This Scroll.in article by Anahita Mukherji examines how domestic violence affects Indians working in Silicon Valley, showing how cultural, technological and professional pressures intersect in the South Asian diaspora
The Dutar is a traditional folk instrument, a long-necked two-stringed lute found in Iran, Turkmenistan, and Central Asia. Its name comes from the Persian word for "two strings", do tār, although the Herati dutar of Afghanistan has fourteen strings. (Source: Wikpedia)
The Ektara is a one-stringed instrument with a body often made from a gourd or coconut. The Ektara is used in the Hindu practice of Kirtan chanting, and was traditionally played by by wandering folk singers.
A video interview conducted by Diya TV’s Ravi Kapur at the 2016 Democratic National Convention with Kamala Harris, then California Attorney General, as she discussed her historic candidacy and the role of Indian‐American identity in U.S. politics. The clip illustrates the ways South Asian media outlets engage both diaspora audiences and mainstream political narrative.
Photograph of the Femfest 2025 Shakti Award presented to Vandana Kumar, longtime publisher of India Currents magazine. Awarded on May 31, 2025, the honor recognizes her contributions to empowering community voices and strengthening South Asian representation in American media.
Presented by Radio Zindagi and Rennu Dhillon, the Shakti Award celebrates women who demonstrate leadership, creative vision, and community impact. Vandana Kumar’s decades of work at India Currents—from amplifying diaspora stories to sustaining one of the longest-running South Asian publications in the United States—embody Femfest’s mission of “Empowering Voices, Celebrating Strength.”
This award highlights Kumar’s continued influence as a cultural leader and media innovator in Silicon Valley, and her role in shaping the landscape of South Asian American journalism.
In this reflective first-person essay published on Scroll.in on December 1, 2023, journalist Anahita Mukherji describes how a chapter on economic migration in an old college economics textbook unexpectedly foreshadowed her own path as an immigrant.
With characteristic insight and narrative wit, Mukherji explores how academic frameworks around migration, wages, opportunity differentials, push-pull factors, flatten the emotional, familial, and deeply personal dimensions of moving across borders. Through her story, she illustrates how immigrant journeys often blend rational economic choices with longing, serendipity, and the search for belonging.
This essay contributes to the broader narrative of South Asian diaspora experience, illuminating the tension between what migrants are taught migration “should” be and what it actually becomes in lived reality.
The ghaychak or gheychak is a bowed lute used in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan. (Source: Wikipedia) It is often used in Balochi folk music, which is popular in Iran, Pakistan, and Oman.
