His Hindu father met his mother, a Brooklyn Jew, in the unlikely state of Iowa, where they attended graduate school. Hence Nadkarni camed the title of "The Hinjew" form his friends. At home, his family celebrates Chanukah, Christmas, and Divali, the Hindu festival of lights. Because of this diverse ethnic background, Nadkarni feels distant from "the blue blood sense of Harvard," and he says this sense of not belonging may explain "why I've strived to excel and become part of a social circle."
Nadkarni became president of Winthrop's House committee, as well as House athletic secretary. He takes credit for helping create Winthrop's campas reputation as a "high school house" fraught with enthusiasm and spirit. Many Harvard students look cynically on this environment, but Nadkarni expresses pride, seeing his role as "psyching people up."
No Time to Rest
"I hate a day when I sleep till one." Nadkarni says, but he rarely rests so much. He has played three years for the Harvard Classes, a barn-storming campus basketball club. After a frustrating freshman year playing with Harvard's IV team "in front of only three fans." Nadkarni jumped to the Classics and even assumed coaching responsibilities, handling the delicate task of coaching ex-varsity players with his JV background.
Nadkarni calls the Classics program a "godsend," and teammates speak similarly of him. John D. Solomon '85, who jumped from the JV program to the Classics at the same time as Nadkarni, remembers that "he put together a trip to France in 10 days for 12 lunatics, dealt with the language barrier, and did a tremendous job."
Nadkarni, a friend of Harvard's volleyball captain, decided to try that sport in his sophomore year, persuading the coach to "take him on as a little project." The "little project" turned out spectacularly, as Nadkarni made the All-Ivy team the last two years and served as co-captain this year. "I've got springs," he says.
Throughout this success Nadkarni maintained his interest in House sports, becoming the College's coordinator of intramural athletics and head referee for the intramural program. Floyd Wilson, director of intramural athletics, calls Nadkarni "a very, very outstanding young man [who] has a great ability to get along with other people." Wilson estimates that this year Nadkarni refereed 400-to-500 basketball games, and more than 1000 during his career.
Long-Distance Love Affair
Nadkarni plans to attend medical school after Harvard, but he has put these plans on hold because of his impending marriage. Nadkarni was accepted by Columbia's top-flight medical school, but he and his fiancee decided against it because of the unsafe neighborhood.
In three weeks Nadkarni will wed Jean Blake, his high school sweetheart, who attended college in Maryland. Nadkarni says that that five of his freshman roommates had "hometown honeys," but he and Jean are one of the few couples who survived. They saw each other about once a month and during the summers. He admits that restraints of the long-distance romance tempered his optimism, but smiles while adding, "we put each other in our place."
"People here wear their tuxes more than anyone else in the world," says Jean of Harvard. The newlyweds plan to live in either Pennsylvania or Maryland, while Nadkarni attends a nearby medical school.
Nadkarni says he often ponders the commitment needed to become a doctor, but he adds that "even if I won a million bucks in the Megabucks lottery. I would still go to medical school. I feel that you're making a big contribution to society being a doctor.