- I am 23 years old, I'm Indian,
and this is the first time I'm ever gonna go to India,
and I'm doing it to bring
my grandfather's ashes back.
(deep synth music)
- It's a little bit hard to process.
When I'd left I was 10,
and I remember getting on the plane
and sitting in the middle of the Pan Am jet,
and I just remember not being able
to go to sleep because it was so exciting,
and I kinda feel the same way now.
- We've made it.
It's just been really humbling.
This was the life that I could've had.
My grandparents left all of this to come to America.
- This is clarified butter, and it's added
to the dahl to make it more savory and delicious.
- It's very good, you've gotta have it in it.
You've got to have it with...
(mumbling)
- It's so good.
- After about a year of just speaking English
at the house all the time, I remember one day
in my brain all of my dreams were in Hindi,
and then one day they turned into English.
- There's just something about being here
and having access to like the country's spices
that makes it completely different.
- We are going to see the homes
where (mumbles) grew up.
- [Voiceover] How are you feeling
about going back to see your house?
- [Voiceover] I'm very excited,
and I'm gonna take a lot of pictures.
- [Voiceover] So, where's the house dad?
- It should be at the end.
- [Voiceover] It's in the...
- Yeah, it should be down here.
This is the balcony where we used to stand,
mommy and I, and watch everybody play soccer.
I just remember walking,
walking with my grandmother to get milk.
We would go at four in the morning.
After we came back, we would meditate and pray,
and that was a daily routine, seven days a week.
- [Voiceover] What do you think,
looking at this house, about what it's like
to live in America now?
- I don't think there's any way to compare the two.
So, on the roof upstairs, we used to get up there,
and we would fly kites, and we would have contests
with neighbors to see who could use the string
to cut down a neighbor's kite,
and those were called kite fights.
Smaller kids played cricket in this part of the park,
and then the larger kids played cricket in this park.
There used to be a bush, and I jumped in the bush one day,
and inside the bush was a bees' nest,
and I started screaming (speaking in Hindi)
which means I'm dying.
- Seeing everything has made me
just so much more thankful and grateful
for my grandfather and everything that he did.
There are so many things that happen in the city
that it's really overwhelming for like my stimulus.
Yeah.
I think know now like where I get
my hustle from because this city does not stop.
Tomorrow, we are going to Haridwar
to the river Ganges to deposit
my grandfather's ashes into the river
and I think that's gonna be like pretty intense.
I am so thankful that I can be here
to honor my grandfather that way.
I already feel like I'm changed
after just one day.
(acoustic music)