker 3>in fourteen ninety two, and you know, the experience. Although

139
00:08:47.799 --> 00:08:52.039
<v Speaker 3>we've had technology and times have changed, there are some

140
00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:57.440
<v Speaker 3>things that ring true through the centuries. And one of

141
00:08:57.480 --> 00:09:00.759
<v Speaker 3>those things for us is the immigrant Dixon experience. And

142
00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:07.600
<v Speaker 3>just basically, well let me explain. In any case, I

143
00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:10.000
<v Speaker 3>can give you an example. You know, when I went

144
00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:14.320
<v Speaker 3>to school at Bartlesville High School and it came time

145
00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:20.000
<v Speaker 3>to take the PSATs, the SAT the Act and.

146
00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:22.320
<v Speaker 4>Gopy my older brother.

147
00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:25.840
<v Speaker 3>He's eight years older than I am, and for all purposes,

148
00:09:25.879 --> 00:09:29.519
<v Speaker 3>he's a third parent. And a lot of that is

149
00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:33.639
<v Speaker 3>just because of Gopi's nature, but also because Gopi went

150
00:09:33.679 --> 00:09:38.399
<v Speaker 3>through the school system and he was just brilliant. I mean,

151
00:09:38.440 --> 00:09:40.840
<v Speaker 3>people who talk about me being smart in Bartlesville, I

152
00:09:40.879 --> 00:09:42.679
<v Speaker 3>always my friends are so kind to me and say

153
00:09:42.720 --> 00:09:43.600
<v Speaker 3>you are so smart.

154
00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:45.399
<v Speaker 4>I was nothing compared to Gopi.

155
00:09:46.200 --> 00:09:49.840
<v Speaker 3>And in Pittsburgh, where we migrated to, if he goes

156
00:09:49.879 --> 00:09:53.919
<v Speaker 3>back there, if there are people who have actually lived

157
00:09:53.919 --> 00:09:56.159
<v Speaker 3>in the community for a long time, they will remember

158
00:09:56.200 --> 00:09:57.799
<v Speaker 3>Gopi because he was on the rate. I mean, he

159
00:09:57.840 --> 00:10:00.960
<v Speaker 3>would do things like these kind of interviews. He was just,

160
00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:04.919
<v Speaker 3>you know, so active in school and in the community.

161
00:10:05.080 --> 00:10:08.480
<v Speaker 3>He was student body president and he was part of

162
00:10:08.679 --> 00:10:13.279
<v Speaker 3>the school board and just at a young age, you know.

163
00:10:13.559 --> 00:10:17.799
<v Speaker 3>But again the immigrant experience adds to that. In any case,

164
00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:21.720
<v Speaker 3>Gopie was in the Prima at Pittsburgh State University in Pittsburgh, Kansas,

165
00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:26.159
<v Speaker 3>and we had moved to Bartlesville. And in all honesty,

166
00:10:26.200 --> 00:10:28.840
<v Speaker 3>a lot of people don't know, Dad didn't want to

167
00:10:28.840 --> 00:10:33.080
<v Speaker 3>come to Bartlesville. Oh really, no, yeah, I mean because

168
00:10:33.240 --> 00:10:36.840
<v Speaker 3>this community, you know, it's like the Garth Brooks song,

169
00:10:37.679 --> 00:10:40.799
<v Speaker 3>thank God for unanswered prayers.

170
00:10:41.240 --> 00:10:44.440
<v Speaker 4>You know, the good Lord knows what's best.

171
00:10:44.799 --> 00:10:47.480
<v Speaker 3>But it was a horrible time for Vasu because he

172
00:10:47.639 --> 00:10:51.200
<v Speaker 3>was with a company for over ten years in Pittsburgh

173
00:10:51.879 --> 00:10:57.039
<v Speaker 3>and there was a kind of a conflict of thinking

174
00:10:57.200 --> 00:11:00.480
<v Speaker 3>between the old regime and the new regime. A lot

175
00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:05.720
<v Speaker 3>of people have experienced that, and he decided he wanted

176
00:11:05.720 --> 00:11:12.200
<v Speaker 3>to change jobs. And so he was actually unemployed for like,

177
00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:14.799
<v Speaker 3>I think eight months or something, six months eight months,

178
00:11:14.879 --> 00:11:17.840
<v Speaker 3>and he went into a real depression. And all he

179
00:11:17.919 --> 00:11:20.279
<v Speaker 3>wanted at that point was to start his own company.

180
00:11:21.120 --> 00:11:24.559
<v Speaker 3>But he would put things together and it just didn't

181
00:11:24.639 --> 00:11:28.159
<v Speaker 3>work out, you know, and so fine. One day he

182
00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:31.039
<v Speaker 3>was talking to one of his very close friends, Keith

183
00:11:31.080 --> 00:11:35.559
<v Speaker 3>Thayer and Houston, who had worked with him before at Atkinson's.

184
00:11:35.639 --> 00:11:40.080
<v Speaker 3>You know, it was a client, and he said, well,

185
00:11:40.080 --> 00:11:44.000
<v Speaker 3>I'm starting a new operation there in Bartlesville, an engineering company.

186
00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:46.600
<v Speaker 3>Why don't you come work for me? And so that's

187
00:11:46.600 --> 00:11:49.399
<v Speaker 3>how Dad came to Bartlesville. But he told my mom

188
00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:53.279
<v Speaker 3>before he left, don't start backing anything, because my intention

189
00:11:53.519 --> 00:11:55.559
<v Speaker 3>is to be back in Pittsburgh because we had built

190
00:11:55.559 --> 00:11:57.279
<v Speaker 3>you know, again back to.

191
00:11:57.240 --> 00:11:58.600
<v Speaker 4>This immigrant experience.

192
00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:01.559
<v Speaker 3>We migrated in nineteen and those who have seen the

193
00:12:01.639 --> 00:12:05.720
<v Speaker 3>legacy bear with me, they've heard this before, but we

194
00:12:05.799 --> 00:12:09.960
<v Speaker 3>migrated in nineteen seventy. Dad was in this sense, we

195
00:12:09.960 --> 00:12:14.279
<v Speaker 3>were not a typical immigrant family in that you know,

196
00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:21.360
<v Speaker 3>Dad is his lineage is actual royalty in South India,

197
00:12:21.639 --> 00:12:25.759
<v Speaker 3>like the people who met Vosco di Gama, the Indians

198
00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:31.320
<v Speaker 3>who met Vosco di Gama, That sovereign or the quote

199
00:12:31.399 --> 00:12:37.039
<v Speaker 3>unquote king of that region was Dad's. I mean Dad

200
00:12:37.080 --> 00:12:40.879
<v Speaker 3>was a descendant of that family. Okay, so we are

201
00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:43.480
<v Speaker 3>in our part of India, we're very well known, we're

202
00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:49.600
<v Speaker 3>very prominent. And Dad was educated and he wanted to

203
00:12:49.639 --> 00:12:54.039
<v Speaker 3>come to college in the nineteen sixties, and so with

204
00:12:54.679 --> 00:12:57.480
<v Speaker 3>the help of his brother in law, who is doctor

205
00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:00.519
<v Speaker 3>Gobal if you all know doctor Gopal, the pediatrician in town,

206
00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:04.960
<v Speaker 3>his father who is already studying here. In those days,

207
00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:08.960
<v Speaker 3>immigration wasn't as difficult as it is today. Even if

208
00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:11.960
<v Speaker 3>you were a student, you could sponsor relatives to come.

209
00:13:12.679 --> 00:13:15.639
<v Speaker 3>And so he spoke up for dad and he got

210
00:13:15.639 --> 00:13:19.399
<v Speaker 3>to come to the University of Arkansas, Go hogs Go

211
00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:24.519
<v Speaker 3>in nineteen sixty and he graduated from the university in

212
00:13:24.639 --> 00:13:30.960
<v Speaker 3>nineteen sixty four and mad wonderful friends. And you know,

213
00:13:31.159 --> 00:13:35.320
<v Speaker 3>people who talk about America, those people who are representing us,

214
00:13:36.200 --> 00:13:38.960
<v Speaker 3>those of us who are from the Midwest, you know,

215
00:13:39.200 --> 00:13:41.679
<v Speaker 3>get they have this idea that the East Coast and

216
00:13:41.720 --> 00:13:44.840
<v Speaker 3>West Coast are the real Americas, especially the big cities,

217
00:13:44.879 --> 00:13:48.679
<v Speaker 3>you know, Los Angeles and New York, well real America.

218
00:13:48.720 --> 00:13:54.840
<v Speaker 3>And my humble opinion is the Bible Belt Midwest. I mean,

219
00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:57.519
<v Speaker 3>people will literally take their shirt off and give it

220
00:13:57.559 --> 00:13:59.879
<v Speaker 3>to you and Voss, you would say that all the time.

221
00:14:00.759 --> 00:14:05.440
<v Speaker 3>And he was treated so well by so many people.

222
00:14:05.559 --> 00:14:08.840
<v Speaker 3>And looking back, you know, I didn't think much about it,

223
00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:13.000
<v Speaker 3>but after watching remember the Titans. You know, desegregation had

224
00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:17.679
<v Speaker 3>just happened. This is nineteen seventy, you know. And I

225
00:14:17.720 --> 00:14:20.320
<v Speaker 3>experienced a little pushback when I was growing up as

226
00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:24.240
<v Speaker 3>a young girl in Pittsburgh, Kansas because but you know,

227
00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:25.279
<v Speaker 3>kids can be mean.

228
00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:26.039
<v Speaker 4>I was little.

229
00:14:26.120 --> 00:14:28.480
<v Speaker 3>I had started My whole education experience has been in

230
00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:31.360
<v Speaker 3>the United States. When I migrated, I was only about

231
00:14:31.399 --> 00:14:34.600
<v Speaker 3>a year and a half old. Now Gopi was eight

232
00:14:34.679 --> 00:14:39.639
<v Speaker 3>years older. So he had studied in India and learned

233
00:14:39.639 --> 00:14:43.960
<v Speaker 3>a lot of the really great Indian work ethics for studying.

234
00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:48.399
<v Speaker 3>And he will humbly say that you all think I'm smart,

235
00:14:48.600 --> 00:14:52.519
<v Speaker 3>but so many people from India and from that system.

236
00:14:52.679 --> 00:14:56.320
<v Speaker 3>I mean, it kind of works against you, but it

237
00:14:56.399 --> 00:14:59.600
<v Speaker 3>makes you so much smarter and stronger as a student

238
00:14:59.720 --> 00:15:03.559
<v Speaker 3>because you better study your stuff and basically become an expert.

239
00:15:03.600 --> 00:15:05.759
<v Speaker 3>Otherwise you're not going to do well. People come to

240
00:15:05.799 --> 00:15:08.039
<v Speaker 3>America and go, this is a piece of cake.

241
00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:09.960
<v Speaker 4>You know.

242
00:15:10.360 --> 00:15:15.159
<v Speaker 3>So going back to my story, Gopi was very knowledgeable

243
00:15:15.200 --> 00:15:17.279
<v Speaker 3>and was a third parent. But it was because he

244
00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:22.679
<v Speaker 3>had gone through the school systems and I was getting ready.

245
00:15:22.519 --> 00:15:23.720
<v Speaker 4>To take the act SAT.

246
00:15:23.879 --> 00:15:25.679
<v Speaker 3>Gopy was a pre med It was hard to get

247
00:15:25.720 --> 00:15:29.039
<v Speaker 3>hold of him. He was in Pittsburgh and we still

248
00:15:29.080 --> 00:15:32.279
<v Speaker 3>hadn't had cell phones, and it was expensive to call

249
00:15:32.840 --> 00:15:36.440
<v Speaker 3>Pittsburgh long distance, and so we were like, unless it's

250
00:15:36.480 --> 00:15:39.279
<v Speaker 3>an emergency, you don't use the phone and call lugg distance,

251
00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:42.039
<v Speaker 3>or it's very well planned ahead, because we were trying

252
00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:46.159
<v Speaker 3>to save every penny in indiaan those days. When Dad

253
00:15:46.200 --> 00:15:49.639
<v Speaker 3>migrated in nineteen seventy, they wouldn't let people take any

254
00:15:49.679 --> 00:15:52.840
<v Speaker 3>more than a very small amount of cash I'm wanting

255
00:15:52.879 --> 00:15:56.360
<v Speaker 3>to say, like five hundred dollars from the country. So

256
00:15:56.480 --> 00:15:59.320
<v Speaker 3>Dad came to this country in nineteen seventy with two

257
00:15:59.440 --> 00:16:03.759
<v Speaker 3>small kids, his wife who was wearing sorry and then

258
00:16:04.039 --> 00:16:09.120
<v Speaker 3>the native dress of India, and and himself at two suitcases,

259
00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:12.600
<v Speaker 3>five hundred dollars in his pocket, no promise of a job.

260
00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:16.919
<v Speaker 3>And my uncles who met him there at the mad

261
00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:23.200
<v Speaker 3>Us there at the airport, my uncle in Seattle, Ramachandran, says,

262
00:16:23.399 --> 00:16:26.080
<v Speaker 3>you should have seen your dad's face, Thujata. He was

263
00:16:26.159 --> 00:16:31.200
<v Speaker 3>coming basically with nothing, like so many other immigrants, I mean,

264
00:16:31.240 --> 00:16:33.320
<v Speaker 3>from a great family, had a lot of money back there,

265
00:16:33.320 --> 00:16:36.759
<v Speaker 3>but he couldn't take it. Came to this country and

266
00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:42.600
<v Speaker 3>he was smiling from ear to ear, and he my

267
00:16:43.240 --> 00:16:47.440
<v Speaker 3>not nervous, not scared, smiling from ear to ear because

268
00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:50.679
<v Speaker 3>he had been bitten by the America bug like so

269
00:16:50.840 --> 00:16:56.519
<v Speaker 3>many others. And the place that he worked in India

270
00:16:56.679 --> 00:16:59.879
<v Speaker 3>at the time, he worked for some very major companies.

271
00:16:59.399 --> 00:17:02.000
<v Speaker 4>Like Tata Motors, which is.

272
00:17:04.079 --> 00:17:10.200
<v Speaker 3>The company who actually ended up buying Jaguar. They're very

273
00:17:10.519 --> 00:17:16.400
<v Speaker 3>big company in India, steel company, and they went ahead

274
00:17:16.440 --> 00:17:21.640
<v Speaker 3>and he was working for Tatai Industries and so that's

275
00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:24.160
<v Speaker 3>like one of the best jobs that ever happened, that

276
00:17:24.200 --> 00:17:27.119
<v Speaker 3>you could have ever had. And then he worked for

277
00:17:27.400 --> 00:17:30.400
<v Speaker 3>another company called Akinson Armature where I mean, I'm sorry

278
00:17:30.839 --> 00:17:34.680
<v Speaker 3>McNally bird and they have a collaboration in Pittsburgh, and

279
00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:36.920
<v Speaker 3>that's how Dad got his first set of experiences. Was

280
00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:39.640
<v Speaker 3>trained right out of college in Pittsburgh and then worked

281
00:17:39.640 --> 00:17:42.640
<v Speaker 3>in India. But India, especially the part of India where

282
00:17:42.799 --> 00:17:47.440
<v Speaker 3>he was working in Bengal, was turning more communists and

283
00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:51.160
<v Speaker 3>it was a very corrupt system and he didn't want

284
00:17:51.200 --> 00:17:53.400
<v Speaker 3>to deal with that. I mean, Dad couldn't make thousands

285
00:17:53.400 --> 00:17:58.160
<v Speaker 3>of dollars from bribes, dollars from bribes, not Indian rupees,

286
00:17:58.319 --> 00:18:02.160
<v Speaker 3>dollars from bribes, but that's not who he was, and we're.

287
00:18:02.039 --> 00:18:04.200
<v Speaker 2>Going to remember him for who he was.

288
00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:07.200
<v Speaker 4>Coming up on Tuesday, Tuesday the.

289
00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:10.079
<v Speaker 2>Eighth, and that is going to be at the STC

290
00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:12.599
<v Speaker 2>Offices and that is at one oh five South penn

291
00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:15.200
<v Speaker 2>from four point thirty until six thirty. Thank you for

292
00:18:15.240 --> 00:18:16.759
<v Speaker 2>sharing your story with us today.

293
00:18:17.920 --> 00:18:19.400
<v Speaker 4>Thank you so much for being here.

294
00:18:19.720 --> 00:18:23.119
<v Speaker 3>Such an outpouring from the public, that's why we're having

295
00:18:23.160 --> 00:18:26.240
<v Speaker 3>this event for debt for Dad. We really hope anyone

296
00:18:26.279 --> 00:18:28.559
<v Speaker 3>who would like to come would come. We'd be very

297
00:18:28.599 --> 00:18:30.160
<v Speaker 3>happy and touched to see you.

298
00:18:30.599 --> 00:18:30.960
<v Speaker 2>Thank you,