The Foreign Service Journal, June 2010

28 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U N E 2 0 1 0 ally came alive when describing their own role as mentors to the younger kids. This theme of giving back to their community came up throughout the interview. They were very curious about the United States and said they wanted to share their lives with children in the U.S. and learn how children live in other countries. “We would like to tell them how we live in joint families and about our life here,” they said. “And we want to learn about how the children live and study, what their schools are like and what kind of books they use.” After thousands of interviews one develops a sixth sense about people, the veracity of stories and the subtlety of the emotions and facial expressions of people during inter- views. The nervousness and formality that these young ladies initially displayed vanished as they expressed their enthusiasm for learning and teaching the younger kids. They seemed humble and spoke with gratitude about the opportunity to apply for a visa. A Long Journey By this time I felt reasonably sure that the girls were telling the truth. So I called the adults back up to get more information about the school and the purpose of going to the United States. The story behind the request had begun about the time the girls were born, back in 1995. In that year, Shahla first traveled to India and saw a ghetto built on a garbage heap. She watched children scavenging for anything edible, any- thing they could sell or use in daily life. Moved to tears, she resolved then and there to dedicate her retirement years to helping such young people. But after returning to her decorative art business in San Francisco, she forgot her pledge for several years. Then she met Patrick, an event producer who had just returned to the San Francisco Bay area from his own spir- itual pilgrimage to India. He found that her vision gave form to his inner stirrings, and they jointly committed to relocate to India and found a school for the poor. His only condition was that it be situated near the Ganges River. In 2002, the couple made their way to the ancient pil- grimage town of Rishikesh in the Himalayan foothills. They quickly set about establishing a school there, even though few residents shared their commitment. By tenaciously ad- hering to their vision through sev- eral false starts — becoming a bit more streetwise in the process — they finally opened a school in their home in 2003. Two years later, they expanded it, moving to a rented building. It took years for the school to find its footing, but soon the couple had scores of young boys and girls studying there, all from poor Indian families. Then they decided to hold a com- petition to take two students with them on a three-month trip all over the United States. They considered each stu- dent’s contributions to the school, the quality of his or her educational efforts and the student’s ability to teach others. It had taken a year to hold the competition, obtain parental consent and get Indian passports. Obtaining visas to the United States was the final hurdle in realizing their dream. While interviewing the couple I asked nonsequential questions, observed their demeanor carefully and was sat- isfied that they were as bighearted and dedicated as their story suggested. I was also confident that they would all re- turn to India at the end of the trip and that the girls would share their experience with their peers, serving as effec- tive role models and teachers to younger students. When I told Asha and Parvati that their visas had been approved, they burst into tears even as they laughed with joy. Trip Report I kept a brochure from the school on my desk for months afterward. Sometimes I would pick it up for a mo- ment and recall that emotional interview. I decided to visit the school if I was ever in the area. That opportunity came over Labor Day weekend in 2008. I was making a personal trip to Rishikesh and called the school a few days before departing. Patrick and Shahla had returned from their trip only a few weeks before, and invited me to stop by their home and visit the school. When I arrived, the girls joined us and we discussed their experience in the U.S. Sitting comfortably in a win- dowed room overlooking the Ganges, Asha and Parvati began with some charming stories about New York City. They had seen a dog in the back of a car and thought it had its own chauffeur. They wondered where all of the cows, dogs and monkeys were. And they were amazed to F O C U S The events leading to my visa window had begun about the time the girls were born back in 1995.