From India to ‘at home’ in Superior

By Molly Ovenden

"I’man immigrant person who is super happy here. I lack nothing,” Sarojini Sharma said.

Sharma, 56, was born in India in the state of Punjab, city of Ludhiana. In 1993, Sharma traveled to America via Milwaukee before settling in Superior, Wisconsin, in 2002.

It was her medical profession which made it easier to move.

Why medicine?

Sharma’s education didn’t start in medicine, but engineering.

“When I was little in India, I was good at maths and physics,” Sharma said.

Several family members were engineers, so she pursued that field, but only for two weeks. Her aunt told her to study medicine, instead, so she did.

When choosing between family practice, which specializes in younger, often healthier patients, or internal medicine with adult patients, including more complex issues with the elderly, it was easy to choose internal medicine.

“No surgeries!” Sharma said.

She loves practicing medicine, researching to help her diagnose patients. Sharma believes God prompted her and gave her the innate ability and energy to practice medicine.

Even coming from a middle class Indian family, pursuing higher education is necessary.

Attending college is, Sharma said, “(an) attempt to climb out of poverty.”

Because education is so highly valued, Sharma said everyone years,” Sharma said.

She gave up her Indian citizenship to become American. Dual citizenship isn’t possible, but this was fine with Sharma.

She’d been in an abusive arranged marriage, and got divorced, feeling ashamed.

“I really don’t miss India because I attach it to that severe trauma I had,” Sharma said.

She actually prayed that she could go somewhere far away from India. That’s when she found an opportunity in Wisconsin.

English is a standard subject of Indian primary education. All of medical school is taught entirely in English, too, so the language and her training made moving easy.

Sharma was already practicing internal medicine in India. When she came to America, the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) assessed her ability to practice medicine as a licensed physician in the United States of America.

“We have to take repeat boards every so often to keep up to date with guidelines,” Sharma said.

She did an internal medicine residency in Milwaukee before

Continued on page 16 her current role started through Essentia. Prioritizing family, furry and otherwise

Sharma wanted to sponsor her family to emigrate to America, too, so the decision to revoke her Indian citizenship was a practical one. She became a citizen, then sponsored her family. It was a long but worthwhile process. Sharma’s mom and sister moved to America in 2018 to live with her. Her other sister and her children also live nearby.

Sharma has two fur babies in her family, too. Xena, a mini pinscher, and Enu, a Chihuahua shiatsu mix, who came from Texas only seven days before Sharma’s father passed away.

“(Enu) was such a beautiful comfort,” Sharma said.

Sharma said Xena (or “Gattu,” her Indian name meaning “plumpy”) is her princess warrior.

Sharma sits with Enu to make sure he eats.

“He is such a prince,” Sharma laughed. “He’s spoiled to the core!”

Language

Sharma’s home is full of joy, food, and multiple languages, even with her dogs.

“They are both bilingual!” she laughed.

With her sister and mom, they use a mixture of English and Punjabi. Many people in India speak English because of the historic British colonization.

Coming to the USA, one of the cultural issues she faced is, “they can’t seem to say my name right,” Sharma said.

But, she’s not offended. She lets people call her Sarah because it’s easier to understand, although her name, Sarojini is pronounced with a long, accented “o.”

“My patients find my last name easy, so Dr. Sharma is good,” she said.

Religion

Raised in a Hindu family, Sharma’s love of reading changed her life.

“I was, like, 22 years of age and I always loved to read and there was a Christian magazine,” she said, that she found while she was a student.

There were Bible verses at the end of the magazine. She got a Bible for herself and while reading it, Sharma said God spoke to her.

“I found one true God,” she said. This is significant, “because in India there are many gods.”

Because of her unhappiness from her marriage, her choice of religion was allowed.

She remembered her dad saying, “Let her do what she wants to do.”

Food

Hospitality is a way of life for Sharma and her family. They make sure their guests are well fed, offering chai and plenty of food.

“We don’t eat meat at all,” Sharma said, but roti, roasted potato and cauliflower, and lentils are her favorites.

With access to online Indian grocery stores, Sharma and her family are able to order pretty much any Indian food they’d like.

Healing from trauma and burnout

When she came to America, Sharma found her identity and worth in her work. She said she believed lies about herself, that something was wrong with her and that she wasn’t worthy of love and belonging. She kept everyone at a distance.

“I couldn’t give or receive love,” Sharma said.

With workaholic tendencies, she suffered burnout.

“Since I had suppressed all my unhealed wounds,” she said, she still felt a lot of shame.

“Now my focus is in transformation and soul care,” Sharma said.

About eight years ago, she changed her schedule to work part time, which she said, “is more conducive to soul care.”

She walks with Enu and Xena and enjoys views of Lake Superior. She attributes her healing and self-worth to God.

When asked what she wished people knew about her, Sharma said, “I would rather they knew Jesus…that would get them someplace.” D