Where there is a will - 1. Chennai to Bombay en route to New York

Where There is a Will …

1.  Chennai to Bombay en route to New York
   
   I am back in time and right now I am living that day again....

I am on my flight to Bombay. My wife Veda and children Sowmya (7 yrs) and Prabhakar (5 yrs),

along with my close relatives and in-laws, came to the airport to see me off.

Am I doing the right thing? Is it worth all the trouble? My employer - Madras University - had

graciously granted me 6 months leave on half pay (Rs. 400/month), because I had served

them for 8 years! I was going for higher studies - not employment. The University and my

immediate boss did everything to discourage me from applying and going for higher studies.

I had pledged my life insurance and my ancestral property to get enough money to buy my

ticket. It was a hectic week to get my visa from the US Consulate, get a loan and pay for my

flight, get the reserve bank to release me a foreign exchange of $80. The only silver lining

was the fact that I had received a cable from Northwestern University that I will be getting a

Research Assistantship from them.

Is it really worth it for a 39 year old to leave his wife and children in the care of others for the

pursuit of higher studies and a very uncertain future? Why not just cancel everything and

return home, cutting my journey at Bombay?