Work in Progress

As a teenager, Malti was extremely gifted at math and science.  During exam time, the sisters had to sit quietly in one room to study, but Malti always finished early and would secretly read Gujarati novels hidden inside her English textbook.  Her desire was to become an engineer like her father, and he said they would base her career path on her entry exam results.  Probably surpassing even her father's expectations, Malti scored First Class With Distinction (a very high academic honor) in all subjects and would have easily qualified for engineering college.  However, with engineering still being a highly male-dominated field in the 1950s, her father was not keen on sending her to do field work and crushed her dream of becoming an engineer.  Instead, she went on to become a physicist.  Malti accepted her father's decision, but always spoke of it.

To her father, Malti was like the son he never had.  They shared a very special relationship that none of the other sisters had and he would often take her along to repair his investment properties and discuss financial matters.  Malti's sisters recalled that she could get away with almost anything and leave the house to see her friends on short notice with no questions asked, which was definitely not the case with the others.  

After earning her master's degree in physics, Malti taught at Wilson College in Mumbai for 8 years.  There she made many lifelong friends with fellow professors and even students - which is probably not surprising to those who knew her as a teacher in America.  In 1970, Malti with the sponsorship of her brother-in-law Mahesh and sister Bharti in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania qualified for a coveted American visa and emigrated to where else except the largest metropolis in the country, New York City.  There, Malti studied for a PhD in physics and did research at Fordham University in The Bronx.  Even then, The Bronx wasn't considered safe, but Malti had no fear and walked to campus wearing the traditional Indian sari (as she continued to do everyday until she became sick in 2008).  She recalled the generosity of her Italian-American neighbor who frequently checked up on her, and that was more than she could ask for.

Malti returned to India in 1972 thinking she may move back permanently to help take care of her mother (her father passed away in 1965 due to cerebral hemorrhage).  However, her sister Taruna had the situation under control and Malti was able to come back to the U.S.A. and resume her post-graduate studies.

Malti was born in a small town and former princely state called Rajpipla in the state of Gujarat, India in February 1940 to father Ramanlal Parikh and mother Bhanumati (Munshi) Parikh.  She was the fourth of 8 sisters - Usha, Aruna, Taruna, Malti, Rohini, Bharti, Jayshree, and Neelam.  Sadly, the youngest Parikh sister Neelam suddenly passed away at the age of 15 due to bacterial meningitis.  So for 50 years, Malti was the middle of 7 sisters.

When Malti was 3 months old her father, a successful engineer, moved the family to a multi-story bungalow on Walkeshwar Road in the bustling metropolis of Mumbai, India - then still known as Bombay.  Apparently Malti was a curious child and shared that when she was about 3 years old she sniffed a mothball a little too hard, it got stuck up her nose, and had to be carefully removed by a doctor.  She also once peeked her head just a little too far through the lattice patterned verandah overlooking busy Walkeshwar Road and it got stuck.  Her parents had to call for help in order to safely bring her head back through.

Malti often shared memories from growing up in Mumbai such as going on family outings with the entire clan packed in their Opal automobile (cars were a luxury back then) and daily walks along the sands of nearby Chowpatty Beach with the whole family, where they relaxed and sometimes indulged in beachside snacks such as the famous savory Chowpatty bhel puri.