I was born in a very little town in central India some sixty nine years ago. My parents were teachers and they were transferred to another little town when I was hardly a year old. We lived in a big old fashioned house on a very broad street and lived there for years together until I was in fifth grade. I had few friends and we played some games like hide and seek, Hu Tu Tu (kind of holding your breath till you touch a  person from the other team.) I liked making necklaces with pieces of colorful broken bengal's by heating the and joining the ends. My Mom(we called her Aai) always got angry as I always had holes in my skirts because of those glass pieces. We had strict rule in our family that all children should be home by about 6pm. Wash our hands and feet, say our prayers and then  say the  number tables for remembering them. Dinner after that and going to bed by 9pm.
                  This daily routine was disturbed only during summer when we travelled to our grand parents town. As a matter of fact the rules were same but it was fun with our cosines and family. I have an older sister and a brother and one younger brother. My father started getting little sick after he returned from the India-Pakistan partition zone so my Mother was the only bread winner in the family of seven people(my grand father loved us so much that he wouldn't leave four of us children to go any where else. I was in a small Middle School where we sat on the mates and studied. Corporal punishment was allowed and that made us very particuler about our home wokr which was mostly memorization, Reading and writing. I did not like School as I was very bad in doing my home work. My older sister and brother were always on my back to do the School work(I thank them now)I like the sports and I was good at that. (continued......) 

Hello, I am Vandana Gupte. Some thirty years ago I came to America and stayed here permanently. Now retired from almost all my jobs and responsibilities, I sit and think about 'how did I make this long ,difficult journey from a little alley in a little town in India. To make it all clear in my mind, I decided to pen it down on the paper....I mean the computer. I think,
                          I am all finished with my immediate responsibilities as my son and daughter are very well educated,very successful in their lives. I have three beautiful grand children and they are doing very good in their studies. I live in  an medium size town(Martinsburg) in west Virginia with my husband Dr.Vijay Gupte. We have a medium size ranch house with lot of land to do gardening and growing flowers and vegetables.
                          I will be very thankful to you if you read my journey and if you want to tell me how am I doing about telling my story to my grand children and other interested people.
 Thanks.
Vandana