the H I S T O R Y

My family moved to the US when I was just over a year old, so I have no memories of India from my youth. I have been back to visit several times, so the country is not completely foreign to me. I often wonder what my life would have been like if my family had remained in India. What would I be doing now? Would I have been happier? I know that it is pointless speculation, but I can't help but wonder. I certainly don't regret my parent's decision to move here and feel pretty strongly that quality of life here is definitely higher. I still have some strong ties to India, as I have a great deal of family there that I care about.

I spent the first few years of my life in Chapel Hill, where my father was doing his residency at the UNC hospital. After my father completed his residency, we moved to Minneapolis for my father's fellowship. My earliest childhood memories are from around this time. I remember my mother bundling me up to brace the bitter midwest winters and sending me off to preschool. This is also where my sister, Swathi, was born.

We eventually moved back to Chapel Hill where I lived until I was about 8. Some of my fondest childhood memories come from the time spent in Chapel Hill. It is a small, college-town with a lively atmosphere. I was probably too young at the time to really appreciate it, but I still dream about going back there to live one day. I think it would be a great place to raise a family and it doesn't hurt that I am a huge UNC basketball fan!

Around 2nd grade, we moved to Birmingham, Alabama where I spent the rest of my formative years. People seem to have preconceived notions about life in the south, particularly Alabama, but I can tell you from experience that Birmingham is a fairly cultured and metropolitan area. Sure there are your typical southern elements, but they are less visible in a larger city such as Birmingham.

Anyway, we settled in a fairly affluent suburb called Vestavia Hills. We had a quaint 4-bedroom house, which my parents still live in. Birmingham is not a bad place to grow up in, but it isn't a terribly exciting city either. Fortunately, Vestavia Hills has an excellent public school system and I received a first-rate education, without the prohibitive costs of private school. I doubt I will have that luxury when my children begin their secondary education.

When it came time to pick a college, there was little doubt in my mind that I would be going out-of-state. If I had stayed in-state, I would have had to deal with the same cliques that had annoyed me in high school and I was more interested in meeting new people and getting out on my own. I wanted to be far enough away from my parents that I wouldn't have the cushion of being able to come home whenever I wanted to.

My main criteria for selecting a school was the necessity of a good physics program as that was what I was intending to study. I ultimately settled on Indiana University at Bloomington, mainly for the reason of aesthetics. What I mean is that what attracted me most about Indiana was the beauty of its campus. You really have to see it in the springtime to truly appreciate it. When I visited, it was the dead of winter, but the simple beauty of the campus was still evident. It didn't hurt that the school had a very respectable physics department, plus their own cyclotron facility for high-energy physics research.

So, I spent four glorious years in Bloomington, ultimately earning a BS in Molecular Biology. Yes, I ultimately gave up physics as a career. I never lost my interest in theoretical physics, but came to the realization that I lacked the mental capacity to succeed in the field. It was a little disappointing to acknowledge my limitations at the time, but I think I'm ultimately happier for it. I chose Biology after working in lab over the summer doing cancer research. The work was exciting and it was gratifying to know that you were working towards something meaningful and that could one day save lives.

By the end of my junior year, I knew I had to make a decision regarding my future. I knew that I lacked the mental discipline to become a doctor and it wasn't something I was interested in pursuing anyway. I had some aspirations to pursue a PhD in virology or molecular genetics, but I was a little soured on the field after my research experience from the previous summer. Plus, I was a little tired of school and wanted to find a job and take some time to figure out what exactly I wanted to do with my life.

Around that time, I began to become more interested in computers. I had taken a few programming classes and had fair amount of experience in web design, which had helped interest me in the field. By the time I graduated, I had pretty much made up mind to look for a job as a web designer. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a bit harder then I expected to find a web design job. The problem was that I didn't have any real experience or an impressive portfolio to show of my talents.

I decided to look for a job in Atlanta, as it was close to home and a large city with plenty of opportunities. After about a month of job searching, I had the good fortune of landing a job as a support technician for Mindspring, a large ISP based in Atlanta.

This was the best thing that could have happened to me. Mindspring was very big on training their employees and promoting from within. I was eager to learn and found I had a talent for computers and programming. Within two years, I had moved from tech support, to web engineering and ultimately into the IT department, where I was trained as a database developer. I will always be indebted to Mindspring for giving me an opportunity to prove myself when no one else would. Unfortunately, Mindspring ceased to exist once the merger with Earthlink went through and things have gone downhill for the company from there. I left Mindspring around the end of 1999 and since then I have worked for two Internet startups.

I recently completed my masters in Information Systems from Georgia State University. Though it took some convincing from my parents to get me back in school, I'm definitely glad I listened to them. I can't honeslty say that this will be my last degree either. I could definitely see myself going back to do an MBA depending on what direction my career takes. Probably won't be for a few more years though.

I'm back in my hometown of Birmingham, AL now working at the local university. It feels good being close to my parents and I could definitely see myself settling down here. I'm not really thinking that far ahead though!