FOLIO
Pushpa Devi was featured in a “Folio” cover story from November 1994, where she told her story about her traumatic childhood experience about being adopted and taken to the U.S. from her home in Calcutta (Kolkata), India. We reached out to Pushpa to catch up since the last time we spoke to her almost 20 years ago.
FOLIO: In the 1994 cover story, you mentioned two differing stories about how you were adopted. Do you now fully believe you know everything that happened?
PUSHPA DEVI: I am still unsure of the answers. I have had some interactions with my mother that make me question her honesty. I also believe my adoptive parents did not have any idea of what may have actually happened. The actual truth is still a mystery to me.
FOLIO: Has your perception of the situation changed since the 1994 story?
PD: Absolutely. I had a long-term relationship with my mother and brought her here to visit. After she was here for three days, my friend who could speak the language with my mother told me that my mother was either on drugs or had a mental sickness. Unfortunately, I had to send her home after being here only a few days. We have not talked since then. That was in 2015. I honestly don’t know what the truth is, but I am OK with not knowing at this point.
FOLIO: What is your relationship with your birth mother now?
PD: I do not communicate with her but I do talk with my sister and nieces. I found out my mother is verbally abusive to my sister, and now my sister has very little to do with her either. I am not sure that she even told me the truth at this point.
FOLIO: What is your relationship with your adoptive family?
PD: My parents and brother whom I had a relationship with have all passed away. My sisters are still alive, but I have no relationship with them. I grew to be really close to my mother before she passed. I was always close to my dad.
FOLIO: What has the last 20 years taught you?
PD: To find the beauty in all things that feel horrible and are traumatic. There is a reason for all that we go through. We just have a hard time seeing it at the moment. My journey has been full of healing and getting to my own soul’s mission. This path taught me to find the nuggets of empowering insights to healing.
FOLIO: Do you believe the cover story from 1994 told the whole story?
PD: At the time that was all we knew, and it was close to the whole story.
FOLIO: Was there anything left unsaid in the cover story?
PD: I would say there was not a whole lot about my adoptive parents and who they really were.
FOLIO: Is there anything else you have to say to our readers?
PD: Just that life is a series of events that we don’t always understand but may be quick to judge. Allow time and space to let yourself grow out of your own mire. Even though we go through very traumatic events in our lives, and we think we can only be survivors we actually can thrive out of it. I healed everything with my adoptive parents before they passed away. I have also grown to really be grateful for the life they gave me. I would not want to go back and live a life in Calcutta. I have no regrets.
Devi also just released a new book called The Lucky Lotus, if you want to check out more about her book and what she does now, you can click the link below to go straight to her website.
https://www.authorpushpadevi.com
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