Josie Canden Interview, History 150 Spring 2017, Conducted by Analiesa DeRieux, March 23, 2017.
- This interview was conducted in person in Rose Library, located on the James Madison University campus. I did not edit the recording of this interview at all due to the interview going extremely well in terms of time. I set up for the interview in a quiet study room, within Rose Library, which I reserved prier to the meeting. Furthermore, to record the interview I used a Snowball Microphone that I had loaned from the JMU Innovation Services. The only obstacle I ran into when planning the interview was finding a time which worked for both my interviewee and I.
- Josie Canden was born in Southern, India in a city called Bellary located in the State of Karnataka. She immigrated to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with her family at a very young age of three years old. Furthermore, her family immigrated to America because of a job offer her father received. Josie’s father is an aerospace engineer and worked for a steel plant in Southern India. Immigrating to America, she could only speak Telugu which is a Dravidian language native to India. However, soon after coming to the U.S. her parents decided to only speak English in as well as out of the home. After a few years of living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania her family adapted to the bi-cultural atmosphere. Josie Canden is 20 years old and attends James Madison University, majoring in Biology and hopes to become a physician’s assistant.
- The country of India is one of the highest populated growing countries in the world. In the past decade the increase in migration from small towns to urban areas has created relatively high poverty line. The poverty line has caused an enormous amount people to live in unauthorized and congested areas called Slums. The slums have become a major challenge for the government in terms of providing education, health, and safety for citizens.
APA Citations:
Prasad, R., & Gupta, N. (2016). Problems and Prospects of Slums in India. International Journal Of Multidisciplinary Approach & Studies, 3(3), 67-78.
Singh, P. K., Rai, R. K., Singh, L., & Noor, A. M. (2012). Examining the Effect of HouseholdWealth and Migration Status on Safe Delivery Care in Urban India, 1992-2006. Plos ONE, 7(9), 1-12. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0044901
[Transcript]
AD: This is Analiesa DeRieux conducting an in person interview, with my small group leader, in Rose Library, on March 23, 2017.
AD: Okay, so where did your parents grow up?
JC: Um, both my parents spent their whole lives in India, until pretty much adulthood.
AD: Can you tell me some background on your parents. Why did they want to immigrate America and how did they grow up in India?
JC: So, both of my parents obviously they both, like I said they spent their whole life in India. And generally in India, I that a theme I have notice is that people see coming to America as like the ultimate goal; like if you go to America you are successful. Um, and I think that the culture taught them that, and so anyone wanted to go to America from India. My dad has a unique situation with, he grew up in a very small town, which is a very poor area, not the best education in that area. So, he was a little more driven I think to get out of that situation and make something big of himself, he was very ambitious and did exactly what he set out to do. [laughed because of a joke I said].
My mom is different on the other hand, she. . . because of in India, at that time women were expected to get married and be a mom [AD: like the old days], . . . my mom never felt that she had to be independent, I mean now she has gotten to a place where she has a full time job, she wasn’t a stay at home mom my whole life, but in India they did stress for men to be more like, “engineering” [. . .]
AD: Did your mom come from the same background as your dad, for an example small town, or was it more centralized?
JC: [Smiles] My mom came from more of the suburbs . . . they both (mother and father) went to English schools in India. In India they have a lot, I think they are called, English Medium schools, and so they do their education in English and teach Hindi as like a sign language, like we do with Spanish. So, I think that if you can afford it, her parents could afford it, but my dads’ parents work extremely hard so that they could afford it for my dad.
AD: How did your parents meet?
JC: My dad was already working and my mom was still a student in college, but my dad was actually working at the same place that my dad was working. Their story is kind of crazy because she was a Hindu and he was a Christian, and they ended up having to run away together. My grandparents on my mom side threatened to get her married to someone else. They [JC’s parents] tried two arranged marriages for her that she had to get out of, its just a crazy story, but they got married and now I am here [laughed] . . . [got off topic].
AD: So you talked a little about how your family wanted immigrate to America, can you go into a little more detail on why exactly they wanted to come to America.
JC: [Laughs] Um, my dad actually, even to this day, we’ve gone back to India and visited, he always says that if I had stayed here the manager, the president of this company. [Prier to coming working in the steel plant and got offered not a job but an opportunity to go to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, still in the steel field. He ended up being kind of a liaison, went to America for a few strips to Pittsburgh, and I think that in the back of his head he always wanted to go to America, just because that’s how the culture is, but once he got to experience it more, I think that’s when it really settled for him that really wanted to move us over here. He was actually in Pittsburgh when I was born, because I was born in India.
AD: What part of India were you born in?
JC: I was born in South India, in a city called Bellary its in a State called Karnataka.
AD: So, I know that you said that, just between us talking that you came to America at a very young age. What age did you come to America at with your family?
JC: So, I came a few weeks after I turned three. One of my earliest memories is, I have a very fade memory of being on that plain. However, I don’t really remember living in India when I was young at all. I have memories of trips there, um but I don’t remember when I actually lived there.
AD: So, I know that you said you were very young coming over to America, do you remember having to learn English?
JC: Well, it was kind of funny. I didn’t know lick of English at all coming to America. Um, and I only really speak Telugu, which is South Indian language. I don’t really remember learning Telugu, but my parents decided to only speak English in the house that way would learn English. I’ll look back on home videos and all of my childhood videos I have a like a really thick Indian accent which I think has gone way now [laughs] . . . sometimes I think in Telugu or speak in Telugu without realizing I’m saying something in that language. [trailed off]
AD: Can you describe what it was like growing up in a bi-culture family?
JC: I think that for me that my experience was different from my sisters because she did spend more time in India, and I always felt like almost an outsider in my own family just because I felt that I had the most American mindset and was the most Americanized in my family. In comparison, my school friends and other people, there was things growing up like, I never wanted my mom to pack me school lunch because the other kids are going to look at that and say stuff like what is that, but now I love Indian food and am sharing it with all of my friends [laughed]. Now growing up I think that kids are picky eaters . . . remember feeling like the other kids would judge me for this.
AD: How was your family structure different from other families growing up?
JC: Yeah, so I thank that Indian culture is very family oriented, and I think that American family structure can be too, but from the American culture I have experienced and seen comparing it to how my family was, my house in an open door. My parents will take in, if they know of and Indian in the area that’s in need of a place to stay they’ll say, “Yeah, stay with us, we don’t care who you are!” Its so, anyone is family. Furthermore, it is very normal for, lets say I am married and have kids, it would very normal for me to have my parents stay with me for two years, or even live with my parents or husbands’ parents. [. . . ]
AD: I remember you saying that your parents are well educated in the STEM, that your dad is in engineering and your mom is in some kind of science, what science is she educated in?
JC: She did Zoology.
AD: So, growing up was there a pressure to pursue a STEM field, as well as, attend a University in America?
JC: Definitely, as for pursing the STEM field, I am sure that people have heard that Indian people always saying, “Engineering or be a doctor”, [laughs], but literally there are some areas in India where there is no other opinion. For me I did feel that pressure a little bit, people were really exacting me to go into engineering or medical. [Trailed off].
So, I did feel there was pressure in that. Growing up, you know as s a little kid you have these big dreams to become an actress, or I wanted to be a teacher, and I would say that, and my parents would say, “That’s great, but that isn’t going to make you a lot of money, we came to America so you can be success.” And as for University, [ . . .] I took a gap year and visited four countries, and that was so difficult for my parents because that were like, “You know we came to America so you could get a good education and if you take a gap year you wont want to come back to college . . .” [trailed off]
AD: What is like going back to India and visiting family and friends? Is there a different vibe than visiting family in America now that you are an adult?
JC: Definitely, that kind of ties into what you asked earlier about how is it living bio-culturally. I saw my friends with their grandparents and they were like, “Oh my grandma made me cookies or I just talked to my grandma about this situation,” and I am like I can talk to my grandma [ . . .] but since I have grown up in America I can still kind of speak Telugu, but I can’t go into heavy detail and tell her my hearts emotions about anything. So, communicating to my grandparents caused me to be more distant towards them [ . . .]
AD: So, my last question for you is, how would you describe being born in South India and than immigrating to America has impacted you to become the person you are today at James Madison University?
JC: I think that it has definitely impacted me a ton. Being born there and moving here, just the whole we talked about living bio-culturally, has REALLY impacted me today. I think that has made me very open minded. I think that there some people who are very set in their opinions and thoughts, and aren’t very good at discussions and I don’t think I am one of those because of my back ground. I enjoy talking about what I think and asking what other peoples cultures think and if its completely different from what I think that isn’t completely wrong its just what you are coming from and what your culture has taught you. Furthermore, I think that is has made me to be more understanding and more reasonable to keep a level head in certain situation and be able to talk and have good discussions with people because I don’t get offended on what they think and I try not to offend them either, you know? I think that is one of the biggest things that I have seen in myself, that I don’t think that a ton of people have and thinks because I grew up with these different cultures because sometimes they do contrast. Sometimes American culture says one thing and Indian culture says another, for an example American culture for carriers say to “follow your heart do you what your passion is”, and Indian culture says, “do what is going to make you the most money and make financially happy”, you know?! [ . . .] Cultures come from different places, but overall I think that is one of the biggest things that has shaped me into who I am today, with being bio-cultural.
AD: Well thank you so much for this interview, it has been amazing talking to you and hearing more about your life story.
[END]
CONCLUSION: I was extremely pleased with how the interview went. The questions/conversation flowed naturally as well as was relaxed, and I felt that it was surprisingly easier for both my interviewer and I when we went off script. Furthermore, I feel that the divergences during the interview were positive ones because my interviewee would open up more and felt more comfortable.