Tag Archives: Transplanted

TRANSPLANTED From 110 Degrees in the Shade to 10 Degrees Below Zero in the Sun Book Review

For my blog this week I have a GUEST BLOG. It is a book review by Dr. Roy Thomas.

‘TRANSPLANTED From 110 Degrees in the Shade to 10 Degrees Below Zero in the Sun’ is a moving, well-crafted and poignant memoir by Dr. Shakuntala Rajagopal, who as a 26 years old immigrant physician from the tropical South Indian state of Kerala, came to the cold freezing wintery city of Chicago in 1964. In this book she recounts the important events in her life in America, and show us how by hard work and perseverance, she has become what she is today.

Author Shakuntala Rajagopal
Author Shakuntala Rajagopal

Shakuntala is a multifaceted personality, and besides being a distinguished physician in her field of pathology, she is a gifted writer, a good oil painting Artist, and an organizer of several community organizations. She is also a past president of the Association of Kerala medical graduates in America. In this exquisitely inspiring memoir, she describes how she got adjusted to the new country, the strange foods, new clothes, and the new American English which was different from the English of the English she learned in India. Still she is excelled in many fields, while being a dedicated wife, a loving mother, a grandmother, and the beloved matriarch of her family of 52 members in the Chicagoland. Her beloved husband, Dr. Rajagopal, a gastroenterologist, left for his eternal abode after 47 years of their marriage. Dr. Shakuntala still continues to pursue her passion in writing, painting, gardening and many other community activities. She is affectionately called ‘Shaku’ by her friends and it has been my great privilege to be a close family friend of Dr. Shakuntala Rajagopal over several years.

In this book, Dr. Shakuntala, who is affectionately called ‘Shaku’ by her friends, weaves an unforgettable account of her life as an immigrant Indian physician in America, and it is very encouraging and inspiring reading for the new generations of immigrants, especially physicians from the subcontinent of India.

Book available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and online bookstores
Dr. Roy P Thomas

Good Friends

June 3rd, 2015
A week ago I had the good fortune to spend some time with my classmate from Kindergarten and High School, Ambika Sukumaran. She was an actress, a renowned movie star in Malayalam movies, (Malayalam is Mother tongue). Ambika acted in many award winning movies and was heroine to some famous actors in the sixties and seventies.
We reminisced of our time at the Holy Angels’ Convent High School and laughed at how naïve we were when we came to the U.S.A. We talked about all the years in between when we did not see each other for forty two years, yet we were comfortable sharing stories of our life, of our children and best of all about our grandchildren. We promised to do this again, soon.
I have been told not to be stuck in the past.For the memoirist that I am the past stories did not get me stuck in any place, rather gave me one more stepping stone to write about a few more characters from my past.
A double bonus from a rekindled friendship.
Shakuntala.