As the Ganga Flows: An American Saga of Family Legacy Rooted in Faith, Sacrifice, and Struggles
- Family love is priceless. Its roots are strong, and from them grow branches of affection and support. The memories and experiences of the ancestors of the Malsa Rai family inspire us to move forward on our life’s journey.
We are grateful
to our departed family members,
every moment, every instant.
We bow to the land and air of Malsa,
and to those great souls
from whom our lives have emerged.
Our prayer to our departed ancestors:
We surrender our hearts and souls to you.
We surrender even our pride.
Now shape us as you wish,
for we are your entrusted responsibility.
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This opening excerpt of our family book, authored by my Bhua ji, Dr. Sarita Rai, chronicles the legacy of our ancestors. It represents more than four hundred family members across six branches, rooted in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh.
Our ancestral origins trace back to Kashi (Benaras)—the eternal city, the spiritual center of Dharma, and the sacred home of the River Ganga. This is the land shaped by saints and visionaries such as Sant Kabir Das, Tulsidas, Adi Shankaracharya, who re-established Sanatan Dharma, and Swami Vivekananda, whose teachings carried India’s spiritual wisdom to the world.
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Sacrifice and Freedom
Our lineage is defined not only by spirituality, but by sacrifice.
My Bhua ji’s father-in-law, the late Dr. Shivpujan Rai, along with eight of his comrades—remembered as the Aastha Shaheed—gave their lives at a young age while raising the Indian tricolor in Mohammadabad, Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, during the struggle for independence from British rule. These men are unsung heroes from whom we descend.
Our family’s contribution to freedom began with resistance—through lives laid down so that future generations of our motherland could live with dignity and self-determination.
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A Journey Across Continents
In 1964, Dr. Vijai Narayan Rai, the fourth of six siblings, became a pioneer for our family when he boarded a plane and became the first in our lineage to set foot on United States soil. His journey set an enduring example—toward education, self-reliance, independence, and contribution to the collective betterment of our family.
Yet his path was not without struggle.
The Civil Rights Movement reshaped America, but its impact extended beyond black and white communities. Immigrants from India—brown-skinned and often highly educated—also faced discrimination and exclusion. Despite his highly qualified background in geology, Dr. Vijai Rai encountered significant barriers in securing suitable employment.
Vijai Uncle launched an official complaint that was overseen by the EEOC, led by Dr. Joy Cherian, the first-ever Indian American appointed as Commissioner of the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by President Ronald Reagan in 1987. The judge hearing Dr. Vijai Rai’s case ruled in his favor, and he was granted an accelerated promotion within the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C.
Vijai Uncle fought persistently for equal opportunity, challenging bureaucracy within the U.S. federal government and ultimately earning his rightful advancement through resilience and integrity.
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Paying It Forward
Dr. Vijai Rai—affectionately known as Vijai Babuji—later brought my father, Vinod Kumar Rai, and my paternal grandmother, the late Smt. Nagita Devi Rai, to the United States.
In the same spirit of responsibility, my father paid that opportunity forward by calling his nephew Vijendra Rai (Berkeley, California) and Seema Rai (Irvine, California) to the United States, continuing a tradition of upliftment in the land of opportunity.
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The Matriarch
The Ganga
O Mother Ganga, you flow eternal,
carrying within you the faith of countless ages.
On your banks, sins dissolve into silence,
and weary souls find peace.
You are not merely water—
you are prayer in motion,
you are salvation made visible.
From the locks of Shiva you descended,
purifying earth with your touch.
Kings, saints, and the ordinary alike
bow before your sacred current.
In Kashi, your embrace grants liberation;
in death, you promise freedom from rebirth.
Those who surrender to you
cross beyond suffering.
O Ganga, mother of life and death alike,
keep us anchored to dharma,
cleanse our hearts as you cleanse the land,
and carry our ancestors gently home
“Ganga Behti Hain Kyun” — Bhupen Hazarika
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Nagita Devi Rai (1915–1999)—my Dadi, lovingly called Ajiya in Bhojpuri—was the matriarch of our family.
She gave birth to seven children, and from my birth until the age of thirteen, she raised me. A woman of orthodox Brahmin Hindu faith, her discipline, devotion, and spiritual certainty shaped my earliest understanding of the world. Through her, the voices of our ancestors were not stories—they were a daily presence.
As I grew, I became aware that I was not merely living my own life, but carrying forward a legacy that had crossed villages, rivers, oceans, and generations.
We honor her not only for the children she bore, but for the generations she shaped, the faith she carried across continents, and the spiritual compass she left behind.
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My Continuation
I am Gita Rai, born in the United States, into a lineage shaped by sacrifice, migration, faith, and resilience. The stories of my ancestors are not distant history—they lived beside me, raised me, shaped my values, and guided my steps long before I understood their weight.
This is where my own story begins—
not separate from theirs,
but as a continuation of it.
Gita Rai is a Bay Area–based Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, who loves dogs and spending quality time with her family. She brings warmth, compassion, and a global perspective to both her personal life and professional work.