Alok's Interview with his Aunt, Ranjana Sinha on 12/5/2017 - Part II

Description

(2nd of two files)

Born as Ranjana Saxena in May 1950 in Delhi and raised in a conservative joint household in Lucknow, UP, India - she was the youngest of four children of Ram Shanker and Prakash Saxena. She immigrated to the United States from India soon after she finished school in August 1974 at the request of her sister, Shashi Bina. Bina and her husband, Kedar Verma, had just had Alok, their second son, in April - and needed assistance while both were in the midst of establishing themselves as physicians in the United States.

Ranjana lived with her sister's family for almost a year before marrying a young engineer from Bihar named Ravindra (Ravi) Sinha in 1975 and moving to Chicago (where Alok and occasionally his older brother, Ashish, would soon join them). From the mid 1970's to the early 1980's, Ranjana and Ravi moved around from Chicago to Rockford IL to Eastern Pennsylvania and finally to Central New York, where they settled in 1984. During this period, they welcomed their only child, Pooja Sinha - who became the focal point of their lives.

This interview (broken in two parts) is only a glimpse of Ranjana's experience growing up, coming to America, finding (and losing) her life partner, becoming a single parent and the role of family, community and circumstances on her life's journey. Today, she is a proud grandmother who is loved and adored by her family and respected in her community - which she gives back to today as much as she can.

Participants

• Ranjana Sinha
  
• Alok Verma
  

Interview By

• Alok Verma