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Mr. Gopal Shah (Broadening Narratives)
Gopal Shah, 44, is a Chicago-based percussionist, music educator, and former healthcare administrator originally from Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The interview includes discussion of his childhood in India, growing up in a household centered on music, and his close but strict relationship with his father, a professional...
Ms. Usha Sanghavi (Broadening Narratives)
Usha Sanghavi, 77, is a retired Dunkin’ Donuts employee born in Bombay, and longtime member of the Gujarati Indian community in the Chicago suburbs. In this interview, she reflects on her childhood in South Bombay, her father’s sari business and early death, and the pivotal...
Ms. Raziya and Mr. Yusuf Tinwala (Broadening Narratives)
Raziya Tinwala, 81, is a Dawoodi Bohra Muslim, home-based dressmaker, and grandmother living with her family in Naperville, Illinois. The interview includes discussion of her childhood in Bombay (Mumbai), her father’s building-materials business and subsequent mental-health struggles, and the early responsibilities she and her sisters...
Ms. Triptha Malhotra (Broadening Narratives)
Triptha Malhotra, 77, is a retired teacher currently living in Sugar Grove, Illinois. In this interview, she reflects on her childhood in New Delhi, her early education, and her life with her father and siblings following the early death of her mother. She...
Mr. Muhammed Khatri (Broadening Narratives)
Muhammed Khatri, 57, is a cheerful Muslim limo driver living in Chicago’s West Ridge neighborhood. Mr. Khatri is enthusiastic about the opportunities available in the United States for anyone willing to work hard, an economic reality he experienced in sharp contrast to his difficult life...
Swami Ishatmananda (Broadening Narratives)
Swami Ishatmananda, 71, is a monk and the spiritual leader of the Vivekananda Vedanta Society of Chicago. In this interview, he reflects on his childhood in Kolkata and the philosophical influence of his father, whose spiritual outlook inspired his early interest in the Vedanta tradition....
Ms. Shruthi Kannan (Broadening Narratives)
Shruthi Kannan, 36, is a trans Chicago-based labor organizer in SEIU Healthcare’s childcare division, a vocalist, and a former early-childhood teacher. The interview includes discussion of her birth in Bhilai and upbringing in a joint Brahmin family in Chennai, immigration to the Northwest Suburbs at age...
Mr. Pratyush Swarup (Broadening Narratives)
Prathyush Swarup, 28, is an award-winning independent photographer and videographer who focuses on using his art to capture joy. In the interview he recalls an unconventional, well-traveled childhood—-an international/IB boarding school in the hills outside Delhi, annual trips abroad, and a home overflowing with animals...
Mr. Harshad Patel (Broadening Narratives)
Harshad Patel, 64, is a Chicago-area small-business owner and active temple board member. Guided by a family ethic of care and generosity, he offers a pragmatic story that centers around on work, mutual aid, and resilience in U.S., a place for opportunity, independence,...
Mr. Zakir Seedat (Broadening Narratives)
Zakir Ibrahim Seedat, 66, is a Gujarati Muslim immigrant, former accountant and long-time retail worker, and a front-of-house administrator at the National Indo-American Museum. The interview includes discussion of his childhood in Bombay/Mumbai, the hardships imposed by the death of his father at a young...
Mr. Punit Jasuja (Broadening Narratives)
Punit Jasuja, 51, is a designer and special events producer who lives between Oak Brook, New York and New Delhi. The interview focuses on his family’s background in India, their immigration from Multan, Pakistan, to Chicago and his childhood in Oak Brook, Illinois. The discussion...
Mr. Michael Kuruvilla (Broadening Narratives)
Michael Kuruvilla, 42, is the Chief of Police of Brookfield, Illinois, a social worker by training, and a longtime member of Chicago’s Malayali Christian community. The interview includes discussion of his Chicago birth and Buffalo Grove upbringing, his parents’ immigration from Kerala (and his mother’s...
Mr. Nisar Niami (Broadening Narratives)
Nisar Naimi, 41, is an event planner in Chicago’s South Asian and LGBTQ communities. Born and raised in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, Nisar grew up in a large family and deeply values his parents’ sacrifices and community-building efforts. His father, a mechanical engineer from India...
Ms. Eshara Mondal (Broadening Narratives)
Eshara Mondal, 32, is a cloud engineering manager for a nonprofit and has a background in neuroscience and education policy. Born in Adena, Minnesota, and raised in Palatine, Illinois, she grew up balancing her Bengali heritage with American life. She participated in the Bengali Association...
Mr. Dipankar Mukhopadhyay (At Risk Stories)
Dipankar Mukhopadhyay, 82, is a pediatrician . The interview includes discussion of his family's roots on both sides, his community in Katwa, his enduring interest in politics. He has a very sharp memory for details of his experiences, such as the town he went to...
Ms. Mekhala Banerjee (At Risk Stories)
Mekhala Banerjee, 73, is a retired cancer research lab technician and an author. The interview includes discussion of her childhood in Burdwan, outside of Calcutta, her arranged marriage, trouble learning English when she moved to...
Mr. Santimoy Banerjee (At Risk Stories)
Santimoy Banerjee, 80, is a philanthropist and retired biochemist. The interview includes discussion of his training in the 1960s in the growing field of biochemistry at the University of Calcutta Bose Institute and at Harvard...
Ms. Krishna Chakrabarthy (At Risk Stories)
Krishna Chakrabarthy, 80, is a retired biochemist, college lecturer, and active member of the Bengali community in Chicago. The interview includes discussion of her youth in Gujarat, her father’s influence on her decision to study in the United States, her arranged marriage, and her and...
Dr. Mallikarjuna Rao and Dr. Satyavathi Anne (At Risk Stories)
Mallikarjuna Rao, 80, and Satyavathi Anne, 79, are retired pathologists, both born and raised in villages in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, but they did not meet until medical school when their marriage was...
Dr. Upendranath Nimmagada (At Risk Stories)
Upendranath Nimmagada, 79, is a retired surgeon and active administrator of a medical school he co-founded in his home state in India. The interview includes discussion of his early life during which his father died and his family was supported by the local village, his...
Ms. Shimmi Chandra (At Risk Stories)
Shimmi Chandra, 85, is a retired real estate agent and one of the pioneering members of the Indian American community in the United States. She arrived in 1959 with her husband and they founded Indian...
Dr. Umesh Sharma (At Risk Stories)
Umesh Sharma, 81, is a general surgeon who retired as chief of staff at Silver Cross Hospital in Joliet, Illinois. The interview includes discussion of his childhood and decision to go to medical school, his...
Ms. Prem Sharma (At Risk Stories)
Prem Sharma, 77, is a pioneer member of Chicago’s Indian American community, the founder of Apna Ghar, a domestic violence support service for immigrant women, and has played a leading role in the Indian women’s community since the late 1970s. The interview includes discussion of...
Mr. Gyan Agarwal (At Risk Stories)
Gyan Agarwal, 81, is a retired professor of electrical engineering and one of the founding members of the Indian American community in Chicago. The interview includes discussion of his journey from a remote village to a professor of electrical engineering in Chicago.
Ms. Padma Rangaswamy (At Risk Stories)
Padma Rangaswamy, 75, is an historian of Indian immigration to the United States and a dedicated advocate for the preservation and transmission of her heritage.
Ms. Harpreet Datt (At Risk Stories)
Harpreet Datt, 70, is a product manager and active member of the Chicago Indo-American community. The interview includes discussion of her rebellious younger years and her appreciation for Indian culture.
Dr. Arvind Menon (At Risk Stories)
Arvind Menon is one of the pioneers of the Indian community in Chicago; being a very successful physician who came to the US when there was high demand for doctors from abroad in the late...
Ms. Lakshmi Menon (At Risk Stories)
Lakshmi Menon, 75, is a pioneer in the Indian American cultural heritage sphere who has been a part of countless efforts to build bridges between her community and others.
Mr. Lakshman Agadi (At Risk Stories)
Lakshman Agadi, 76, is a successful business owner in the field of women’s medical device distribution and sales.
Dr. Kamal Chawla (At Risk Stories)
Kamal Chawla, 80, is a cardiologist and pioneer of the Indian community in Chicago. The interview includes discussion of his initial guilt over not returning to India but eventual acceptance by his family and feeling...