Post from Mom

Mom asked me to write this one: I typed what she was saying....

Dad was born to Fulbasi Devi Prasad and Dahan Prasad in small village in Kamalpur, India.  He was born and brought up there, up till Highschool.  After highschool he ran away from home and went to Calcutta.  He stayed in the Ranchi railway station for 2 nights and then he went to Calcutta.  He actually had to conive his way onto the train because he could not afford a ticket.  Then he went to Calcutta.  He stayed with his friends... He had a hard time finding food and worked as a Coolie.  He was underweight so it was tough for him to get a job in manual labor.  One of his friends hooked him up with a Coolie job.  He worked a few days to afford food.  He worked there for a few months and then picked up a job as a boy helping carry vegetables from the rich people as they shopped at the markets.  He would carry a basket on his head and the ladies would place vegetables on the basket and he would follow them around the market and make a few rupees to survive.  A local merchant noticed he could read and asked him if he had any accounting skills.  He jumped at the offer and did the accounting for this merchant.  He really wanted to go to college, but he had no money.  Finally his friends saw potential in him so they all chipped in and paid for his admission ticket.  He quickly got admission at St Xaviers for one year and then he got into Jhadavpur University.   He had a hard time finding food during his college years so he tutored kids and he lived under street lamps on the street.  But he still aced each of his classes and was top in his class.  At this time he was able to send money to his parents and was very proud.  When he passed the college, he went to a happy hour (yes, mom said happy hour) and his friend Gauhara forced him to fill out an application to a position in US and he was accepted right away.  According to Gauhara, my Dad was very "lucky" to get accepted.