From Fiji to Nebraska: Getting to know our neighbors

Did you vote in our Primary Election today? No complaining if you didn’t!

Sometime last year I dropped by the Quality Inn in McCook exploring room rates for an upcoming family (Trail) reunion. The motel had recently changed hands and I was privileged to meet the new owner. His name Satya Narayan (In our English version pronounced “sauté”). I found him to be a gregarious outgoing gentleman. I also noted a bit of an accent and asked where he had come from. I was intrigued by Satya’s answer which was Fiji. My thought; how in the world did a south Pacific Islander end up in our quiet little berg of Southwest Nebraska.

Several times since I have stopped by to visit after I had dropped my grandson off to work at the Surf’s Up Marina next door. It was a good timing as Satya would invite me to join with his guests in the breakfast dining area for a cup of coffee. The subject of aviation came up and several of his regular customers are also general aviation pilots and I find that Satya also wants to learn to fly. His daughter living back in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is presently in school learning to be a pilot.

Satya and his wife, Purnima Narayan, are both naturalized citizens of the United States. Around twenty-five years ago they immigrated from their native Fiji and found a home and work in Lynchburg, Virgina. In his words he immersed himself in the world of small businesses, focusing on gas stations, convenience and hotels additionally dabbled in dealing used cars and even had a hand in farming. Then in 2023 he discovered that the Quality Inn in McCook was up for sale so he purchased it and he and his wife moved to our community. The main shock was our weather which he describes as “less-than-ideal compared to what he was accustomed to in Virginia but found himself drawn to the charm of McCook.” To which I say welcome to our neighborhood.

Satya told me that he is ethnically of Indian heritage with ancestors born in India. In the 1800s Great Britain pretty much owned the world with possessions in far flung places throughout the Pacific Ocean. Around the year 1850 at least one of Satya’s ancestors signed an indentured servant agreement to be provided transportation from India to Fiji and labor there for five years on a sugar plantation. At the end of the five years those laborers were free to stay in Fiji or return to their former home in India. Obviously his forbearers stayed in Fiji. A more modern day Satya, married with family looked at the future in his birth homeland and decided that future possibilities looked much better in America hence the decision to immigrate to Virginia and a fresh start.

A little bit of history that you were probably taught in high school. The indentured servant program had a great impact on populating the America that we know today.

We were a colony of Great Britian and some 300,000 individuals from Europe took advantage of the system to be transported to the American Colonies and work for five years then stay here if they desired. Of course that program came to an end when America declared their independence in the late 18th century.

So for your old columnist getting to know Mr. Narayan has been an interesting experience that I’m happy to share. Whenever I stop by our conversations are lively and delightful especially now that he has decided to learn to fly. Possibly flying will provide him easier transportation to and from Mount Pleasant, Iowa where he has recently acquired another member of the Quality Inn and Suites chain of motels. The Mount Pleasant motel is managed by their son – surprise! Also he may just be trying to keep pace with his student pilot daughter. Either way I wish him luck.

Our relationship has recently taken another twist as he introduced me to a computer program that uses AI, artificial intelligence, for writing.

It will be a challenge for my mind and probably will cost a few $$$ but what the heck I am up to the challenge. Like my daughter says, “He isn’t dead yet!”

That is how I saw it.

Dick Trail