Timeless Treasures: Passing My Rich Heritage to Children

By Inder Saini

To achieve greatness in this life, we need to have a vision, a goal. When we are aware of our ancestors and our cultural heritage, we have a starting point, a real sense of where our lives began. We came to this country by our own will, with a rich culture from India. We struggled but worked hard with endless determination to be financially secure in this new country. We overcame many challenges and obstacles. After forty-four years of living in this wonderful country and having two generations of our family growing up here, I now realize that our children are not fully aware of the vast richness and glorious heritage of our ancestors.
I believe that my generation is the only living link between our past in India and our future in the United States. It becomes my duty to collect all the information I can so that I can share it with my children. Please join me in this autobiography where I share my lifes struggles, successes, and secrets throughout my personal and financial life. I hope this inspires my children, grandchildren, and future members of our family to dream bigger and achieve great things in their lives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Aug 20, 2012
• ISBN: 9781466950009

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Copyright 2012 Inder Saini, MD.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

isbn: 978-1-4669-5002-3 (sc)

isbn: 978-1-4669-5001-6 (hc)

isbn: 978-1-4669-5000-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012913795

Trafford rev. 08/15/2012

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Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1 Ancestors

Chapter 2 The World in the Year of my Birth

Chapter 3 Birth and Preschool Years

Chapter 4 Elementary Education

Chapter 5 Secondary School Education

Chapter 6 Premedical Education

Chapter 7 Medical Education

Chapter 8 Postgraduate Medical Education

Chapter 9 My Marriage

Chapter 10 My Siblings

Chapter 11 My Children and Grandchildren

Chapter 12 Secrets of My Success

Chapter 13 History of My Productive Years

Chapter 14 Reasons for My Success in Life

Chapter 15 My Struggle to Survive

Chapter 16 My Life as a Pediatrician

Chapter 17 My Hobbies

Chapter 18 Happiness

Chapter 19 Life’s True Assets

Chapter 20 Memorable Events

Chapter 21 My Future Ambitions

Chapter 22 Knowing the True Value of Time

Chapter 23 Challenges I See for the Next Generation

Chapter 24 Changes I Have Witnessed

Chapter 25 How Others Think of Dr. Inder Jit Saini

Chapter 26 My Future Great-Grandchildren

Chapter 27 Advice

Chapter 28 Golden Rules for a Good Life

To my grandchildren, Arjun Saini, Akash Saini, and

Ishaan Aggarwal; my children, Robert Saini and Rashmi Aggarwal; and my wife, Dr. Indra Saini

Preface

I am seventy years old but forever young at heart. I undertook this great task of writing my biography for my grandchildren and their future generations. I want them to fully understand who their ancestors were, what struggles they endured, and the successes they accomplished. I feel that giving them a sense of where they came from and what sacrifices enable them to be here at this very moment will give them a sense of pride and a determination to dream bigger and achieve more in their lives.

I was born in India in July 1942. India was still ruled by the British at this time. In 1947, India became a free and independent country. I grew up with the goals of becoming highly educated despite the difficulties of living in a newly free and independent India. I was the first person from my family of eight siblings to travel abroad for higher studies. I came to the USA in 1968 to receive a higher education and would therefore be able to provide support to help my siblings and parents with their financial situation. My dear wife, Indra, and I became first-generation immigrants to this country from India. We were the pioneers, the daredevils who together took the chance to relocate here and endured the challenges that came with it.

I took a chance to improve my family’s life, and I wanted to give the next generation the best possible chance to flourish. With a financially secure foundation, my children would be able to receive a higher education and prosper in their lives. With their education they could provide for their families and thus start a cycle that can only benefit the next generation. We all came to this country highly educated and by our own free will to start a new life. It was easy to assimilate with the people in this country, as the English language is taught in Indian schools and because of the democratic values in both countries. Many people leaving their own familiar country to go to another land would have struggled just to survive. We not only survived, but also quickly flourished by hard work, firm convictions, and staying true to our culture and family values.

I feel my success is due to having a strong sense of who I am. I have consistently learned from my forefathers’ experiences and their life stories. I was able to avoid some mistakes they made and to learn from their decisions that were beneficial to their life. I was only able to learn from them because historical, written documents were present all around me so I could take advantage of them and learn about their lives. Even though my generation has battle scars from mistakes we made in our lives, we still have some valuable things to offer to our own future generations.

I believe that a well-informed, well-educated grandchild is the best warrior, protector, and safe keeper of such family history, secrets, and treasures. It is our job and duty to teach our children slowly, gradually, and with passion that they come from hard work and great sacrifices made by their ancestors. These historical treasures will be the finest assets for generations to come. Money can be gained, lost, and gained again, but the history of ancestors cannot be created. It can only be relished and protected. I have always loved history and was interested in collecting treasures throughout my life in India and in the USA.

I have traveled to eighty countries, touched all seven continents, and enjoyed thirty cruises so far. I am still enjoying my private pediatric practice as I have for the past thirty-eight years in Troy, Michigan I have been married to my lovely wife, Dr. Indra Saini, for the last forty-three years. We have one son, Robert Saini, an engineer, who is married to Dr. Jyoti Saini. And we have one daughter, Rashmi Aggarwal, who is an attorney, and married to Rohit Aggarwal, also an engineer. We have three grandsons, Arjun Saini, Akash Saini, and Ishaan Aggarwal. We feel incredibly blessed to have a loving and close relationship with our children and grandchildren. I live simply and happily in my modest retirement home next to Bhratiya Temple, Troy, Michigan.

I credit my dear wife, Dr. Indra Saini, for always supporting my dreams and goals in life. Without her support, love, and dedication I would not have achieved so much in life. My mother’s loving and nurturing attitude was the start of my beautiful and successful life. My dad’s broadmindedness, carefree ways, and sportsmanship attitude about life were crucial in shaping my character. He taught me how to understand and interact with people all around the world, regardless of the situation. He taught me that doing selfless service for humanity is the real service to God.

I would like to thank and recognize all my ancestors, relatives, friends, teachers, and well-wishers who helped shape my character, my value system, and my determination to achieve more in life. I have always had a strong sense of responsibility to the unfortunate members of our society. This was the learned from my father, who was way ahead of his time in community service. My goal was to provide for my family and be able to still generously help those who were struggling in the society.

I want to leave this rich history about myself, my family, my parents, and my ancestors for the benefit of my children, grandchildren, and future great-grandchildren to come. I strongly feel and believe that we are the only living historians who can create the link between the glorious past of our ancestors’ generations in Great India and the new generations in the USA. Otherwise, I am afraid that this invaluable and priceless history will surely be lost forever.

I am sure my grandchildren would like to know our real life stories of struggle, bravery, and sacrifice. This way they can be proud of us and tell their children about our life stories, our dreams, our character, and our pride. Therefore, I sincerely believe that it is our prime duty to leave such historical facts, proofs, items, religious institutions, and museums of our heritage for our children. All these items install pride and strong identity. This effort may inspire some other like-minded people of this country to do the same thing for their generations and preserve their own history. I would like to leave this document and this history for my children and the society to view and learn from my life as a whole and find some good things that will positively affect them.

I am sharing my life’s struggles, sacrifices, and successes to benefit the future generations of my family. This gives me great peace that my life and its lessons learned were not in vain. I feel by writing this book I can inspire my children and future generations to achieve their greatest potential even after I am gone. With much love for my family, I have written this autobiography.

Preparing this biography was not easy. I had to relive my own life history so many times over and over again in order to find the balance of bringing out the facts as I perceived them. I have tried to stay factual all the time. I had a hobby of collecting these family historical facts all my life and kept my personal notes all these years. I talked to several people to confirm the facts before putting them in the manuscript.

Most of my friends encouraged me to take on this project. Most important was my own desire to pass on these ancestral and family treasures to my children and future grandchildren, because I am the only link between my prestigious, glorious, and rich family culture from India and my children and grandchildren in the USA. Hopefully, this will generate respect, enthusiasm, and the urge to learn more among the younger generation about such historical facts, which make them better persons.

Acknowledgments

I would like to acknowledge Rashmi Aggarwal, my daughter, who has edited several important chapters of this book.

I would like to acknowledge Mr. Dinesh Billore, my good friend, who helped me in scanning and preparing all images for this autobiography.

I would like to acknowledge the late Dr. Shanti Swarup Saini and the late Mrs. Chawli Devi Saini, who shared and imparted all their information about our ancestors.

I would like to acknowledge our family Bhat (record keeper) for providing the recorded history of our forefathers and migratory history of our ancestors from his family’s old records.

I would like to acknowledge Karlest Ford for the cover photo.

I would like to acknowledge Trafford publishing company for final editing and publishing of the book.

Introduction

I always had a burning desire all my life to tell my story to others. I used to collect all family facts, history, migration stories of my ancestors, information about the businesses of my forefathers, and details of their lives. These things were always fascinating to me, and I learned very much and found lot of lessons that can be shared and passed on to later generations. Then I migrated to the USA in 1968, and my future generations will be growing here. So my life and I became precious links between past and future. Therefore, I decided to write my autobiography for the benefit of my future generations. It is very helpful for building their identities and creating pride in their lives.

Asian Indians start coming to the USA after 1965 and the passage of the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965, in which the quota system was eliminated for immigration to this country. It was only after the passage of the Luce-Celler Act of 1946 by Congress that Asian Indians could become naturalized citizens in United States. Before that, Asian Indians were barred from coming to the USA by the Barred Zone Act of 1917.

There were hardly three-hundred families in Detroit area in 1968. Now there are about twenty-thousand families in Detroit metro area and about thirty thousand families overall of Asian Indian heritage in Michigan. According to the 2010 Census, there are about seventy-seven-thousand Asian Indians in Michigan.

According to the same census report, there are about three million Asian Indians in the USA. That is 1 percent of the population. One million Hindu live in USA. They are the richest minority in the USA, and Asian Indians are the most educated class in the USA. Seventy-one percent have bachelor’s degrees or higher as compared to 28 percent for the entire country. Their family income is about 70 percent more than an average American—about $88,000 as compared to about $50,000 for national average. There are two state governors who are of Asian Indian background. Now, young generation is fanning out to other professions such as journalism, finance, information technology, politics, the legal system, medical fields, and more. About 8 to 10 percent of all doctors in the USA are Indian American.

Between 2000 and 2010 the Indian population grew from 1,678,765 to 2,843,391, a fast growth of about 70 percent in the last ten-year span. That is 0.9 percent of the population. But including the mixed races, it climbs to 3,180,000 (1 percent of the USA population.)

Asian Indians brought their rich heritage here, which must be told to our future generation. There are about four-hundred Hindu temples in the USA spread all over the nation. It is a matter of great pride that Indian yoga exercises are becoming very popular in the USA. India is rising very fast on the international scene and will become a super power in the near future.

This is sincere and factual attempt to relive my whole life through many times in order to bring the truth to the public and more so to my grandchildren. Coming to the USA was just the beginning of very courageous series of events. Adaptation and the survival was the first phase of that journey. My ancestors were very wise, brave, courageous people in India. I have researched as far back as fifteen generations.

I was a physician when I decided to come to the USA of my own will on June 21,1968. I was only twenty-six years old. I became US citizen in 1980. We had a very exciting but rough journey in the beginning while adjusting to new society. There were very few Hindus in the USA at that stage. I got my higher educational degree in pediatrics, and then I went back to India to get married. Afterward, we raised our family and children here with two identities at the same time: at home we were typical Hindu cultured Indians, but outside home we mingled with everyone and were American.

Now that our first Indian American generation is maturing, it is easy to tell them the true heroic stories of our forefathers. We are still a minority by numbers in the USA. This is the compilation of my whole history of struggles, adjustments, and successes.

I will be satisfied if I know that my grandchildren benefitted from my sincere effort to put together the story of my life for them. Then I can leave this world in peace in my heart when my time comes.

I am sure my grandchildren will one day read these documents and will feel proud of all those who came before them from India. This will provide them a true identity of Indian heritage and that they will be able to pass on to their children as well. Otherwise, this priceless history will be lost forever. I am fulfilling my duty as the only living link between my rich and glorious ancestral heritage and bright future of my children and grandchildren

Chapter 1

Ancestors

My Priceless Treasure Money Cannot Buy

All human beings, in my opinion, have a universal burning desire to know about their roots. All older generations are waiting to find audiences to tell their stories of bravery, sufferings, challenges, and how they dealt with changing tide of time, and all young generations have inborn hunger for true stories of their ancestors, grandparents, parents, siblings etc. It is unfortunate that these inspiring stories are never shared in written form due to various reasons, and so a great family history vanishes quickly after death of a person.

While parents are living, a majority of children are not aware of the heroic stories of their parents. We are living in a very fast-moving society where new things are waiting to be experienced and tried at each corner of life. New and attractive gadgets occupy all our children’s free and social time. Therefore, old stories always take a back seat because we do not have enough time. Most of senior persons realize the importance and desire to write about their life’s events. But it becomes too late most of the time as the person starts losing mental faculties slowly but surely.

The task of writing a book looks so daunting that it never becomes a reality, and they all die without fulfilling this very important desire. Your own blood relatives and younger generations are deprived of the lessons that could have been learned from their own family heroes. Therefore, I’m trying to fulfill my moral obligation and duty before it becomes too late for me also.

Many of us already try to preserve history for the next generations by projects such as preserving:

1. Scrapbooks

2. Schoolbooks, grade sheets, medals, awards, and school photos

3. Old clothes, childhood toys, birthday cards, old gifts, old homemade movies, and slides.

4. Old family pictures, pictures of graduation parties, old wedding pictures, etc.

5. All items that you have kept so dearly for years

6. All the gifts people have given you in the distant past

7. All other items that you can add to your own list.

Generally, these precious items are kept in boxes and stored away from sight in attics, garages or basement corners. Under these circumstances, children do not develop attachments to these precious collections because these are kept out of sight and out of mind. But when we go to public museums, we appreciate the collections of similar items belonging to someone else’s history. Then we want to do the same thing with our own collections. But once we leave the museum, we forget everything and go back to life’s daily routine.

Writing in the book form puts all these and many more memories in an easily acceptable, accessible, transportable form for everyone to see, read, and experience it for years to come. I have relived all my life events several times in my mind in preparing this book material. Each generation has lived through the unique circumstances of their time and learned unique lessons, which are worth passing to a new generation and the public. Those positive experiences are worth sharing with others for their benefit in the future.

I understand that writing an autobiography is always hard. Because this is one man’s own perception about one’s own life’s struggles and successes from his point of view only. Some material may not seem relevant to the reader, but these are factual accounts seen through the eyes and mind of the writer only.

We all understand that autobiography is not a place for accusing anyone or destroying anyone’s life or pointing fingers at anyone. But facts are facts and are difficult to present in a manner so that everyone likes the presentation. I am seventy years old as of writing this book. I have forgiven everyone and forgotten the difficult and all painful incidents of life. I request in advance forgiveness from others too who think this book is about them, because it is not in any form, shape, or manner. It is not my intent at all to point fingers at others for their shortcoming and deeds. They did according to their own circumstances, situations, and justifications at that time.

The historical incidents, situations, and descriptions are purely from my own best recollections and from my own personal notes that I jotted down from time to time. I sincerely hope that there is enough material for everybody to read, think, internalize, learn, and enjoy the essence of my mind. In case you find something useful, then you can consider its usefulness in your life. Perhaps I will inspire others to write their own biographies for the sake of your own generations. That would be my best reward. I always had the desire to write this document for future generations. It has been my lifelong dream to write an autobiography. My generation is the only link between our rich and glorious ancestral past and bright future of my descendants in this land for time to come.

I have gathered the historical facts myself after talking to my father and paternal uncle, who was eighty-five-years-old, and other elders. I have drawn on their recollection and also from our family record keepers called Bhats, who are a subgroup of Brahmins who have been keeping written records for generations as their profession, which passes on to their generations for business purposes. These Bhats visit their clients every year and update their books and keep the written records. In our case, family history goes back fifteen generations to within as much as year of 1650 or so.

Now I live in Michigan, I migrated to the USA from Delhi, India. My ancestors had migrated to Delhi from Rajasthan. There was a king named King Munj Raja in Rajasthan. His next four generations were all kings. Their names were King Phoj Raja, King Udayadeep Raja, King Jagdev Pawar and King Chander Sen. Their kingdoms’ era was during a span of a hundred years, from 1650 to 1750 or so. We are unable to say how big were their kingdoms. We are from the Chatriya (warrior) caste, which was for the protection of citizens and to defend the kingdom.

There is no mention after King Chander Sen if they were able to maintain their kingdom or not. The next four generations were Mr. Mam Mohan, Mr. Ganga Prasad, Mr. Kesardas and Mr. Sees Ram. From the history it is evident that they were living in a village called Tijra, which is about fifty miles from Alwar, Rajasthan, and is about a hundred miles from Delhi. It was a very fertile area for agriculture. They were agriculturists who owned a large amount of land as landowners. It is possible that powerful Muslim kings during