Great Thanksgiving Listen Vikram Kudva

00:00 My name is Vikram. I am nine years old. I am a student of Falwell elementary. Today's date is November 27, 2022. I am recording with my dad, Yogesh Kudva. Here is one of the questions. Tell me about your grandparents.

00:26 My dad's mother died when I was six months old, so I remember nothing about her, but I believe she was very generous person. My dad's dad died when I was eight years old. I had a little bit of interaction with him, but not much. My mother's parents spent time with us. They were both gentle and they loved us very much. My grandfather, my mother's father, died when I was 17. Unfortunately, for three years before he died, he had Parkinson's disease, and that slowed him down. My mom's mother lived until I was in my thirties, so I knew her quite well. She was a very positive lady. And even though she had severe knee pain, she was very positive every day. So I learned that from her.

01:34 Tell me about your parents.

01:37 My father wanted to be an engineer, but unfortunately he didn't have enough money, so he ended up learning statistics. He used statistics to help small businesses improve, and he was very passionate about his work. That served as an inspiration for me, and that is why I go about each day with a great deal of passion. My mother wanted to be a doctor, but again, she could not quite afford it and ended up being a biology teacher. She taught students the love of learning. She was able to pass that on to me, too. And I have continued to be joyful whenever I learn anything till this day.

02:31 What future do you see for a family?

02:35 I am always happy that Vikram and Vivek are learning every day at school and are spending time with their friends and learning about the world and also many other things with their friends. So your mom and I, Vikram, have a lot of work still left to do in our careers. So we are looking forward to doing that work, but also balancing that work with spending time with Vikram and with Vikram and Vivek and helping both of you get better at learning and getting.

03:15 To be.

03:20 Young people who learn and earn and are kind.

03:25 Why did you pick Mayo clinic as a job?

03:28 Mayo Clinic is one of the great medical institutions in the world. I always wanted to come and train here, and I was overjoyed when I was accepted. I had to spend several years working in India and England before Mayo Clinic accepted my application. And then once I came here, I worked very hard so that they would give me a longer term job. And while I'm here now, I've enjoyed working trying to improve lives of patients.

04:03 What was it like to experience this pandemic?

04:08 This has been a pandemic that comes along, like, once in a century, and therefore, none of us really could have imagined this. Fortunately, many of us had read about the great influenza pandemic that happened from 1918 to 1920. So therefore, we had some things we could return to to read and learn about how to do things better going forward. Fortunately, now the pandemic seems to be getting more controlled. So hopefully we can use these lessons and do better at preventing pandemics in the future.

04:54 What did you feel about the midterm elections?

04:59 I was anxious about the midterm elections because these were the first elections fought or contested since the January 6 attack on the Capitol in Washington, DC. The attack on the capitol was conducted with some support from one political party, which is still a major force. And therefore, I was worried that with two political parties contesting this election, out of which one didn't show much respect, that this election would be one in which one party may not show much respect. Fortunately, that has not proved to be true to a large extent, and that has made me happy.

05:49 What do you think about global warming?

05:54 Global warming is real, and it has influenced climate and changed the climate. And because there is now much more severe climate around the world, communities are being severely affected. This is an urgent problem and requires the best of us to try as hard as possible to decrease the risk. And I hope Vivek and you will be part of this solution.

06:26 What do you feel about world talking?

06:32 It is a very sad thing that so many children around the world are experiencing hunger. I am glad that there are many institutions trying to improve this. And there is a world hunger day which is observed in Des Moines, Iowa. Would you like to go to it?

06:55 Yes, I would really like to go to it. Now, another question. How did you meet mom?

07:04 My mother and your mom's mother were friends when they were younger, and then they lost touch with each other. We were fortunate, as they got older, that they regained touch with each other, and then they realized that they could introduce the two of us, and that's what they did.

07:23 How do you feel about my education? In my books?

07:29 I'm very glad that both of you love to go to school and that you have good friends. And every day you feel that you have learned something. And when you learn something, you are very happy. Recently, earlier today, you learned about fractions to do some fractions better, and that made you very happy, and that made me very happy. So I'm very happy.

07:51 You learned who's the most important person in your.

07:56 The most important person in my life is your mom. And you know, there are many reasons for this. Including the fact that she's worked so hard to make sure all of us are comfortable and that all of us are happy.

08:14 Did everything go as planned on new wedding day?

08:19 Not everything went as planned. I was traveling to the wedding venue when the car in which I was traveling had a flat tire. Luckily, the person driving the car was very skilled at changing the tyre and had a spare tire available. And we got to the place on time. Secondly, after the wedding your mom and I went from India to England for a week. The flights were delayed and we got to England late. But still it wasn't too bad.

08:59 That is the end of our interview.

09:02 Thank you. Thank you, Vikram. You asked very good questions. It was a pleasure to talk to you.

09:07 Thank you for giving some of your time to do this interview with me. I'm very grateful for that.

09:17 Thanks, Vikram.