Ralph Higgins
My wife Gayle and I bought a gas station, minimart, and carwash many years ago. This business was located in America in a small northern California town called Quincy.
After five years owning the business, we sold the business and the commercial property to Rajinderpal Singh. We wanted to move closer to our children and grandchildren.
Quincy has a population of only 2000 people in the town itself.
Quincy is the “County Seat” of Plumas County. This means thatall the governmental offices are located in Quincy.
Mountains, our community is one of the most beautiful places to live in California. Tourists and visitors from all over visit our small town and many stop in at the Relay Station, which is the business owned and operated by Rajinder and his wonderful wife, Narinder Kaur. After several years my wife and I returned to Quincy, where we had some property. We built a home here. This gave us the opportunity to spend time with Rajinder and his family.
Rajinder (I call him “Raj.) and I have become very good friends. We play racquetball together and lift weights at the local gym. My wife and I have spent many happy times with Rajinder, Narinder, and their children Manroop Sandhu, Nimer Shergill, and Sukhman Sandhu.
I have taught them how to carve a turkey at our Thanksgiving holidays and Raj has taught me how to properly prepare curry chicken. We are like “family.” In fact, Raj even calls me “Dad,” which means a lot to me.
I've told Raj that he should be mayor of our town, because he is so popular with the people here. Narinder has also become a friend to many and is known to some as “Linda.” Gayle and I still call her Narinder.
Their three children are like our grandchildren. I have never known nicer children. They are all smart, polite, and successful in school. They have many friends and Roop (Manroop) plays football for the high school varsity football team. Both girls play basketball.
Rajinder and Narinder have been very successful in running the business and know more about it than I ever did. It is rare that after selling a business to someone that both the seller and the buyer become such good friends. In our case, we have become “family.”
I was honored to see the video of the marriage of Rajinder and Narinder. It was colorful, respectful, but my good friend Raj looked scared. Narinder looked beautiful.
My friendship with my Indian family gave me great insights into a culture much different than my own. It gave me great respect for the Indian values placed on family, honor, and tradition.
But my “taste of India” was not limited to culture alone. I also greatly enjoy the taste of the wonderful, spicy Indian food, prepared by my adopted Indian family. It's a little too spicy for my wife, but I love it. I consider it an authentic “Taste of India.”
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