1996 · 2007 · 2011 · 2026
Two departures. One marriage. One shared choice.
We each left Mumbai to continue our education—Nishant in 1996, Neeti in 2007. Those journeys shaped how we understand opportunity, family, and what education can make possible. We married in 2011. Neti Neti is our decision to turn what we have received into a living legacy of wider impact.
Written in Mumbai · August 15, 1996
“I don't know what I'm losing yet and I don't know what I'll gain.”
Nishant's passage · August 1996
1996
Home became more than one place.
My father came to the United States in 1973 to pursue his MBA, beginning at the University of Scranton and completing the degree at Temple University before returning to India. He wanted both his sons to go forth into the world and find our own way, believing that living in another culture would teach us responsibility and independence.
My brother went to France for his eleventh-grade year through Rotary's Youth Exchange Program, and I expected to follow a similar path to Japan. Then I received a scholarship to Asheville School. My mother protested, certain that if I went to the United States I would never return. I pleaded with her to let me go.
She relented. Looking back, I understand the courage and faith it took for them to send me to a school and city none of us knew. At sixteen I entered the country through Philadelphia before traveling south to North Carolina. What began as an unexpected educational path became a second life.
Neeti's passage · June 6, 2007
2007
Education was the inheritance.
I grew up in Mumbai as the middle of three children. My parents did not have the opportunity to pursue higher education, but they made it possible for all three of us to earn graduate degrees in the United States.
My father had never been formally educated in English, yet he believed fluency would open doors wherever life took us. My mother left school young to support her family so her younger sisters could continue theirs; she was determined that her children would finish their education. Together, they made education more than a credential. It meant mobility, independence, and an opening into a larger life.
After earning my MA in English Literature from the University of Mumbai, I arrived in Philadelphia on June 6, 2007, to pursue a master's degree in Interior Architecture & Design at Drexel University. I carried my parents' investment, a responsibility to honor their sacrifices, and a willingness to begin again in a new country.
15
Years · 1996 to 2011
From one departure to a shared life.
15
Years · 2011 to 2026
From a shared life to shared responsibility.
A line that has stayed with Nishant
“My legacy would not be dependence but independence.”
Leadership first taught Nishant to think of himself as a temporary keeper, one puzzle piece rather than the whole puzzle. Giving should carry the same humility.
See how the giving record began