Sheela Murthy, the founder of a top-notch firm, is practicing Immigration Law in the United States. Lalitha Shridhar profiles her in the December 2000 issue of Femina, India's premier women's magazine.

She stood first in India and second the world over in student competitive presentations on international law. She was written about in a special issue featuring outstanding young people. The year was 1985 and the magazine, Femina. That confidence wasn't misplaced; 15 years down the line, she has achieved enough (and more) to warrant another and this time exclusive - mention. Here is a look at Sheela Murthy, founder of a top-notch firm exclusively practicing immigration law in the United States, powered by a 100 per cent growth rate in each year of its existence, staffed by over 30 full-time attorneys and paralegals, with clients ranging from new start-ups to Fortune 500 corporations and handling cases. But all said and done this attorney's USP remains her empathy and extraordinary care for fellow migrants from the perspective of one who has been there and done it already.

EARLY YEARS

Sheela spent her early years hopping between postings all over India with her disciplinarian defense forces dad. It was a grounding that taught her to make friends fast and keep them well. By the time she graduated, Sheela was better focused with her personal skills. She enjoyed interacting with people, spoke up for women's rights with particular ferocity, she was winning in most elocutions and debates; she had the gift of the gab. Taking up law seemed like the best possible avenue for her intrepid inclinations. Winning in the first Law Moot Court in India led to a trip to New York, more laurels at the event there and a chance meeting with the then Professor of Indology at the hallowed Harvard University. All of which led to the other big dream - that of studying law at the very same institution. She worked, she prepared and to everyone's surprise, except her own, she got in.

She recalls with fond nostalgia, "Our father believed that the sciences meant one was more brilliant and my love for the liberal arts, with little or no fascination for the hard core sciences, always left me feeling that I was inadequate and not as smart or brilliant as my two doctor sisters. Only when I got admission into Harvard Law School for my LLM did my father think that I was not really stupid!"

While still in India, she had met Vasant Nayak, a student of fine arts at Purdue. They were married in 1986. Post Harvard came decently paying jobs with established law firms. "I was working about 12 to 14 hours each day, often seven days a week. In the US, there is an obsession with hard work and perseverance, which I found truly admirable. I figured I could probably succeed with a firm if I set it up too. I understand what immigrants have to go through and how important it is for them to make it here - after all, I did it myself. It has constantly been our endeavour to relate to those who come to us and excel as well. Vasant has been the rock in my life, he is one of the people I feel I have been really privileged to know and share my life with," she says fondly.

The couple have made their home in Baltimore. Sheela explains, "We do not have any children; neither of us has the time and interest. I know that seems un-Indian."

MORAL VALUES IN LIFE

Every single working class person in India, who works so hard despite being so poor and downtrodden motivates and inspires me, Sheela reveals.

"My father often told us that there was really no difference between us and the maid servant girls working at home. We could have been in their place and we have an obligation to use our opportunities to work harder and do better all the time. I always felt that I owed it to myself to be appreciative of the opportunity to have a roof over my head and some warm food to satisfy my hunger and everything else was a bonus."

Sheela believes in tele-commuting with her clients. Her extensively laid out company website, www.murthy.com is a one-stop help desk for basic queries and doubts. When launched three years back, it had around 3,00,000 hits a week and now has over a million. Legal eagle and immigration expert, exuding confidence as she appears on American television commenting on everything from loopholes in the law to Elian Gonzalez, Sheela Murthy makes quite a case for women of much substance.

MIGRANTS AND THE MONEY

• The vast majority of immigrants to the US are engineers, software programmers, researchers and other high-tech professionals. The need for talented professionals is set to increase rapidly in the years to come.

• The maximum money lies in the Information Technology (IT) sector which is seeing, for the first time, immigrant aspirants averaging higher salaries than the Americans even as they get into the country.

• Research doesn't pay quite as fabulously as software and computer applications, but it's a sector which is very well funded by the US Government and is constantly on the lookout for brilliant brains -Americans don't consider it a lucrative enough career option, but for a scholar/scientist from a less privileged country, interested in leaving a legacy behind, the US makes looking ahead very attractive. The migrants powering the American growth in the core sciences come mainly from India, China and Britain.

• Countries like Germany and Austria are rolling out the red carpet to lure potential migrants, but the American dream remains great, perhaps even the greatest. This secular melting pot of racial diversity is easy to fit into, language hassles for educated Indians are non existent and the established expat population can be quite a welcome.

Immigration affairs are considered the "sleeper" section of law. Many people believe that migrating is only about filling out forms, It is a very complex kind of legal situation where one mistake can lead to deportation, even two years down the line. There are a lot of loopholes if you don't watch out.

© FEMINA - India's Premier Women's Magazine