25 Years in India

What happens when an American freshman meets an Asian-Indian graduate student on a blind date at Duke University in the early 1960s? This fascinating memoir follows the physical and emotional journey of Elma (Griscom) Vaidya from Durham, North Carolina, to the majestic Himachal mountains of India, an area recently showcased in the television series Indian Summers. Throughout her adventures, she frequently traveled by jeep, on foot, and by horseback with her new husband, Madhu, on his inspection tours of the dense forests in his jurisdiction. The story begins with Elma's arrival in Delhi in June of 1962. Faced with oppressive heat; third-world hygiene, food sources, and plumbing; and an unfamiliar language, Elma soon realized that the culture shock of being an American living in India with an Indian husband was much greater than she had ever imagined. As the newlyweds waited for Madhu's promised forestry job to come through, Elma often felt suffocated by her new family's expectations, and she longed to be able to set up their own home. Being pregnant didn't make things any easier-particularly as she tried to get used to so much strange-tasting Indian food. But 25 Years in India is first and foremost a book about transformation. Elma's Indian journey contains many speed bumps and detours, but ultimately it becomes a chance for her to create her own road. In these fascinating chapters, readers will walk beside Elma as she bonds with her in-laws, learns Hindi, accepts Indian customs, overcomes loss and heartbreak, raises her children in a foreign land, and even finds a job as a teacher. Ultimately, 25 Years in India is a wonderful story of hope and survival in a strange and beautiful land. Elma Vaidya currently lives in Nashua, New Hampshire, where she enjoys writing, computer classes, exercising, playing bridge, and time spent with family and friends. She recently lost her husband, Madhu, to cancer. Her two grown daughters and their families also live in New England, and she continues to spend part of each year in the family home in the northern province of Himachal Pradesh, India.