Social Welfare

Sacrifices make a better future

To my good luck, I was offered a junior veterinarian job in 1976 at Port Washington facility of a multinational American company: Charles River Laboratories, based in Boston, specialising in a variety of preclinical and clinical laboratory services for the pharmaceutical, medical devices and biotechnology industries. The timing was perfect as it coincided with the grant of green cards to the whole family for V petitioned. And hence, I joined there on 10 April 1976. Being the Army, I expected the same kind of discipline, unquestioned loyalty and respect from the employees. This did cause some serious management issues but very soon I realised and moulded myself into the management style. In the meantime, Kanwal taught International Relations at CW Post College at Brookville NY for a year when we decided to open an Indian Restaurant in Manhasset Long Island with the similar name and menu as Jatinder’s restaurant in Los Angeles – Paul Bhalla’s Cuisine of India.

I received well-deserved promotions as the Vice President and Subsidiary President in 1982, Eventually, I served Charles River Labs for 30 years, retiring in 2006 at the age of 76 years. I made close friends with Dr HL Foster, the Founder Chairman, whom I reported to in the Labs, from whom I learnt the importance of giving back to the community. Sikhism teaches the same values too. In July of the same year, we opened the restaurant for dinners only which Kanwal managed single-handedly with Goan curry and Garhwali tandoori chefs. Within six weeks of its opening the restaurant was awarded two stars by New York Times.

Kanwal is the reason Gurpreet and Narinder are taking the family legacy forward today. Gurpreet completed his MD and fellowship in anesthesia from NYU and Narinder completed his MD from Buffalo Medical College, Chief Residency and Fellowship in Cardiology from NYU. Gurpreet ran an independent Anesthesia Corporation for 25 years and has since retired to their sprawling villa in Reedsville. His wife, Jyotish, is also an Anesthesiologist and Pain Management Physician, but her passion is gourmet cooking. Their son Ravi, after graduating from Yale Law School, has joined a prestigious boutique law firm of Susman & Godfrey in Manhattan. Narinder, after practicing 25 years in Interventional Cardiology, has joined the corporate world and is Executuve Director, Head of Cardiovascular Bio Pharmaceuticals Medical, CVRM at AstraZeneca. His wife, Tracy, a wonderful teacher, is fond of horseback riding. While their 11-year-old son, Ashton, and two horses and score of other animals, live with them, their daughter, Sonya, completed BS from University of Delaware and is a Registered Dietician and Certified Diabetes Educator working as Clinical Territory Manager for Medtronic Diabetes in CA.