Stories Worth Remembering
NOVEMBER 20, 2014
It was a date in mid-September 1957 when C.M. Naim’s Pan Am round-the-world flight reached San Francisco.
“There was no one to meet me at the airport. I sat there, numb with a fear of the unknown. I had no money, no way to contact my professor or find my way to the International House
in Berkeley. What was I going to do? I had no experience with telephones, nor did I know anyone’s phone number to call. As the hall emptied and it became clear that my bag was nowhere in sight, I sat down on a bench and quietly cried.”
C.M. Naim went on to become a Professor at the University of Chicago and a notable scholar of Urdu language and literature, but it was his experience on his first day in the United States that he remembers often. That day he relied on the kindness of a total stranger who helped him when he had lost all hope.
“I gained that day a kind of confidence and feeling of trust that has come to my rescue many a time since then. Not that I have not despaired since that day. I’ve hit the bottom several times. I have been lonely and angry and terrified, and worse. I have experienced exploitation and racial prejudice. But thanks to that day I have always managed not to blame some anonymous America for my troubles.”
Stories like these are the stories of South Asian Americans. These are stories worth remembering.
When you support SAADA, you support the belief that South Asian American stories are an integral part of the American story. Over the last six years we have built the largest publicly accessible collection of materials and stories related to the experiences of South Asians in the United States. In fact, just last month we added our 2,000th item to the archive! Through projects like our First Days Project, we continue to demonstrate the ways that communities can use history as a tool for empowerment.
Your donation of $120 (or just $10/month) supports the preservation and care of one story in the archive for one year.
The stories not shared are the stories first forgotten. The next generation will remember because of your support today.
Sincerely,
Samip Mallick
Executive Director
“There was no one to meet me at the airport. I sat there, numb with a fear of the unknown. I had no money, no way to contact my professor or find my way to the International House
in Berkeley. What was I going to do? I had no experience with telephones, nor did I know anyone’s phone number to call. As the hall emptied and it became clear that my bag was nowhere in sight, I sat down on a bench and quietly cried.”C.M. Naim went on to become a Professor at the University of Chicago and a notable scholar of Urdu language and literature, but it was his experience on his first day in the United States that he remembers often. That day he relied on the kindness of a total stranger who helped him when he had lost all hope.
“I gained that day a kind of confidence and feeling of trust that has come to my rescue many a time since then. Not that I have not despaired since that day. I’ve hit the bottom several times. I have been lonely and angry and terrified, and worse. I have experienced exploitation and racial prejudice. But thanks to that day I have always managed not to blame some anonymous America for my troubles.”
Stories like these are the stories of South Asian Americans. These are stories worth remembering.
When you support SAADA, you support the belief that South Asian American stories are an integral part of the American story. Over the last six years we have built the largest publicly accessible collection of materials and stories related to the experiences of South Asians in the United States. In fact, just last month we added our 2,000th item to the archive! Through projects like our First Days Project, we continue to demonstrate the ways that communities can use history as a tool for empowerment.
Your donation of $120 (or just $10/month) supports the preservation and care of one story in the archive for one year.
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The stories not shared are the stories first forgotten. The next generation will remember because of your support today.
Sincerely,
Samip Mallick
Executive Director