Editor’s Note: This is the first story in an ongoing series of reports to introduce readers to members of the community who have traveled from afar to settle down in Brookings. The Brookings Register wants to know how immigrants got here, why they came and how South Dakota compares to their homeland.
BROOKINGS – Suresh and Trupti Sutariya hail from the city of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, which is in far-western India. According to 2011 Indian Census data, Ahmedabad is the fifth largest city in India but is better known as the birthplace of Indian freedom and non-violence leader Mahatma Gandhi.
“So I came here in 2013 to do my master’s, and she came as my dependent visa. And then I got done with my master’s and then got a job in Iowa, so that’s when we moved (from Brookings). And then we moved back in Brookings this January,” Suresh said. Trupti came six months later after her visa was approved.
Suresh earned his master’s degree in dairy science at South Dakota State University and is a regional product development manager at Agropur and will begin the lengthy process of getting his Ph.D. from SDSU this year.
His wife, Trupti, is a stay-at-home mother with their firstborn, Raaga, who will begin preschool this year.
“For her, it’s a big change,” said Suresh when discussing the experience of immigrating. “For me, I was working in a company previously where we spoke English, but she didn’t have that practice when you can have a conversation with someone.”
Trupti is a dependent visa holder, and technicalities prevent the holder from being able to work as a skilled professional, regardless of the qualities they may have. This is due to employers either not being certain that the individual will be able to work for an extended period of time or that the specific kind of dependent visa (there are several) does not allow for employment.
“Since it was a dependent visa, you just stay home, like you can’t do anything. So I used to stay at home before. But he was a student, so we had that connection with students, and we had a big group. And then we moved to Iowa,” Trupti said.
Trupti didn’t speak much English until this past year, when she joined the Brookings Multicultural Center and had more opportunities to speak with others. She said that when Suresh was in school, they had Indian friends that she was able to speak with, and then in Iowa there weren’t many people to socialize with and hone her English language skills.
“Because of this group I practice my English now and so now I can speak it communicatively. Before, I was not ever able to speak sentences,” Trupti said. “Because of this group, I have made so many friends. And because of that I am really happy that we moved to Brookings.”
The two moved to Brookings because of Suresh’s academic research opportunities at SDSU.
Suresh said that he loves the technological advancements of the American dairy industry and the challenges of using that technology and bettering it.
“So I had a really good project which I was interested in, so I got that project out of my master’s. That inspired me. We had no plans to stay here, but I got a job (in Iowa) so we were like, ‘Let’s give it a try,’” Suresh said. That was seven years ago, and the two have loved living in the States ever since.
Moving to the States was a trial in and of itself. Trying to get visas from India has proved to be quite challenging for the couple.
“So after my master’s, I got three years of OPT – Optional Practical Training – so that three-year window allowed me to get a job and work out my visa status change from student to the employment visa, which goes through my employer. One thing is, every year for a temporary employment visa, there’s 85,000 that they approve,” Suresh said.
He said that once applicants reach the 85,000 mark, they get placed into a lottery; the year Suresh applied there were 300,000 applicants and he was placed into the lottery system.
Suresh was not selected from the lottery until the third year. “So that was a scary situation and you don’t know when the results come.”
“But there are so many people that are applying (for a green card, which is a permanent residency visa) from India, they only get 7,000 visas approved a year,” Suresh said. This year, the American government is approving green card visas that applied in 2008.
The Sutariyas are frustrated with people who illegally immigrate to the States or try to find loopholes in the immigration system, which is why – despite the longevity of the process – they understand implementing stricter immigration regulations.
One of the harshest issues for the Sutariyas has been trying to adopt a child. The couple wants to adopt, but based on their current visa status, it’s impossible to do so. For someone to adopt a child in the U.S., they must be a registered citizen (therefore have their green card), and to adopt a child outside of the U.S., the parents/family must stay with the child outside of the States for a minimum of two years. They cannot live outside of the U.S. for that period of time due to their visa status.
Shifting from the bustling Indian city life to the rural American life was quite jarring for the couple, but the two have said the change has been for the better. The two appreciate and enjoy the open space and peace the prairie has to offer.
“If we wouldn’t have left India, she wouldn’t have changed the way she has changed,” Suresh said. “So, in India, we both lived in a joint family. So it’s a totally different culture, and she doesn’t get that much freedom. As a man I got quite a lot of freedom.”
Trupti is looking at starting her own business of selling Indian-inspired clothing and other artisanal items.
India has only recently made some strides in bettering the levels of gender equality among men and women. According to the Human Rights Watch, the Indian culture still enacts the ancient tradition of the caste system that determines the quality and worth of a person despite being abolished in 1950.
The Sutariya family plans to stay in Brookings for a few years for Suresh to get his Ph.D. and for Raaga to have better educational opportunities here in the U.S. They find that living in the States still offers a better way of life despite their concerns about the gun violence and drug-epidemic. Suresh said that gun violence and drug abuse is a rarity in India as compared to the U.S.
“One thing is the more you see, the more perspective you have of the world. I lived in India, I’ve lived in Saudi Arabia, and now the USA. So there’s a contrasting difference in all these cultures, and it really does give you good perspective on different cultures,” Suresh said.
“One thing is to value human life, that’s really something you learn from here,” Suresh said.
Contact Matthew Rhodes at mrhodes@brookingsregister.com.
