By Raakhee Mirchandani for Elle Magazine

Like so many of us, my American story is an immigrant one. My dad, came to this country eager to try his luck; my mom came as a brand new bride, unsure of a new land where she neither looked nor sounded like her neighbors. Their story has a happy ending: from Bombay to the 'burbs of New Jersey, kids, houses, Sunday temple trips followed by pizza nights.