Briefs/ South Asian Americans on the 2024 Ballot/ South Asian Views of South Asian Nations/ Book Matters.
WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, & WHY
Jayant Baliga, who gained wide recognition for his pioneering work on IGBTs (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors), has won the 2024 Millennium Technology Prize. This biannual Finnish prize is worth one million euros. Baliga is a Progress Energy Distinguished University Emeritus Professor at North Carolina State University. Since the 1980s, his innovation has played a big role in reducing electrical energy and petrol consumption.
Sital Kalantry, a law professor and associate dean at Seattle University, is the host of a new podcast called Desi Roots & Routes. Launched last month by the university’s Roundglass India Center, where Kalantry is the director, the podcast features interviews with Indian American leaders in various fields. The first season’s guests include Pramila Jayapal, Rita Meher, Sunny Singh, Krishna Thiagarajan, Ankur Vora, and Pallavi Wahi.
Jaansi Patel, 16, won first place in the inaugural International Research Olympiad, which is open to students aged 13 to 18. The New Jersey teen, now at Phillips Exeter Academy, is a mental health advocate who focuses on neuropsychology research. Jaansi was among 15 finalists chosen from more than 1000 students across 45 nations. The competition tests analytical and critical thinking among budding scientists.
Kevan Parekh is the new the CFO (chief financial officer) of Apple, the world’s most valuable company with a market cap of $3.34 trillion. Having served as the VP of financial planning and analysis, Parekh will join the executive team and report to CEO Tim Cook. Parekh, who’s been at Apple for 11 years, held senior leadership roles at Thomson Reuters and GM. He did engineering at UMich and an MBA at UChicago.
Pankaj Mishra won the 2024 Weston International Award for his nonfiction, which includes numerous essays and books such as Age of Anger, From the Ruins of Empire, and Bland Fanatics. The Canadian award, established last year, is worth $75,000. As Weston notes, Mishra is a “public intellectual whose writing expands the world’s understanding of the Global South, Western imperialism in Asia, and contemporary spirituality.”
Karthik Narain, the group chief executive of technology and the CTO (chief technology officer) at Accenture, is the joint winner (along with John T.C. Lee of MKS Instruments) of the Pinnacle Award, a yearly honor for C-suite executives. It was presented last month at a black-tie dinner gala by the Asian American Business Development Center (AABDC). Narain heads Accenture’s technology business and oversees its strategy.
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni won a 2024 American Book Award for Independence, a novel which retells the story of India’s 1947 partition in Bengal through the eyes of three sisters. An esteemed author and a professor of creative writing at the University of Houston, she’s a two-time recipient of this award, established by the Before Columbus Foundation. She won the other award in 1996 for her debut, titled Arranged Marriage: Stories.
Radhi Spear, an AT&T software engineer in New Jersey, is the new international president of Toastmasters International, which teaches public speaking skills in 150 countries through a network of clubs. Spear, who grew up in Nigeria and India, attended the New Jersey Institute of Technology. She has held leadership positions at Toastmasters, where she got the Distinguished Toastmaster designation.
> >> >> >>
SOUTH ASIAN AMERICANS ON THE 2024 BALLOT
Ashwin Ramaswami is not the only South Asian American seeking a Georgia State Senate seat in the upcoming election. Sheikh Rahman and Nabilah Islam Parkes, now serving in the Senate, are on the November 5th ballot for a new term. Saira Draper and Farooq Mughal, who serve in the Georgia House of Representatives, are also on the ballot. They’re all Democrats, while Narendra Reddy is running as a Republican for a seat in the Georgia State House. He will face Democrat Michelle Au, who represents Georgia’s 50th district. Of course, South Asian Americans are contesting in other states as well. State Senate candidates, if we stick to the swing states, include Nikil Saval in Pennsylvania and Priya Sundareshan in Arizona. State House candidates include Anna Thomas and Meriam Sabih in Pennsylvania. All four candidates are Democrats, as is Joe Khan, a law professor who is on the ballot for Attorney General of Pennsylvania.
Large states like New York, Texas, and California have multiple desi candidates. At the national level, all five Indian American representatives now in the U.S. House are on the ballot. They’re Ami Bera (California’s 6th district), Ro Khanna (California’s 17th district), Pramila Jayapal (Washington’s 7th district), Raja Krishnamoorthi (Illinois’s 8th district), and Shri Thanedar (Michigan’s 13th district). In addition, three new candidates are seeking seats in the U.S. House: Amish Shah of Arizona (1st district), Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia (10th district), and Sandeep Srivastava of Texas (3rd district). Susheela Jayapal (Washington state) and Ravinder Bhalla (New Jersey) lost in the primaries. Again, all these candidates are Democrats. As for the U.S. Senate, there are no South Asian American members or contestants.
/|\ /| \ /|\ /| \
SOUTH ASIAN VIEWS OF SOUTH ASIAN NATIONS
South Asia encompasses eight nations, but often a few of them are left out. The exclusion is not always intentional; sometimes it could be a matter of convenience or there could be obstacles that prevent their inclusion. A 2024 Pew Research Center survey (“How people in South Asia view other South Asian countries”) excludes Bhutan, Nepal, Afghanistan, and the Maldives. The nations included are Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka. As for Pakistan, since Pew couldn’t do a survey there this year, only views of what the other three nations think of Pakistan are included in the survey. While 65% of Sri Lankans view India favorably, 47% of Indians have a favorable view of Sri Lanka. There seems to be a religious dimension. As Pew points out, “in Sri Lanka, eight-in-ten Hindus express a positive opinion of India, compared with fewer than seven-in-ten Buddhists, Christians, and Muslims.”
Education also plays a role. In both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, people who’re more educated have a more positive view of India than those who’re less educated. Indians who’re opposed to the ruling coalition (NDA) in their country are more likely than supporters to have favorable views of Pakistan (15% vs. 9%). Also in India, Muslims are twice as likely as Hindus (22% vs. 11%) to have any opinion of Pakistan.
The case of Bangladesh is more complicated because the survey was done before Sheikh Hasina’s overthrow in the student uprising. She and supporters of her Awami League Party had a more favorable view of India. That’s reflected in the survey, with 57% of Bangladeshis having a more favorable view of India. This figure would be different now. Finally, Indians who support PM Modi and the ruling NDA in their country have a more favorable view of Sri Lanka than those don’t (46% vs. 39%).
& & & & & & & & & &
BOOK MATTERS for the holidays
India – The Land of Festivals (Apni Heritage), by Anuja Mohla. Illustrations by Gowthami Maruthupandiyan. A physician by training, Mohla, who immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager, launched Apni Heritage in 2021 after she became a mother. This new book (for kids aged 6 to 9), the first volume in a planned series, provides an eye-catching guide to 25 Indian festivals celebrated across the world. They cover six major religions.
The Sticky Note Manifesto of Aisha Agarwal (Quill Tree Books), by Ambika Vohra. A Stanford admissions essay prompt—“How have you gotten out of your comfort zone?”— sets the story in motion for Aisha, who is studious but not adventurous. Of course, this teen and young adult novel is not really about how to get into the college of your dreams. It’s about growing up, making the most of your life, and learning to accept yourself.
Bringing Back Kay-Kay (Walker Books), by Dev Kothari. In this middle-grade mystery set in India, Lena is pleased when her favored sibling—Karthik, better known as Kay- Kay—leaves for a two-week camp. Lena gets all the attention now. But when her brother doesn’t return from the camp, a guilt-stricken Lena becomes a detective. With the help of clues in his backpack and by talking to people, she’s determined to bring him back.
Sorry for the Inconvenience: A Memoir (Mindy’s Book Studio), by Farah Naz Rishi. In college, Rishi hit it off with a Jamaican student, who was there for her through ups and downs. But she new that her parents wouldn’t consider him marriage material. If there are echoes of what Kamala Harris’s mother went through, there are also big differences. Rishi, a Pakistani American who grew up here, is another lawyer who became a writer.
The Home We Make (Lee & Low Books), by Maham Khwaja. Illustrations by Daby Zainab Faidhi. In this picture book (for ages 5 to 10), which got a starred review from Kirkus Reviews, the story of displacement is told through the eyes of a young girl who flees her strife-torn homeland with her family. Vivid verse and visuals capture the resolve of migrants as they embark on a perilous journey to seek safety. Khwaja, a New Voices Award Winner, is working on her debut feature film.
I’m from Here Too (Peachtree Books), by Kashmira Sheth. This book from an Atlanta-based publisher is for readers aged 8 to 12. Anoop wears many hats—as a son and grandson at home, and as a student at school—and he also wears a patka as an observant Sikh boy. This verse novel shows how Anoop copes with challenges, how he embraces his identity, and how he draws inspiration from his dying grandfather, who’d lived through India’s partition. Peachtree Books has published other titles by Sheth.
Seeker of Truth: Kailash Satyarthi’s Fight to End Child Labor (Little Bee Books), by Srividhya Venkat. Illustrations by Danica da Silva Pereira. It was a decade ago that Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize. His long battle (which continues) to end child labor and exploitation is an inspiring story. This elegantly told pictorial biography is for readers who were not even born when he won the Nobel Prize.
Remember Me Tomorrow (Skyscape), by Farah Heron. This paranormal romance could also be called a college romance. But this is no ordinary college, and East House is no ordinary dorm. In fact, it’s the least desirable dorm on campus. Aleeza is drawn to it, however, because Jay had disappeared from there. She wants to solve the mystery. The weirdness starts when the texts she receives from Jay are from the time before he vanished. Heron’s other novels include Tahira in Bloom and Accidentally Engaged.
Enjoyed reading Khabar magazine? Subscribe to Khabar and get a full digital copy of this Indian-American community magazine.
