Mr. Vijay Bhargava (Masala Chat Project)

Description

Vijay Bhargava, 75, is the son of a prominent lawyer and civic leader of his city. The interview includes disscussion of the privileges he experienced growing up in a large joint family with a respected head of household. He begins describing his family dynamics, his parents, and his early education. He then explains his move to Jabalpur in 1960, where he enrolled in Jabalpur Engineering College and began correspondence with a professor at University of Manchester who had taken interest in Vijay’s undergraduate work. After moving to Manchester to work under the guidance of his professor friend, Vijay then moved to Chicago to complete a master’s program at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1964. After describing his marriage and life in Chicago, Vijay expresses gratitude for the relationships he has carefully nurtured over the years. The interview concludes with reflections of acculturation and of the importance of interreligious and interracial understanding.