India Echavarria: a hard life's lessons

By Yolanda Romero
Staff Reporter

India Echavarria was born in Puerto Rico. She was only four months old when she came to the South Bronx. She grew up in Fort Apache, in front of the 41st Precinct. She was so close that she could see who had been arrested.

Since then, her life took many turns.

She learned to work hard from her mother, who owned a restaurant. She had nine brothers and sisters. When she was just nine years old, she started helping her mother after school. Thinking back through her past, she has strong memories of working close to her mother. Her mother shared everything from her cooking skills to being on time to work. School was a must, and being polite to others didn't hurt either. India was very outspoken. She was honest and expected the same from everyone.

Even though she had good grades, when she entered Taft High School, things changed. She thinks about it now, and it bothers her. She only went to high school to hang out. Her life at home was also changing. Her stepfather abused her mother. She tried to save her mother, but her mother stayed with her stepfather. So she left home and dropped out.

She got married young, and had her first child at age 20. At that time, she was introduced to drugs, including crack, the preferred drug of the 1980s. Everything that she believed in changed. She got caught in the dangerous web of selling and using.

India did time on and off, but her children were never in any danger of her world. At times she needed to stay away, so her children and her mother wouldn't see her doing any wrong. But as much as she loved them, it was hard to get out of her situation.

While India was in jail, one of her brothers died - one of her best friends, who always gave her advice. That destroyed her, because she was not around. And then her mother became ill and was hospitalized. She spoke to her one night from jail, and she got an awful feeling. The next day, her mother died.

The funeral was the day of her awakening call. "It is even hard today to talk about it," she said. "The pain is still there in my heart."

She was shackled down from her feet to her hands, wearing an orange jumpsuit. She walked into the funeral parlor. All of her children surrounded the coffin. "I picture that everyday of my life," she said.

When her children saw her, they hesitated. Then after a few minutes or so, they hugged her. At that moment, she realized that no matter what, they loved her.

When she returned to jail, she prayed and she worked to earn a paralegal certificate. Once she got out of jail and returned to Fort Apache, she couldn't get her children right away-they were in foster care. Slowly, she got them back, and she remarried. Her new husband helped her change her life.

The family has struggled, but they're still together. With the support of her husband, they have found love and respect for each other. India has always been honest to her children; she would not have it any other way. "My children know my past and they have forgiven me for not being there for them when they needed me," she said. "Five amazing kids. They are my strength."

For years, India came to Anderson Avenue to visit her sister and some old friends. Finally, in July 2001, she and her family became residents of Highbridge. Now 38, she is writing a book about her life, and she hopes to go back to school.

"I have never met anyone like her," said one of her neighbors, Rose Doyle, 21. "She is so straightforward and talks from her heart, and I, as a young woman, can learn from her."

Her kids are very proud of her. "She is the best mother any kid can have," said one of her sons, Chriss. "She has come a long way and has taught us to never take anything for granted."