Page 20 - The Indian EYE 071026

The Indian Eye
COMING TO AMERICA 20
JULY 10, 2026
THE PROMISE THAT

CHANGED MY LIFE

ARON GOVIL giant Zscaler, grew up in a village with
no electricity or running water. Today,
s America celebrates its 250th eleven Fortune 500 companies are
birthday, I find myself reflect- led by CEOs of Indian heritage, over-
Aing on a question that is both seeing enterprises worth more than
deeply personal and profoundly na- $6.5 trillion combined. Their success
tional: What truly defines the United reflects not only individual talent but
States after two and a half centuries? also America’s extraordinary ability to
For me, the answer is opportu- attract talent from around the world.
nity. Not guaranteed success, but the That is the genius of this America.
opportunity to earn it. I know because Not its wealth, not its military, not even
I lived it. its Constitution in the abstract — but
In the early 1970s, I stepped off a its willingness to let a stranger become
plane in New York as a fourteen-year- a builder. Yet as we celebrate 250 years
old boy, because my father, a mathe- of American independence, I think
matics teacher, had taken a teaching about how this calculus is changing.
post here. I did not come with wealth, When I left India in 1970, opportunity
influence, or guarantees. Like many there was scarce; America was where
immigrants, I came with uncertainty ambition went to find oxygen. That is
- and with faith that in America, ef- no longer so simple. India today has
fort could become opportunity. Like more than 70 unicorn startups worth
countless immigrants before us, we over $300 billion, young founders are
came with hopes that exceeded our building billion-dollar companies in
resources and dreams that exceeded their twenties. A brilliant young engi-
our circumstances. neer in Bengaluru now has choices my
When I entered an American generation never dreamed of.
high school in New York, I could not That is good news for India. But
have imagined where my journey it also means the United States can
would lead. America did not promise For 250 years, America has al- termination matter more than where no longer assume that the world’s
me success. It promised me a fair shot ways been a magnet for people will- you were born. most driven people will always choose
at earning it. America gave me access ing to work hard, take risks, and build My own experience is only one America automatically.
to excellent public education, world- something larger than themselves. example among millions. What hum- America’s greatest resource has
class universities, and an economy that Throughout its history, immigrants bles me is how much company I have. never been oil, land, or military power.
rewarded hard work, initiative, and have arrived from every continent car- The man running Microsoft, Satya Its greatest resource has been its abili-
risk-taking. I graduated as a chemical rying different languages, religions, Nadella, arrived as a student. Sundar ty to attract the most ambitious people
engineer, worked grueling round-the- and customs. Yet generation after gen- Pichai, who leads Google, grew up in on earth and allow them to thrive.
clock shifts at a chemical plant in Del- eration, they have shared a common Chennai sleeping in a living room. Jay If that openness diminishes,
aware, and earned an MBA at night. belief: that in America, talent and de- Chaudhry, who built the cybersecurity America risks losing something far
After five years I started my own more valuable than immigrants. It risks
company from scratch, but my journey losing the innovative spirit that helped
was not a straight line. It involved long make it the world’s leading economic
hours, financial pressure, setbacks, power. If we ever decide that the immi-
and the kind of struggle that many grant is a burden rather than a builder
immigrants know well but rarely ad- — if we slam shut the door that once
vertise. There were moments when opened for a fourteen-year-old boy —
success seemed distant and even im- we will not be protecting American
probable. Over time, through hard greatness. We will be quietly surren-
work, family support, resilience, and dering the very qualities that defined
the opportunities this country made the first 250 years: openness, opti-
available, I built a business that grew mism, meritocracy, and opportunity.
from a one-man operation into a glob- The true measure of America at
al enterprise generating hundreds of 250 is not what it has already achieved,
millions of dollars in revenue, employ- but whether the most talented and de-
ing hundreds of people, and serving termined people in the world still look
customers around the world. to its shores and believe their best fu-
This is not a story about personal ture is possible here.
achievement. It is a story about what I hope they do. And I hope Amer-
America made possible. ica continues to deserve that belief.

www.TheIndianEYE.com