THE JOURNEY

Travelling alone to a foreign country can be scary for anyone, especially for a young girl. But Madhu’s sense of adventure was second to none. She knew she had to make the trip to be with Jagdish. She says, “It was thrilling and terrifying. It was my first flight, my first time away from home, my first winter.”

She landed in Pittsburgh to be greeted by an unforgiving winter. “I felt like I had landed on another planet.”

It was not just the weather she had to acclimatise to. “There were no Indian groceries, no familiar smells, no family to call. “I made ‘dal’ from green-pea soup because that’s all I could find. I learned to cook, clean, and run a home—things I had never done before.”

They got married, lived simply, and had two children, a girl, Reshma, and a boy, Rajen. As Jagdish moved across states for his career, Madhu found a way to make the best of every move. In Campaign-Urbana, Illinois, she started teaching Hindi to her children and other Indian children after school. She dreamed of starting a student catering service, which did not pan out. Instead, she turned her Indian vegetarian cooking skills into ‘Meatless Magic’ classes. She also had her own boutique called Madhu’s Imports and Exports.

It was her way of carving out an identity for herself. She integrated into the American way of life without compromising on her Indian roots. Madhu says, “When my children’s friends came over, I explained why we eat and serve only vegetarian food. They discovered ‘samosas’, ‘theplas’, ‘idlis’ and more.”

A hands-on mother. Madhu learned to swim. She says, “I wanted my children to learn to swim. But I thought, if they’re drowning, how will I save them? So, I learned first—and even became a lifesaver,” she laughs. Skiing, cycling, skating—she embraced it all. “I love the outdoors; it keeps me young.”