The Indian American Experience Podcast

Send a text Sejal Desai‘s is a riveting story of dedication and drive. She is an admirable steward of both the Indian and American parts of her identity. With a passion now for her nonprofit work, Sejal has had a long and varied career which has helped build an outlook that makes her embrace with pride her heritage as well as her adopted home. Sejal is the Executive Director of Akanksha Education...

Send a text Nilima, who calls herself an ex-people-pleaser, identifies herself now as a Brown Butterfly. She grew up in Maryland in the 70s as 'the brown girl' in her school and experienced the unsavory implications of that. Fast forward several decades, Nilima has made it her mission empowering women like her. She's a certified Health & Wellness coach who thrives when she'...

Send a text Kruti and Deepak’s compatibility as a couple belies their very different environments growing up. While Kruti grew up in Mumbai, India, Deepak grew up in the US in NY/NJ. Their story and their own reflections are proof that this diversity of backgrounds allows for them to complement as well as reinforce each other’s value systems.   I absolutely enjoyed myself as they candidly shared w...

Send a text My very accomplished guest, whose story is as much about her own success as about finding ways to help uplift others, candidly shares with me her motivations and convictions behind that aspiration, as well as, the journey that brought her to the successful place she is at currently. You might as well take notes as you listen because Rippi goes into detail about what she recognizes as t...

Send a text Oscar Wilde said “Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them; sometimes they forgive them.“ Even under the most ideal circumstances, parenting is at best a flawed act of trying to balance teaching our kids what we know, or what we think they should know,  with making them independent and well-adjusted.  Even with the best of intentions, every parent find...

Send a text This second mashup episode has been very engaging to listen to! It’s been revealing and fascinating to hear all at once the responses to a relatively cerebral couple of questions:  What part of your value system do you identify as Indian? And, how much does your Indian heritage define your identity? My guests were honest, speaking from their personal experiences and insights, and I bel...

Send a text Enjoy in this episode excerpts of my guests who immigrated here answering my questions about what brought them here and then what the circumstances were when they came here and what they had to do to acculturate to the new environment. Hope this episode makes you nod a little, maybe laugh a little and learn a little! Follow me on Facebook and Instagram to stay connected and for more po...

Send a text My guest Dr. Maneesha Ahluwalia is a Life Coach, specializing in coaching Indian-Americans.  She talks and writes openly about marriage and in-law stress, infertility stress, divorce and love after divorce, and more.   Her social media posts are inspiring, drawing on her courage and willingness to be vulnerable about topics usually considered taboo in Indian culture.  She's also a...

Send a text Viren embarked on his journey to the US about 35 years back, leaving India to do MBA here. In his ensuing career he played a pivotal role in the world of  International Business. He is recently retired from his corporate career but remains an influential figure in the business and financial landscape.  Reena came here in 1990 to join Viren after they got married. After a career in acco...

Send a text My guests Alka and Amit, a power couple from San Jose, California, both grew up in India: Alka in Bombay, and Amit in and around Punjab.  Alka is a clinical psychologist by training and Amit is VP of Software Engineering at Applied Materials. They have two grown up sons.  Alka loves old movies and music, and writes poetry in her free time. She probably gets her creative genes from her...

Send a text Seema Chetal came to the US about three decades back in her 20s. She is currently Managing Director at JP Morgan Wealth and Asset Management and is married with three adult children.  Seema’s soft-spokenness belies her principled ambition, a wide bandwidth to live a multi-dimensional life, and captures well her humility and calm thoughtfulness. Having immigrated from India with a profe...

Send a text Dr. Jyoti Sinha exemplifies a contemporary outlook while honoring tradition. Having come to the US at a tough age that she aptly characterizes as tender yet resilient, and after weathering a rough start, Jyoti steadfastly kept her focus on her goal to be a doctor and achieved it on her own terms.  Jyoti’s attitude toward parenting and being a wife is amazingly fresh and unencumbered by...

Send a text Ashish Shah’s is a story of having taken with grace what life put on his plate and making of it the most - balancing his sense of duty and his heritage with his interests and inclinations in an organic, spontaneous way. From being the only student of Indian descent throughout school, to the difficult schedule during his physician training, he took it in his stride and marched on unfaze...

Send a text And she is doing it all with unabashed passion; from appreciating the city she was raised in, to loving the small town in Ohio that was her introduction to practicing medicine in America, to serving on the front lines of Covid with all her might, to crediting her adopted country with the values of generosity and selflessness. Seema fondly and proudly recalls her progressive upbringing...

Send a text My guest Ketan migrated to the US at the age of 20, completed his undergraduate studies and MBA here, and is now recently retired after an over 30-year long career in the M&A field. In his free time, Ketan enjoys photography, digital art, music, reading, and physical fitness. Ketan shares his influences that led to his decisions to come here for higher education, especially the bar...

Send a text Seema Iyer, currently an HR advisor for startups, has served as a Chief People Officer and other senior HR positions in the technology sector.  She has also been closely engaged with several nonprofit organizations (links below).  Seema is also an avid traveler and has traveled every continent.  Currently, she spends her time between the US and Europe. Regarding the family trip she tal...

Send a text Joe Pichamuthu, a seasoned professional in the pharmaceutical industry, shares his life journey from his early days in India through college where he met the love of his life, to his impactful career choices. He recalls his adventurous and rich childhood where he was inspired by role models in his family, his fun college life, and finding his passion in the field of cancer research. He...

Send a text In this special Diwali episode,  Vandana, Rita and Monica share their thoughts, opinions and experiences as immigrant Indian Americans with a special emphasis on celebrating Diwali. They recall how they celebrated Diwali before coming here and compare it with how they do it now, and each of them comes up with her own unique conclusion about her Indian American experience. They also ans...

Send a text Shibani and Rajeev are a remarkable couple and an excellent example of a thoughtful life lived while embracing its many quirks and while fulfilling many roles. Rajeev is currently retired after about 40 years in the Information Technology industry. Shibani was in the banking industry and now works as a sales manager at an event space. They also together ran a restaurant for about 10 ye...

Send a text Not only is Sushila Shah’s story all of the above, but it is also a story of exuberant family love, sacrifice and support.  Sushila (85) is an engineer by training (the first woman engineering graduate at her university), and had a long career as a civil engineer during which she designed bridges and dams for irrigation projects in India, and worked as a design engineer for nuclear pow...

Send a text Priti is a daughter, mom, wife, and sister.  She loves to laugh and learn. She was born in India and came to the USA at 5 years old. Priti is a Gujarati Indian American, Jain, and vegetarian.   Her present professional title is Software Engineer at IBM.   Priti has multiple patents credited to her team at IBM. Watson Research, Semiconductor & Quantum Computing.  Priti is the epitom...

Send a text Today we welcome Arun Puri, a seasoned fund manager who reflects on his life journey and shares timeless wisdom instilled in him during his traditional upbringing in India, and shares his philosophy of embracing duty without being shackled by the potential outcomes.  Arun's story challenges stereotypes, shedding light on the remarkable diversity within the Indian American communit...

Send a text Introducing Tejal Karia, whose illustrious career has traversed the realms of finance, tax, and treasury. Tejal's compelling narrative unfolds as she seamlessly melds Indian and American cultures, embarking on a transformative journey from her homeland in India to New Jersey.  In this episode, Tejal reveals how the amalgamation of traditional Indian values and American influences...

Send a text Reena Dang Pichamuthu is a software engineer, businesswoman, and career mentor with a remarkable story. Reena's early years were influenced by her close-knit Indian family and their values of love, respect, and giving, instilled by her grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Those values emboldened her commitment to mentoring underprivileged individuals and her dedicati...

Send a text Welcome to The Indian American Experience Podcast, with your host Bindia Puri. As an educator and cultural geographer, Bindia maintains an unshakable pride in her Indian heritage, which drives her curiosity about values, culture, and identity within the Indian American community. Through her podcast, Bindia offers a unique lens into the diverse experiences of Indian-Americans.  In this...