When Rekha was three and her sister two, their father became the first to leave their village in India for “the land of opportunity.” He flew halfway around the world to become a veterinarian. The little girls and their mother stayed behind with grandparents. Three years later, their mother flew off to join their father. The girls stayed with grandparents three more years, getting tutored in English, until their father completed his studies. Rekha was nine when she and her sister flew to Missouri to be greeting by their parents, a new brother and two new sisters! Though oddities in small-town Missouri, they were warmly welcomed in the community and were eager to assimilate. Weekdays were for Western life, but they spoke Hindi at home and followed Indian traditions, which included doing homework every night around the kitchen table. Education was everything.

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