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Show SUU THIS SUMMER• SOUTHERN Uf.t\.11 UNIVERSITY• MONDAY, JULY 11, 1994 . ' THE CAMPUS 5 Moortys continue on path to American Dream ., s. BY JOHN McCLOSKEY S. Moorty and his wife Lakshmi have come a long way in pursuing awarded the EF Ambassador Tour scholarship to tour the U.S. and Europe, their dreams in the United States. He is a professor of English at absolutely free. She was awarded the scholarship in recognition of her entry, "My Contribution and Change" for world peace. SUU with a P.h.D. from the University of Utah. She also teaches at After returning from the tour, Neela will be one of 50 11th and 12th grade SUU-as a part-time math instructor-and she earned her master's at the U. Though they both earned their degrees in the state of Utah, they hail all the Utah high school students to attend the prestigious Governor's Honors way from India, where they were both born and raised in the culture they are so Academy. Neela has even been awarded the "Young Achievers Award" from Gov. Michael 0. Leavitt. very proud of. Their great pride in the Indian culture can be seen through the eyes of their 16-year-old daughter Neela and 21-year-old son Naresh. Their son Naresh has also received awards, and according to his father, Naresh has always had dreams of succeeding in America, the country he has spent his Neela is one of 50 high school students selected from 1,000 applicants to represent Utah on the 1994 EF Ambassador Tour of the U.S. and Europe. During entire life. her 10-day tour, Neela hopes to promote "an international understanding" of her Naresh had a remarkable December of 1987. He received his eagle scout award by attending the Boy Scout program through Cedar City's 19th ward of the LOS culture. One way to accomplish this understanding will be by performing the Indian classical dance that she has been perfonning since the age of nine. church. He also turned 15 in December of '87, and immediately thereafter he With the strong support of her went to Australia for the World Scout Jamboree. parents, Neela has been learning He is currently attending SUU her culture through the classical as a pre-medical student with dances of India. Neela says 95 hopes of becoming a doctor. percent of the knowledge she has about her Hindu religion, she has .::=====-__:_;~;:;;:;;;;;:==~~::;:::5 Naresh has a big climb ahead of him but his determination can be learned through her dancing. seen through his hobby of rock "Like any other discipline, climbing, a sport he devotes a lot [dancing] has taught me the value of his free time to. of hard work," says Neela. "It S.S. Moorty and his wife has taught me about my Indian Lakshmi have indeed come a culture. It has enriched my life long way in pursuing their and gotten me places I never dreams in the U.S. and their thought I'd be." daughter has been a major part of Lakshmi says despite being those dreams. difficult and strenuous, her For Lakshmi, her dream of daughter enjoys dancing. "It is a dancing when she was a girl did rigorous daily effort," says not eventuate, but her dreams are Lakshmi. "She wants to dance coming true through her more. We didn't have to stress daughter's love of the important the importance of daily Indian cultural dances. She is practice." happy as a math instructor, but The long hours of work and says, "I like to divorce myself practice have definitely been a from the way I make my living." part of Neela's life, but her She does this by knitting dancing has also put somewhat sweaters and performing the of a strain on her parents. Neela's "gentle arts" of hand smoking father has lived in Cedar City for and lace knitting. 19 years, while her mother has Lakshmi wants to turn her lived here for 16. Neela and knowledge of these hobbies into Lakshmi spent three years in Los a possible book and maybe even Angeles where Neela learned her begin a private business. She also Indian culture and dance style The Moorty family prepares for Neela's European trip this month. likes gardening and sewing and from her instructor and role has a philosophy about the way · model Viji Prakash. The Indian culture is not as prevalent in Cedar as it is in other areas, including she has lived her life compared to others. "Many people put their eggs all in one basket. I put my eggs into five different baskets," she says. "I like to do what California. So, for three years Lakshmi taught at two colleges to support herself comes my way." This includes being the president of the East Elementary and her daughter. And, even when the two returned to Cedar City, every other School Parent Teachers Association and a number of volunteer organizations week the two would make the trip to Los Angeles-more than 1,000 miles and commitments. total-so that Neela could enhance her dancing skills and further her cultural For S.S. Moorty, many of his dreams and goals have already come true. He has education. Living away from her husband and making the long trips so often was not easy published several works of literature and presented several scholarly papers at professional meetings. He has received dozens of awards for his literature and on Lakshmi, but she feels it was important and it was a sacrifice she freely his contributions to teaching. accepted. "I've always put my family, and my children's cultural interests first He was awarded the Distinguished College Teaching Award of the Utah and my career second. Now we are starting to reap the fruit of the conflict we Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters. He also earned the Distinguished Faculty had," Lakshmi explains. Honor Lecture Award, the Distinguished Scholarly Article by SUU Faculty and The conflict she speaks of is the lack of the Indian identity in Cedar. Lakshmi he was a Senior Fulbright Lecturer in English. says it is important for Neela to know her own culture. "She is not a native of More recently, S.S. Moorty has won first prize in the TANA (Telugu America or of India, she is an Indian American. [In Cedar City] we do not have Association of North Americal Patrika Adult Essay Contest, an award he also an identity." received in August, 1992. The fruits of Neela's hard work are evident in abundance, largely in part from Moorty plans to produce a piece of non-fiction work he will be concentrating her mother's efforts to make it all possible. Neela has performed her Indian on during a sabbatical leave in the fall of '94. He will also conduct research on a dances in several states. She has performed at the World Telugu Conference in new class called Eastern Thought, which he will teach when he returns. He also New York City, and, during her tour of Europe, she will dance in Geneva, hopes to someday publish a book of poetry he has written over the years. Switzerland. For Neela, her dreams are to attend medical school and become a physician. It has not been her dancing alone that has allowed Neela to enjoy such success She says she enjoys helping people and sharing her culture. She wants to "see at an early age. She is currently a 4.0 student at Cedar High and was one of three the world" and she is certainly on her way. For now she'll have to settle for the girls selected from Cedar to attend Girls' State activities at SUU in early June. cultures and governments of Europe as she enjoys the fruit of her work on her She is the president of Key Club, a service club of Cedar High. During the tour. Utah-Idaho District Convention, She presented Bharatanatyarn, an Indian For the Moorty family, dreams and goals have started in India, been realized in classical dance, and was awarded first prize for talent. America, and will continue to be realized for a long time to come. Her most recent and outstanding accomplishment came when she was |