Vimal Kothari arrived in Houston from Bombay in 1979 to work on an MS in electrical engineering at the University of Houston, which he completed in 1981. In 1988 he founded Sytel, Inc., a now mid-sized company that builds industrial computers for sale in the US and Canada. His three children attended private schools in Houston and the family has lived in the suburbs for several years. In the interview, Mr. Kothari recollects childhood interactions between his family and Britishers in India, changing rates of safety in the city of Houston, spirituality, and discrimination.