For a few generations, my family has been moving from place to place, often following where business was flowing. We lived in mainland India for a long time, until Burma became an up and coming trade city. My great grandfather settled in Rangoon, Burma and had his first two children there (one of which was my grandfather). However, events took a very sharp turn in Burma and the area became a very hostile area to live in. At the time, Burma was still a part of India and there was a big effort by locals to separate and create a new country. One night, my great-grandparents took their children and snuck onto a boat and out of Burma in the middle of the night. They came to Jaipur, India where my family has been for several years and where I visit once a year.
In Jaipur, my father was born and raised and he even took in the family business: gem stones. When my great-grandfather came here, he started a gem stone business which my grandfather inherited and passed onto my father. At an early age, my father was forced to travel to Europe, Hong Kong, Bangkok and even the United States to help my grandfather do business. I specifically use the word “forced” because India then was much more isolated from outside society than it is now. To my father, familiarity was key and being home was most important. Going abroad was never as convenient as it is now because the language barriers were much stronger (since English wasn’t as widely spoken as today), communication with home was incredibly more difficult, and it wasn’t as convenient to travel.
However, with business booming, my father was forced to move abroad. My grandfather had several offices set up in New York, Bangkok, and Hong Kong and he needed people to go and manage them. My dad was one of them and he already knew he couldn’t live in Bangkok and Hong Kong. Many of his friends were moving to the states so it was the only option worth considering; however he didn’t want to even consider it. As I mentioned before, familiarity was key in India and still much hasn’t changed, which is why the decision proved to be so difficult for my father. He was ultimately allowed to postpone his decision, for a brief amount of time, because his cousin was moving to New York then. My grandfather and father came to an agreement that they would send him for short trips and if he really found it unmanageable, then he could stay in Jaipur. Until then, my dad would spend brief business trips in New York, living with my Uncle.
My dad finally came to New York and fell in love with the city instantly- any other response would have been shocking. He was able to manage life here just fine, and even found a great place of belonging amongst his friends that moved to the city from India. He realized that he wouldn’t find it completely easy living so far away from home but seeing that it wasn’t as difficult as he imagined and that someone needed to manage the New York office, he agreed.
However, what was going on during his constant trips to and from New York was that he met my mother in Jaipur. They met, got to know each other, and eventually decided to get married. However, if my dad was traveling throughout his life and was still reluctant to move, my mom had no intention of leaving her home city. She grew up in Jaipur and was even more confined than my father. Her trips were only outside of the city and to different parts of India, yet she became homesick very fast. To her, moving abroad was a ridiculous idea and to this day she doesn’t know how she managed to agree. When I ask her if she would have preferred to stay she immediately answers with a “YES!” It’s not that she doesn’t enjoy life in the United States, but everything familiar to her is still important and it’s with her parents in Jaipur. She’s always been visiting on a yearly basis, but finds it insufficient.
After a few years in the United States, my parents became accustomed to life here. They had three children, me and my two sisters. My dad began to run the family business and says he is very grateful for moving. For him it was the initial push which caused all the struggle, but he’s never looked back on his decision to move.
Nice detail in your narrative!
Your story is very satisfying and leaves the reader without any questions. I liked that you included so many people in the narrative because I was able to get a sense of all the factors in your father’s life that got him to his current place.
However, it was a bit confusing at first to understand who the story was about. I would have liked to know his name or have read a description about him to eliminate all initial uncertainties.