From The Peopling of New York City
The following is an interview I conducted with Sunita, an Indian immigrant and owner of “Shri Krishna Jewelers” on 74th Street in Jackson heights, Queens, NY:
Joshua Petimar: Are you yourself an immigrant? If so, from which country? When did you immigrate?
Sunita: Yes, I am an immigrant from India. I come from the Punjab state, in Northern India. I came here in 1983, so I am here for a very long time.
JP: Did you know anyone in the jewelry business at the time?
Sunita: No, no, I didn’t know anyone in America at the time in this business. This jewelry store opened in 1986. We just got a place, and I worked at the Capital Bank, which was a popular bank at the time. I worked there for a year. After being there, I saw there were no gold stores in this area, so I opened one. It was the only one at the time. In 1990 the market expanded, and now there are many more stores. Now there’s competition, you know.
JP: So you did not know anyone when you came here? Did you travel here by yourself, or with family?
Sunita: No, I came here with my wife. I had an arranged marriage, you know. My wife was born in America, but she came to India for the engagement. I traveled to America with her, and we got married in America.
JP: And now do you have a family with kids?
Sunita: Yes, we have three kids, two daughters and a son. Now, they are all grown-up and in college.
JP: What about older relatives, such as parents? Do they live with you?
Sunita: Yes, we live with my mother. It is normal in India to live with other members of your family. And many Indians here live with their relatives too.
JP: Growing up, what kinds of responsibilities did your children have? What was expected of them?
Sunita: Their biggest job was to do well in school. So far, they are quite responsible. My daughter is doing pharmacy right now. My other daughter is in law, and my son is in school for engineering.
JP: Did you specifically encourage them to be professionals? Did you want them to have these jobs?
Sunita: No, no. We let them do whatever they desired. They could have gone into any field they wanted.
JP: And growing up, how would you describe the relationship you had with your children? Did you do a lot of activities together?
Sunita: Well, we spend a lot of time in the house. The kids’ responsibilities were to do well in college, mostly. But we go out a lot too as a family. Just last weekend we were in Albany together. We also go to India a lot, about once a year, or maybe once every two years. I still have a lot of extended family there. But my brothers live now in England. We also go to visit them there often.
JP: When you visit India and think about your old life there, what do you think is the biggest change, as far as family?
Sunita: Well, there are a lot things changing in India, now. It is no loner a third world country anymore. There are more job opportunities in different fields. But the family is still a big part of life in India.
JP: What about gender? Is there a big difference in the way women live between India and America?
Sunita: Nowadays in India, women have to work, just like they do in America. It used to be that women did not leave the home; they just cooked and cleaned, and so on. But now India is developing, especially in big cities like Bombay, and women have to work just like in America. My wife was always used to working.
JP: In America, we often see kids losing a relationship with their parents. Did that happen?
Sunita: No, nothing like that. The kids are very congregated to the culture. We gave them that teaching. We [the parents] go to the same places as the kids, and so we spend a lot of time together
JP: Overall, if you could change anything about your family life in New York, what would it be?
Sunita: Oh, I don’t know. I mean, we tried to build our own culture here, and we are very family-oriented. There are lots of family functions we go to together, like weddings and celebrations, all sorts of those things. And the kids are very close to us. So far so good.
- Joshua Petimar, April 5, 2009