Port of entry / Chicago, IL
Ms. Tilat Rais (Masala Chat Project)
Tilat Rais is a devoted caretaker who strongly identifies with the duty to help others that her faith, Islam, teaches. The interview includes discussion of her faith and desire to be successful through serving others....
Ms. Ranjana Bhargava (Masala Chat Project)
Ranjana Bhargava, 70, is an experienced civic and non-profit professional with a background in social justice. In this interview, Ranjana highlights the moments of her past that helped shape her passions and later her career....
Mr. Vijay Bhargava (Masala Chat Project)
Vijay Bhargava, 75, is the son of a prominent lawyer and civic leader of his city. The interview includes discussion of growing up in a large joint family, dealing with class differences, and important figures in his life.
Ms. Shamiya Ghogha (Masala Chat Project)
Shamiya Ghogha, 20, is a newlywed who is adapting to life in America. The interview includes discussion about her recent move to Chicago from India and her efforts to learn English at the Indo-American Center...
Mr. Rohinton and Ms. Roshan Rivetna (Masala Chat Project)
Roshan, 77, and Rohinton, 82, Rivetna, are pioneers of the Zoroastrian community in the US, having arrived in the mid-1960s. The interview begins with Roshan alone, and her husband Rohinton joins approximately halfway through. The...
Ms. Sujaya Rupani (At Risk Stories)
Sujaya Rupani, 66, is an ophthalmologist and active member of the Indian community in Chicago. The interview includes discussion of her successful work life and moments of culture shock as she adapted to the US....
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. 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...
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...
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...
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...
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. Karan Thakkar (Broadening Narratives)
Karan Thakkar, 34, also known as DJ Cash, is a physician practicing physical medicine and rehabilitation and music producer invested in blending South Asian and African American sounds and cultures. Born in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, he immigrated to the U.S. at age four with his parents...
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. 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...