The Indian American Experience Podcast
In our country, Indian Americans are a group that defies being painted in one stroke, be it in political/ideological leanings, definition of identity, or perception of their place in society. So, why not then hear directly from a diverse group of Indian-Americans, or desis, their experience, through light-hearted, casual conversations, and see if we can find common threads, maybe shed some myths, and hear some interesting stories!
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Episodes
35 episodes
35: Rajinder Rai: Redefining Midlife Transition
My guest Rajinder Rai is a Wellness Coach and the founder of Sunrais Health that empowers women in midlife through information and inspiration. Rajinder has taken her expertise in physiology and biochemistry along with her training in functiona...
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29:13
34: Pradip Patiath: A Story of Serendipity, Friendship and Optimism
In this episode, I interview Pradip Patiath, currently a senior partner at McKinsey & Company. Pradip shares how serendipity molded his career and personal life paths. He recounts his journey working for Schlumberger in Europe to studying c...
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31:28
33: Deepak Verma: Modeling Success as a Force for Good
My guest Deepak Verma’s is a story of deep dedication and drive, of building up on one rich experience to lead to another bigger and more impactful accomplishment, each done with selflessness and grace and joy. In spite of all his accomplishmen...
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27:58
32: Viji & Anirvan: An inspiring story of grit, dedication and harmony
My guests this week are VijayaLakshmi Nagaraj and Anirvan Sengupta. Together they are a confluence of spirited dedication, intelligence and wisdom. VijayaLakshmi, Viji to her family and friends, got her Doctorate degree in Microbio...
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40:25
31: Nadia Jagessar - A Spirited Romantic, Savvy Entrepreneur and a Visionary
My lovely guest this week, Nadia Jagessar, is an Indo-Caribbean Jersey girl who may be best known for her appearance on Netflix's "Indian Matchmaking". But Nadia is much, much more than an ex-cast member of a reality show. She is a ...
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33:53
30: Suren Pai - A Tireless Individualist, Innovator, Maverick
Suren Pai, in his various roles as an engineer, management consultant, C-suite executive, entrepreneur, and most recently, advisor and mentor to entrepreneurs, has fearlessly followed his passion and creativity and commitment to innovation. He ...
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38:55
29: Puja Shah - An Author with Beautiful Strength and Thoughtful Intelligence
My guest Puja Shah, one of my younger guests, may also be one of the most articulate and thoughtful. Maybe it comes from her long journey being deeply creative, or maybe it comes from an equally long journey straddling the duality of her cultur...
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26:34
28: Monisha Rao: Unassuming, Driven, Balanced
Monisha Rao is a pediatrician in Southern California. She immigrated to the US along with her family about 40 years ago after finishing tenth grade in India. She is married and a mother of two adult children. Monisha’s story is di...
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36:37
27: Rahul Gosain: A Force of Brilliance
Rahul Gosain’s is a story of generous grace, positivity, supreme accomplishment, and an attitude that would make a saint blush. Being a medical oncologist, he has no dearth of reasons to be very proud, but what he focuses on from his experience...
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22:47
26: Poonam Alaigh: Generously Committed to Impactful Change
My guest Dr. Poonam Alaigh is a nationally recognized leader with a multifaceted background in healthcare of over 25 years that includes the public sector at the federal, state government and policy level as well as the private sector. In these...
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31:36
25: Sejal Desai: Working Tirelessly For Both Her Homes
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 bui...
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23:07
24: Nilima - A Bumpy Road to Becoming a Soaring Butterfly
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, N...
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22:01
23: Kruti and Deepak: Balancing Roots and Traditions with the American Life
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 ba...
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29:57
22: Rippi Karda: I Am Unapologetically Me
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 th...
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36:44
21: Parenting as an Indian American
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 ...
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35:00
20: The Mashup Episode #2
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? ...
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35:18
19: The Mashup Episode #1
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 thi...
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42:01
18: Maneesha Ahluwalia: A Riveting yet Relatable Story of Strength, Resilience and Emotional Agility
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 socia...
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20:47
17: Reena and Viren: Answering Big Questions on Life, Work and The True Meaning of Yoga
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...
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37:49
16: Alka and Amit: Balancing Spontaneity with Wisdom and Thoughtfulness
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 M...
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33:38
15: Seema Chetal: Living From the Heart
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 amb...
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17:12
14: Jyoti Sinha: Revisiting Definitions of Strength and Living Impactfully
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 ...
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26:05
13: Ashish Shah: Living Artfully a Life of Calm Balance, Meaning and Humility
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 stud...
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20:33
12:Seema Bery - Living the Ideal: Do Good, Be Good, Appreciate The Good
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 migh...
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41:39
11: Ketan: An Eloquent, Candid Take on The Highs and Lows of the Indian American Experience
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, m...
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24:39