Career, Kids and Civic Responsibility:

 #USA

Post#27

Long read alert:

Career, Kids and Civic Responsibility:

As far as the actual hands on work was concerned, having trained at the big place that the Los Angeles county hospital was, the work at my job in Bakersfield was a breeze, both in terms of complexity and volume. I never had to turn to ask a colleague what should I do or how to treat from day to day or get worried when confronted with complicated problems. Also having worked the inhuman hours in residency anything at the job was a piece of cake. Nothing was overwhelming any more. 

The company was built on ethical grounds. Do what is right for the patients. If evidence based medicine supports your medical decision go ahead do it. I didn’t have to deviate from the principles my parents had lived on through their professional lives. I feel truly blessed that I got the opportunity to work for Kaiser Permanente. 

In the early years there would be a lot of criticism for HMOs( Health Maintenance Organizations). I listened to it quietly . Kaiser Permanente was in a class by itself. I have seen it up close and the pride kept increasing with the years. The executive directors in Los Angeles in my 24 years here have all been visionaries to take the organization through all ups and downs including the recent pandemic and make it a leading example on every front.On the personal front it allowed me to balance my career alongside raising my kids when they were growing up and later when my parents needed me.

In the early years,after I picked the kids from work there was cooking to do for dinner and for the next day’s lunch and all the cleaning after. Kids would do their homework on their own . I never had to sit with them to help. 

After attending the parent teacher conferences at their school I would come home and give them the exact feedback from their teacher. 

Advait’s first grade teacher told me “ he is like a sponge. He absorbs things just like that. But then he is bored and wants to chat with other kids”. I told her the easiest way to prevent him from distracting others is to give him extra work to do. That solved the problem. 

Beginning those early years in kindergarten- first grade we also started taking them to the Hindu Temple of Kern County where Chinmaya Mission would hold Bal Vihar . That day they would also get lessons in Hindustani classical music and tabla playing from a music teacher on the same premises. Later Chinmaya Mission opened its own center in town. Kids were introduced to the basics of Hinduism through stories from the Ramayan and the Mahabharat. We had one of the best teachers here who taught them to recite Sanskrit shlokas from entire chapters from the Bhagwad Geeta. Those days the Bakersfield kids would join the Geeta Chanting competition in Los Angeles. Even in that larger pool Advait got first place in chanting the entire Chapter 12. 

Until then my spiritual guide had been the Bhagwad Geeta. I credit the Chinmaya Mission, specifically Swami Chinmayananda’s writings for introducing me to the teachings of the Vedas. In those days when my kids were still in school I would frequently be called to substitute when one of the BalVihar teachers couldn’t take their class. My study of the Vedas continues to this day as and when I find time to read, usually before bedtime or on Sundays.

The kids continued their classical music training well beyond high-school years into college. I would drive Amita to Los Angeles on weekends to advance her Hindustani vocal lessons from a good teacher. That little girl who intently listened to Pt. Bhimsen Joshi’s abhangas as an infant and toddler now sings them beautifully with perfect soor and taal. Once in college Advait would drive all the way to Irvine in Orange County for tabla lessons. Both kids had an inherent love and grasp for these arts.

My contact with some people at the Chinmaya Mission led to me being invited to be on a committee created by a local physician that aimed at spreading the message of non violence and  fostering interfaith understanding as a mark of remembrance for Mahatma Gandhi. Every year on a weekend close to October 2nd a symposium would be organized on a pertinent topic . Speakers from different religions/ faiths and even atheists would be invited to speak on the topic. I was given the duty to be a moderator some years and one year to be a speaker representing Hindu religion. Topic for me was Religion and Violence. While the intention of this venture was noble,my personal experience has been that people who were open minded to begin with ,about religions other than their own, did not need this discussion to change their minds. It only helped to improve their understanding of other religions. The people whose minds were shut to begin with did not bother to come to this symposium or if they did they were there only to criticize. I remain on the committee even today but lately work has kept me busy to be an active participant. 

A year after I started my job I got an interview for citizenship. Had to go to Fresno for that. It was a 2 hours drive one way. The Immigration official who would put the final stamp of approval asked me a question at the time. Do you think you can be loyal to the USA if we go to war with India? I looked at him and said why would you do such a thing when India is a peace loving democratic nation that only goes to war when it has to protect its sovereign borders? He smiled at me and soon after I took my oath of allegiance to the USA. 

I never took my citizenship lightly or for granted. I was following the laws of the nation and paying my taxes already even when I was just a Permanent Resident. What was new is that now this country had vested me with the right to vote. I could vote from the lowest office in my city like a city councilman to the highest office which is the President of the United States. The policies that would shape the country were in the hands of these men and women and I could exercise my choice and have a say about what policies should be enforced and which not, collectively with my fellow citizens. 

I began to take interest in who stands for what. Who is right for the office, who is not. I voted for the President of the United States six times so far. Some of them were elected, some lost the election. Irrespective of my vote,whoever was elected I supported him. With one exception that I will not say who.

When Barack Obama ran for the first time in 2008 he was just a one time senator. I did not think he had enough experience to hold an important office of the POTUS. So I didn’t vote for him. In the four years of his Presidency I realized I was wrong. This was a man of character, intelligence, decency and grit. 

When he ran again he had earned my vote. It was no small feat for a Black man in the USA to beat his rivals, not once but twice, to be elected President . 

After his 8 years in office when he gave his farewell speech from Chicago I listened. Every word of it. I was overwhelmed with emotion. It was only the second time in my life until then that I felt compelled to pick up a paper and pen and write a letter. 

The same night after his speech I wrote this letter in my handwriting telling him honestly how and why I had not voted him the first time, how he had proven me wrong and how I was happy about it. I wrote that I would forever be proud of having been a citizen of the country when he was my President. 

I sealed and stamped that letter, addressed it to him at the White House, Washington DC and put it in the mailbox the next morning. Then forgot about it. Didn’t think it would even reach him. I just had to express my gratitude and I did. 

None of you will believe and I couldn’t believe my own eyes when a few months from that day, June to be precise, a letter arrived, addressed to me from the office of Barack Obama !! 😲😲

A photo of that letter will be posted once I figure out how to post photos. Needless to say this piece of paper is one of my prized possessions. 

Saree today is a kotpad from Odisha on tussar fabric . It has red blue and white, the colors of the flag of the USA.