Ms. Renu Gandhi (Masala Chat Project)

Description

Renu Gandhi, 68, is a devoted wife and mother who works alongside her husband and children in the family business, the Gandhi Corporation. The interview includes discussion of how she built a hybrid identity as an Indian American and her experience being one of the pioneer families of the Indian community in Chicago. She has a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and has also had experience with real estate and accounting. She discusses her early life in Mumbai and recommends the novel, Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, to understand her experience coming to America. She discusses her work mentoring new immigrants to Chicago through teaching ESL (english as a second language) classes on a volunteer basis. Other topics dicussed include: middle-class values in India and the US, discrimination faced by her children, the close Indian community in Waukeagan, arranged marriage, discovering herself through the immigration struggle, living the American dream.