Since I was a kid, I never felt like I fit in. You gotta understand that I’m mixed, meaning my Dad was raised in India while my mom was born in Peru and I was raised in America. That usually blows people’s minds because they always ask me how did they meet. My Dad would always tell me the story of how they met to put me to sleep when I was a child. It went something like this:
My mom was an anthropology student in college at Rutgers Newark. Her friend, who was dating my Dad’s friend, invited her to an Indian day festival in Manhattan, and mentioned that she wanted to introduce her to a guy. At the time, my mom’s friend was dating my dad’s friend. My dad, an engineering student at NJIT in Newark, attended the festival with his friend who mentioned he wanted to introduce her to his girlfriend’s friend. It was decided they would all meet at the festival in the City. So my mom got on the PATH train at Newark heading into World Trade Center. My dad got on the train at Harrison headed to World Trade Center. Now for context, my Dad isn’t much of a talker, meaning he’s not the guy you would usually expect to approach strangers on the subway; meanwhile my mom, pshh, she’s the type who has no qualms about sharing her views with the world around her. Anyways...as the story goes, my dad walks right up to my mom and starts talking to her. My mom was tongued-tied and just listened to what he had to say. He told her he was going to the India day festival to meet up with a friend. She said she was meeting with her friend to do the same so he decided that he would show her the way. They talked all along the way and when they got to the festival to meet with their friends, they found out that they were supposed to meet all along. The rest is history.
I felt I never fit in as a kid because I looked different. To the American kids, I was just brown. To the Indian kids, I was kinda Indian but not really. To the Hispanic kids, I was kinda Hispanic but not really. So I never felt like I fit in. Throughout my life, I always had that longing to fit in and to feel like there were others like me. Others who knew what it was like to live in a mixed family. The area I lived in didn’t have much of that though. It was ok and I found my way through time. I realized that my background and experiences were really cool and allowed me to bridge the gaps between people. I’d always try to find ways to introduce the Indian kids to the Hispanic kids to the American kids through one way or the other.
