Diaspora Reads

  1. As more South Asian Americans take a leap into politics, Five Thirty Eight puts their campaign finance records under the microscope and finds that most of them are tapping “into their community to kick-start their careers”.
  2. In Hindustan Times, the authors of a new report on Indian American attitudes towards India, warn of fraying ties as the country and its diaspora become more polarised.
  3. Scott McFetridge of Associated Press explains how the farmer protests in India are reminiscent of the US farming crisis of the 1970s and 1980s.
  4. How will India-US ties shape under President Joe Biden? A series of high-level calls between the two administrations give us a clue, according to Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan.
  5. Indo-Trinidadian artist Renluka Maharaj talks about her works that use archival photographs of Indian indentured servants to spotlight “a history that has affected millions of people” and “caused generational trauma”.
  6. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced a series of reforms to ease the process for NRI entrepreneurs to launch one-person companies in India. Forbes magazine spoke to experts on the change.  
  7. “It’s hard having a camera with you when you’re on a first date,” says Vyasar Ganesan, one of the singles featured on Indian Matchmaking, as he talks about his life after the hit Netflix show.
  8. In an episode of the Brown History Podcast, British Indian author Nikesh Shukla discusses diversity, representation, and his new book Brown Baby: A Memoir of Race, Family and Home.