Memories of My Future: Trauma, Resilience & Finding Purpose | with Special Guest- Dr. Sinha, M.D.
Dr. Anil Sinha, a Houston-based physician and co-author of Memories of My Future, traces his life’s purpose to childhood lessons from Hindu ancestral texts like the Bhagavad Gita and Mahabharata, learned in a rural Indian village where Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and Jews thrived together. After immigrating in 1971, he overcame cultural barriers through education, inspired by a fifth-grade teacher’s guidance, and pivoted from engineering to medicine after witnessing preventable suffering. His book, published a decade ago with Muslim collaborator Amar Habib, champions interfaith unity, countering divisive narratives while critiquing systemic greed as the root of societal cycles—progress followed by decline—underscoring resilience over imposed morality. [Automatically generated summary]
Hello, everybody, and thank you for tuning in to this special report, the Ron Paul Liberty Report.
Today, we have a very special guest, a friend of mine who has practiced medicine here in Lake Jackson, but he's also an author.
And we have authors, and they write a lot of books, and they do a lot of medical writings.
I'm sure Dr. Sinhal has done that.
But this doctor happens to have written a novel, which was fascinating.
So, we're very glad that he's with us today.
His name is Anil Sinhal.
He's practicing medicine even currently in Lake Jackson.
Anil, welcome to our program.
Thank you, sir.
We're glad to have you here.
Now, I want to put up your book that you have published so the audience can see this.
And the title, I think as soon as I finish the introduction, I want you to tell me where you got that title.
And there it is, Memories of My Future.
It's fascinating.
And that is something that when I came across this and looked at it, I looked at the introduction.
And Neil, you know, the thing that really fascinated me because I'm into politics a little bit.
So, you know, and it was the message in your introductory message.
The message, I think, that you indicated you'd like to get from people to understand from the book.
That's always important.
And to me, it was very freedom-oriented, individualism.
He says, the message is of that of harmony, peace, and tolerance.
And I imagine the country of India offers you opportunities for that because you both spent a few years in India and quite a few years here in the United States.
So tell us how you came up with the title.
First, the title was based on the fact that when I was young, before I came to this country, I spent a lot of time with my grandfather, and he would tell me stories about our ancestors, and he would also tell me stories about Hinduism with the Bhagavad Gita and the Mahabharata, which are mythological stories that teach human values.
And as he would tell the stories, I found little pearls in each of those stories that I've utilized in my life as I've gone through the challenges that accompany us through our journey.
And each one of those times I go backwards.
So the memories of the future is a reflection of having learned from our past.
And it was actually my brother-in-law that read the outline when we were writing the novel, that read it, and he said, this is memories of your future.
And so that's originally where the title came from, but it's basically a reflection of the conversations between myself and my grandfather and the lessons learned there.
Well, I'm also fascinated with trying to bring people together, politically speaking.
And also, that always involves religious beliefs, too, bringing people together.
Now, your co-author happens to be you're Hindu, but he's a Muslim.
That is correct.
See, that's fascinating because as I understand history, there's been these coalitions, and sometimes they're good, and sometimes they're bad.
There's been times when Christians and Jews did quite well with each other, and then there are times they're killing each other.
And that always bothers me.
I try to understand it.
But I just Happen to get down and thinking about this.
I find out that it's the introduction of government sometimes that introduces some of our problems.
And that when people, if your next-door neighbor is so-and-so, don't we usually get along with our neighbors?
And but when the third party, the outsider, comes in and says, We're going to make good people out of you, all of a sudden we end up with a mess.
I agree.
I think the people, I grew up in a village in India, and we had adjacent villages that had Muslims there.
And we also had Christians and Jews not near our villages, but in that same state.
So, and we worked together, we lived together, we shared common goals, we shared common resources, we would trade with each other.
So, but once you get away from that communal society and you get into the political society, that's where division starts.
And division starts because what we are taught that this is our entitlement.
And when there's a battle for resources, that's where I see the problem arising.
Recalling Houston00:04:02
And you left when you were about 10, right?
Yes, sir.
And I'm sure you remember that trip at the age of 10.
Did you come with a large family group?
My father actually was here about a year and a half prior to us coming.
And I was 10 years old.
I had three sisters that were younger than I, and then my mother.
So we traveled together.
My father came here, worked for a year and a half to save enough money for tickets and get our visas and all that in order.
And we came in 1971, which is 55 years ago.
And that's how we started our journey in this culture.
Did you ever have any other physicians in your family?
No, I'm the only one.
You're the only one.
Okay, tell me.
You have told me about it, but I think the audience would be interested.
You come over here, you're 10, and you probably can speak two languages or more.
So your education, your major education, had to occur in the United States.
Is that correct?
That is correct.
I did not speak English or write English until I got to this country.
Now, I'd like to store up a little controversy.
Why don't you tell us which college you went to and see if we have any supporters?
Well, I went to the best university in the planet, Texas AM.
I went to undergraduate and medical school there.
Medical school there?
Yes.
And I trained in my general surgery residency in Brooklyn and Long Island.
And that was in the early 90s.
Okay, then that's when you moved into Lake Jackson after that.
Yeah, after my residency, my parents were living in Houston, and I had a couple of sisters living in Houston.
So I wanted to be close to Houston, but not too close.
So I was looking at Beaumont, I was looking at Lake Jackson, I was looking at West Houston, and we had two surgeons here that were about to retire, Dr. Unity and Dr. Imperial.
So I thought there was opportunity great for me to begin my practice over here.
And as soon as I started, I got very busy and off to my journey.
So did you recall what it was that told you about Lake Jackson?
How did you hear about Lake Jackson?
When I was in high school and college, I used to come down to Surfside.
So I knew about Lake Jackson.
We used to go to the beach over here and hung out with friends and enjoyed this area prior to that.
But as I was in my interview process for opportunities around Houston, there was a surgeon in Lake Jackson that all of a sudden left.
I think it was Dr. Cotton and Leon Cotton.
And so they were short, one surgeon, and they really needed a surgeon badly.
So my recruiter that I was working with said, hey, you got time for one more interview.
And that's when I came down over here.
And Dr. Johnson and Dr. Giannoni were the ones that interviewed me.
And Wes Oswald was the CEO at the time.
Now, you have an interesting background on life and what you have done.
What was the biggest challenge for the challenge?
Because not too many people are born in India, live for 10 years, then come over here and go through and adapted, I would say, quite well.
You know, some people might have a struggle.
It seems to me that one advantage that a person like you might have had is you came from a country where people did speak English.
And was that a challenge at all?
What was your biggest challenge in getting used to the United States versus, I know you were only 10, but I bet you remember it.
Yes, my biggest challenge was first learning the language.
Challenges of Adaptation00:12:38
Second, being accepted by other kids.
The other kids would make fun of me and I was picked on just because I didn't speak the language.
I was unusual.
I didn't dress quite like them.
My parents did not know what the, you know, what the proper attire for a child that age was.
So they just went to the store, picked out something.
And I remember children making fun of me, the fact that I didn't dress right, I didn't speak right.
But I learned.
Actually, I had a teacher in fifth grade, Mr. Devanye, I remember him.
He told me, go to the library every Saturday.
I want you to read the Encyclopædia Britannica and study one state every week.
And so within a year and a half, I was able to study all 50 states.
And I would copy everything in the encyclopedia and draw the pictures.
And that was my homework for every Saturday.
So in a way, you were self-taught.
Well, but guided by a wonderful teacher.
So you remained in touch with him in a couple of years?
Up until I was in high school.
I think he passed away after that.
Yeah, I think a lot of people have that experience.
I certainly had one where a biology teacher in high school was a very good teacher and got me interested.
And then when I got to college, I had no idea what I wanted to do.
But I had to have a major.
So, oh, I did pretty well on biology.
So that's how I did it.
But it was sort of like an accident.
You know, I didn't have a long-term plan.
What about your planning?
What did you think?
Oh, I've always wanted to be a doctor since I was 10, or I got interested in medicine when I was 20.
When did you make it a story goes back to even before I was born?
Before I was born, I had two brothers, and they both passed away.
And the reason they passed away was, unfortunately, lack of medicine.
Because we were living in a village, my brothers became ill.
They went to see a doctor.
The doctor said you need IV fluids or antibiotics, but we didn't have any money.
And we would ask money from relatives.
They didn't have any money.
So basically, they died of dehydration from dysentery.
And when I was born in the Hindu culture, you know, males have a lot of pressure put on them because they're going to carry the family name.
So there was a lot of overprotection on my behalf.
It's actually an interesting story.
My family thought there was a curse on me on the family when I was born, so they sold me to my grandfather's brother symbolically so that I would not be affected by the curse on the family because as my two brothers had passed away, so they sold me for one rupee, which is like one dollar in Indian money.
And my nickname when I was young was Betua, which means the sold one.
And anyway, so that was the pressure of coming in.
And then I was originally an engineering major at Texas AM because my father was an engineer.
And however, I didn't like one class in engineering, and I was struggling with what to do with my life at that time.
So we traveled to India for a ceremony.
It's kind of like bar mitzvah in Judaism.
This is called Jane, where you get a holy string put on if you're a Brahmin in Hinduism.
And during that ceremony, I had to get some supplies and went to a small town.
And there was a commotion at the train platform.
Went over there, and there was a guy that had tried to commit suicide.
And he had jumped in front of the train, and both of his legs had been cut off.
And so people had picked him up, tied a tourniquet, and he was dying.
There were flies all around his wounds.
And I saw that.
And at that time, I wanted to help that person.
And at that time, I did not know what to do.
I did not have the knowledge.
I didn't have the training.
But I had the desire.
I had the passion that I wanted to do something and I couldn't do it.
And that left me with an emptiness.
And that left me with a desire to learn more and to do more.
And that's where I think my ambition to become a physician started.
Now, early on, you did say that it was a challenge because of just kids getting together and ridicule and all.
Did that last a long time?
Was it over religion or just because you were it was cultural differences?
It was over, I looked differently, I spoke differently.
I was very, very thin when I came to this country.
And it lasted probably into high school.
But by the end of high school, I had acclimated almost fully.
And that one teacher helped you too.
Yes.
That is pretty good.
Did you ever get involved in any sports?
I did.
I played basketball.
I played baseball.
I got hit in the eye running, sliding into second base, and I lost vision temporarily.
My father wouldn't let me play baseball.
Then I played basketball and I broke my collarbone.
And then he wouldn't let me play basketball.
So I ended up playing tennis and soccer.
So I always played some sort of sports.
Did you have children?
I have children.
Have they followed through in medical?
No, I have actually one daughter is a nurse and one other daughter is in public health and she has an MPH.
But the rest of the kids are their computer, telemarketing, and a lawyer.
So they have all different interests.
So when you made the decision to go to medical school, did you ever have thoughts that, well, maybe I'm not cut out for it?
Or are you pretty firm on your decision to get into medicine?
I was not a good student, to be honest.
I didn't have good grades in college, certain classes, not all.
I mean, I was in the honors program, but I did not know until I focused in on what I wanted to do.
I was kind of wandering around and making my adolescent mistakes that we all go through in the early parts of our life.
But once I focused, then yes, I knew that what I had to do.
Now, your book, and you've already mentioned that your grandfather had a big influence on you, and you have children.
Do you ever think about the generational thing about your grandfather here and you being influenced by him?
You see, I would think there'd be three generations that would be, you know, different in a lot of ways.
And how about your children?
Do you notice anything that they are totally, are they involved in knowing your history?
A little bit, not so much right now.
They have enough to do.
Yeah, they're busy in their own lives.
The grandchildren, I spend more time with the grandchildren than I do with the children now.
So we try to, they're more interested in their, you know, current things.
I think as they go through life, they'll think about what did grandfather have to go through.
I think that'll come later in their lives.
They're not quite there yet.
Well, there's one philosophic question that I want to touch baits with.
And if it's not your thing to talk about, I'm fascinated with the concept of natural law.
And if you go back in history, it's almost like it's an automatic that people aren't supposed to kill and aren't supposed to lie.
And you hint of this because we talk about this of different religions getting together.
But people get nervous about, well, if I do this, then I'm not a good Christian and this sort of thing.
But I think there's so much that brings people together.
And I think this is always fascinating to me to see that people of different religions and backgrounds can come together because I tell you what, I spend a lot of time trying to sort things out and give a little advice now and then on things like monetary policy and how do you treat your neighbor.
And I tell you what, we live under conditions that aren't super best.
So currently, do you have an opinion on how things are going compared?
Because you've had a lot of experience.
You know something about India.
You know something about getting education here.
If you're in the A ⁇ M, you know a little bit about militarism.
And do you think our conditions are, you have an optimistic opinion on what you write and talk about, but are you on that level of being optimistic or do you have some serious concerns about for you and your kids and for our country?
I have serious concerns.
I would love to see a very community in which everyone works together for a common goal.
But I think we are tainted by greed, to be honest with you.
I think at the end of the day, what divides us is we think we're entitled to more than others.
And what we don't realize is that we're in the same boat and we should all work together for the common goal.
And those goals that you speak of, I feel very enthusiastic about seeking those goals.
But But the place where a libertarian tries to draw a line is you can't use the armed force of government to make you a good person.
That's when I think we get into trouble, you know.
And I don't know whether you have an idea what I'm talking about.
I think it has to come from within.
I don't think that morality can be thrown at you.
It has to come in how you were raised and what values you were taught at an early age.
And I think that's very, very important.
And I think the family unit, the family structure is very important in kind of guiding the next generation into what's right and what's wrong.
And I think if you plant a tree and you give it water and sunshine and the nutrients, it will grow.
But it has to start from the beginning.
Right.
And do you think that conditions are going to get a lot worse?
Or I think I've studied history a little bit and I think it's cyclical.
I think things improve, then they get worse, then they improve.
It's going to vary.
And I don't think it's going to, there's a linear path for us.
I think it's a cyclical path that I foresee.
Well, very good.
The fact that your kids are growing up now, do you think your kids know about your grandfather?
I think they know a little bit, but not to the extent that I do.
In a way, what you're doing is sort of preserving the relationship.
Yes.
And not everybody has a grandfather to relate to.
But I do wanted, I wanted the opportunity, of course, to visit because I've learned a lot just visiting, and we've known each other for a good many years.
And you've known my family.
But tell people how they can find you easily if they'd like to follow up and they would like to get one of your books.
Tell them the best way.
Seeing Washington's Power Play00:02:17
The best and easiest way is Amazon.
And you just Google Memories of My Future.
And I co-wrote that with Amar Habib, as Dr. Paul said earlier.
He's a Muslim, I'm a Hindu.
And I just wanted to show that we can work together because if you read the news, they have us fighting each other.
And it's not true.
I mean, people are people.
I mean, we work together, and it was a wonderful experience working with him.
And he's written many, many books past this one.
So this we published about 10 years ago.
Oh.
Yeah, so it's been a while.
He's a full-time author.
I want to give him kudos because he's a very good person.
He's a local Lake Jackson.
He was born here.
You may have delivered him.
I don't know.
Could be.
So we did a lot of that.
And I want to, you know, thank you very much for being with us today.
This is different for us.
I'll be interested in seeing if we'll get some comments and seeing what my audience likes because I find it fascinating, especially that you're not coming here to divide us and prove that if we don't do it your way, it's the highway.
But there's so much of that that you get fed into Washington.
Washington has gotten worse, you know, and my son's up there now, and they treat him.
We especially have the same beliefs, but they give him a lot more grief.
But there's so much study.
It is power that drives them up there.
And I think this mellows that whole issue of seeking power and that people should and could and are able to get along.
Of course, the big factor is power and force and greed.
And then when it gets hold of the politicians, then we have a real big problem.
Anil, thank you very much for being with us today.
And I want to thank our viewers for tuning in to this very special program.