16 years later…

16 years? Well – to be more precise 15 years, 9 months & 5 days since I came to America from India. Chasing the American Dream I came.. first to the University of Houston to pursue an MS in Computer Science. Two quick years later, fate played a role in whisking me off to Chicago (& not San Francisco Bay Area). I had resolved to drive to SF Bay Area if I didn’t find a job within 30 days of graduating.

Two companies made offers within the first 2 weeks – Dallas-based American Airlines and a little-known consulting firm (SEI Information Technologies) in Chicago. By all accounts, I should have accepted the former offer – who doesn’t want to fly to a new American city every weekend (especially if you are in your 20’s). What excited me about SEI was the group’s focus on the exciting field of in-car navigation systems (this group eventually merged with the sister company Navigation Technologies). Navigation systems, GPS applications, and A* algorithms were a clear draw. The Chicago vs. Dallas factor clinched the decision for me. What I didn’t realize until 2 years later the real reason why I had moved to Chicago — to meet and marry the woman of my dreams – Poonam.

Poonam graduated from Loyola University with a Ph.D in neuroscience, accepted a post-doc position at Stanford University and we moved to the Bay Area in July 1998. Ten great years later we’re approaching the next inflection point in our lives. We are moving back to India – there, I said it!

Coming up next…

• Why were the last 16 years so incredibly great? Why did we come to America in the first place?
• Why are we moving to India? And why now?
• Whither India? Which city are we moving to?
• ….
• So much more….