In 1970, Ram, twenty-one years old, ventured to America to seek a brighter future and unparalleled educational opportunities. After departing India, where he served as a biology professor at a college, he initially stayed with family in Westchester, Pennsylvania. Two months later, he transitioned to living in a college dormitory to pursue his goal of graduating from a U.S. college, and he was able to have his expenses covered through the generosity of the U.S. government via a grant.
Shortly after embarking on his U.S. college education, however, policy changes under the Nixon administration abruptly cut off his funding, preventing him from continuing his studies. Forced to seek employment, he found himself working at ShopRite. His bad luck did not end there, as immigration officers soon discovered his incorrect visa status during a check when he was getting off the bus that he took to work every day. In a race to secure legal authorization to work, he sought assistance from his college advisor, who promptly drafted letters explaining his predicament to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. With these letters, he successfully obtained permission to work limited hours while pursuing his education. Ram was then able to go back to college and fund his studies through various part-time jobs, including cleaning dormitory rooms and bathrooms. Despite the initial setback, Ram was able to fulfill his objective, obtain a degree, and secure a position at a quality control lab. Further educational pursuits were sponsored by his employer, leading him to attend night school at Drexel University to study microbiology.
Ram’s life seemed ideal. While completing his studies, Ram’s wife, Bullemma, and his two children joined him in the United States. Additionally, based on his degree in higher education, he was gainfully employed. Therefore, Ram never imagined that he would risk losing all of that to pursue his growing dream of American entrepreneurship. But Ram decided to take a leap of faith and decided to join his brother-in-law, who was living in a small mining town in Hanna, Wyoming, because it was the only job his brother-in-law was able to obtain after completing his residency. Upon relocating from Pennsylvania to Wyoming, Ram researched other business opportunities but settled on opening a 7-Eleven store. At that time, he did not know any other Indians who owned such a business, and in effect, Ram and his wife, Bullemma, were the trailblazers that made Indians running 7-Eleven a stereotype. At the time, however, Ram did not even imagine that other Indians would later follow him in opening 7-Eleven stores and instead was just focused on figuring out how to run a store in a rural community that had no other Indians except his brother-in-law’s family. Luckily, Ram’s 7-Eleven quickly became an essential part of the community.
The population of Hanna was 2,500 people, and nearly everyone worked in the nearby coal mines. It was a town with only one small grocery store and one gas station, but it had six bars. In this town with no street lights, you waved to everyone as you passed them by in your pickup. Homes were left unlocked, and keys were left in the vehicles. The town was there for one purpose: to provide the miners with a place to call home. It was commonplace to see folks covered in coal dust at all hours of the day, as the demand for “black gold” was high, as was its selling price. Therefore, especially because the coal mine ran 24 hours a day with three shifts, the community relied on the 7-Eleven for many necessities, such as milk and toilet paper, and also some daily vices, such as cigarettes and chewing tobacco. The 7-Eleven regularly had folks filling up their boats with gas, purchasing provisions for their hunting trip, or having kids hang out in the store, which had a total of three arcade games. Ram and Bullemma got to know everyone in the town, and in turn, everyone in town got to know them. They were able to integrate themselves into the small town in Wyoming, and folks who had never seen an Indian (initially misunderstood them to be the same as “Native Americans”) became blind to the color of their skin.
After four years of supporting this coal mining community, economic downturns in Wyoming prompted a move back to Pennsylvania, where they opened Popeye’s Chicken in Reading, owning and operating it for four years. After encountering prolonged road repairs that adversely affected access to the Popeye’s, Ram shifted to Florida, and he expanded upon what he had previously learned by managing several 7-Eleven stores. Ram continues to reside in Florida. He has appreciated that this country has provided him with so many new and different opportunities.
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