“Be happy. There’s always ups and downs in every society whether you're a migrant or not.”

Story #40, Virendra Bharel, Indian Immigrant

Interview conducted & story written by Keya Bharel Waikar

Edited by Margherita Marras

In 1966, Dr. Virendra Bharel began a journey in pursuit of higher education that would take him around the world. Born and raised in the New Delhi village of Masjid Moth, Dr. Bharel explains that he came from a “very village set of life… so basically I was living a very underdeveloped life.” 

Although his parents were government workers, Dr. Bharel hoped to take a different path. Determined to become a doctor, he gained admission into the prestigious All India Institute of Medicine. Reflecting on his admission, he laughs while admitting “How I got it, I don’t know.” Jokes aside, he expresses great pride for becoming the first medical graduate in both his family and village. 

Admission into postgraduate education in India, however, proved to be highly competitive. Feeling stagnated in his medical education there, he decided to migrate to England. Dr. Bharel notes he was not very upset to leave India but “I did cry at the airport like a baby. That was the only time [I cried]. But I was quite happy to leave to England and try to settle down and do something better than I could do in India.” 

Dr. Bharel quickly realized the difficulties of achieving his goals under the British National Health System. Irked by the discrimination he observed, Dr. Bharel asked one of his teachers:  “‘How come you pass your guys and not us [Indian immigrants]?’”. He recounts how his teacher answered: “‘Because we have a lot of time to train our guys but you guys do our post graduate, go back to your country, and become a professor.’” 

Despite the hardships incurred by discrimination, Dr. Bharel was met with many successes—his own practice and financial stability. Four years after moving to England, he and his wife joyously welcomed a baby girl, Monica, into their lives. 

But a few years later, Dr. Bharel encountered the hardest part in his migration story: a divorce that motivated him to leave England. Although he created a good career for himself, Dr. Bharel explains that “mentally, I could not tolerate the torture of unhappiness there.” He was faced with two choices: go back to India or restart in America. In making his decision, Dr. Bharel relates that “Monica’s well being was most important.” With encouragement from his dear friend Dr. Yogi Upadhyay, Dr. Bharel decided to immigrate to the United States. 

The move to America required Dr. Bharel to re-do his residency program. While his daughter, Monica, stayed in India with his family, Dr. Bharel lived in New York with Dr. Upadhyay for 8 months as he searched for residency programs.

Given Dr. Bharel’s age, he recalls residency being quite taxing, “You usually start residency around about 25 and here I was already 38. When doing night calls, this, that, it was hard.” Although residencies are typically three years, Dr. Bharel’s prior experience allowed him to complete the program in two years. As a newly board certified doctor with a daughter and new wife to support, Dr. Bharel was eager to start his private practice in which he would establish close relations with patients for 40 years. 

Dr. Bharel had two more children and eventually moved to Long Island, New York: “I’m quite happy in America. I made a good life. Had a good living, good practice. And I was able to settle my children as they wanted.”

Looking back on his series of migrations, Dr. Bharel recalls the difficulty in leaving his family behind. Despite the distance, his strong family values motivated him to stay deeply connected to his family through weekly phone calls and visits back to the country he was born and raised in.

Having lived in both England and America, Dr. Bharel has a special appreciation for America as a land of immigrants. He explains that those who call him an immigrant are also often immigrants. In fact, he grins as he jokes that when someone says “‘Oh, you’re an immigrant, go back.’ I say, ‘You go back first because you came first. You came before, so you go first then I’ll go. Because you are also an immigrant.’” 

Despite Dr. Bharel’s love for America being a place where “you can reach any limit you want,” he also expresses being labeled as different in this country. When people say “you Indians,” he’s reminded that “In India, no one can say that to me.” To this, Dr. Bharel explains that “There is hardship and also discrimination for the immigrant in any country.” 

Although Dr. Bharel’s heart always remains closely tied to India, he is the rock of his family in the United States – his children and their significant others, niece and nephew, and grandchildren. 

From his migration experience, Dr. Bharel reminds others to “Be happy. There’s always ups and downs in every society whether you're a migrant or not. With migrant, first generation particularly, you always feel homesick wherever you are  in the world, doesn't matter where it is.”