Page 16 - Seniors Today October 2020

Ranjana Martinez – The Muse
Letter from White House to Ranjana Martinez
Ranjana and Carlos Martinez
Ranjana and Charlie - Now
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has made San Antonio, Texas her home. An
Ranjana and Charlie - Then
Ranjana Martinez’ multi-faceted background,
rich in genealogy, boasts of father Col Priya
Ranjan Adhikari of the 3/5th Gurkhas, later
Assam Rifles, and Meena Adhikari (nurse
and captain in the British Army). After
finishing Grad School and while working for
Air India, she met her future husband Carlos
Ruben Jorge Martinez, an anaesthesiologist
from Argentina. She married him and moved
to the US, where she was happy making a
home for their family.
Most immigrants have success stories of
career achievements but Ranjana has created
her own legacy because of her compassionate
nature. A chance meeting with a young fellow
named Barry, her encouraging words asking
him to reach beyond the stars coined the now
famous phrase, “Yes we can!” This, the 44th
President of the United States Barack (Barry)
Obama achieved and in one of his speeches
alluded to Ranjana’s pep talk that motivated
him into community service, law, and politics.
Ranjana is the proud recipient of a letter from
the White House which Obama wrote to her
during his Presidency.
Having lost her husband a few years ago,
she is thankful for her son Carlos Ranjan
(Charlie) who is doing his third year of
residency in Plastic Surgery. Although she is
an engineer with a degree from NIT, she has
immersed herself in community service and
NRI with an ancestry who believed in ‘desh ki
sewa’, with roots firmly entrenched in the US,
she believes in service to the needy.
Samarth and Neha Mod – New Age
Techies
RBC Award Winner
Sam and Neha at a New Year Party
Samarth, born in Chhindwara, MP, India, was
raised in Bhopal and earned his Bachelor of
IT at SGSITS, Indore, MP, India. He migrated
to Canada in 2013 after receiving an entrance
scholarship to the University of Victoria’s
MBA programme. Armed with a do-or-die
attitude, a friend/business partner Rohit
Boolchandani and a mentoring professor,
Samarth who goes by the abbreviated name
‘Sam’ started dabbling in a startup. He
remembers facing many challenges that
included cultural barriers but with the help
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #16 | OCTOBER 2020
TIA Award Sam with partner Rohit Boolchandani
of an investor he successfully launched
FreshWorks, an application Development
company. What started with just two people
grew into a company that employs seventy in
the span of less than five years. Freshworks is
now recognised as the Top Agile Application
Development studio in Canada. In 2019,
Sam won the coveted RBC Top 25 Canadian
Immigrant and Top Entrepreneur and was
named in the prestigious BC ranks of 30
under 30.
Sam is married to Neha Dubey, whom he
met in Indore. Neha chose to take a jump into
the abyss of his dreams, unsure of the future
ahead but with a strong conviction that faith
can move mountains. While continuing to
support Sam’s dreams, she carved a niche
for herself as a Business Analyst with the
Government of British Columbia, and they
have both made Canada their home for now.
They make up for the life they left behind by
surrounding themselves with food, frolic,
laughter, and fellow Indians.
These are the new age NRIs whose
geographical choices of home and hearth are
boundless.
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