Discover inspiring stories of people over the age of fifty in the Indian American Community
Do you know someone with an inspiring story too?
We’ll feature them here.
For questions, reach out to: prachi@indiacurrents.com
Shilpi Goel, 50, Ms. Foster City
Reason for nomination
Nominated by: Murli Melwani
Shilpi Goel is a community-oriented person. She believes that if the environs and environment of Foster City are not maintained at a high standard of sustainability, the quality of life for its residents will be compromised.
She has set up and leads a group of volunteers who cook food for the homeless and distribute it. She leads a group of neighbors who go, at regular intervals, to clear the litter and trash from the open areas in the city. She is a member of the Peninsula Heritage Center and of the Senior Heritage Center. She is a member of the Sustainability Board of the City. Shilp encourages seniors to assist in cultural celebrations, such as Diwali, Durga Puja that Indian Americans celebrate. She holds pujas at her home that conclude with a potluck lunch. Shilpi cares for the quality of life of the residents of Foster City.
Once she volunteered to to thread the eye brows of a neighbor. The neighbor was pleased and spread the word. Public opinion and her skill led her to open a beauty salon. A large percentage of her clientele is Indian and South Asian.
She organized and continues to administer a Seniors group that meets at Catamaran Park. The group had started with 5 or six people. Now, during the summer, there are over 25 participants.
Hemant & Kinjal Buch, 60/58, Founders-California Cricket Academy, Cupertino California
Reason for nomination
Nominated by: Manikya Veena, Daksha Jani
Hemant and Kinjal Buch founded the California Cricket Academy in 2003 to spread the love of cricket and offer opportunities for children to play the sport in the Bay Area. Today, CCA is one of the largest nonprofit cricket academies in the country, with more than 400 students and 50 players representing Team USA at different levels. The academy has won numerous awards and accolades since its inception, the highest amongst all US cricket academies.
In the early 2000s when cricket meant either an insect or a wireless company, Hemant and Kinjal Buch had a dream. Their tenacity, passion, and grit helped build a nonprofit cricketing organization, CCA. They set up fields, obtained permits, and hired local and highly reputed International coaches for the first twenty-five students. Their journey continues even as their vision expands.
The Academy fosters cricket and community. CCA boys formed strong bonds and traveled on tours. Today these boys have become successful young men contributing to society in meaningful ways —the goal of every community. The Buchs continue striving to extend CCA’s work and footprint around the state, country, and beyond.
In July 2023, the USA’s Major League Cricket’s ( MLC) inaugural season opened with great fanfare in Texas, with six teams representing major US cities in a 20/20 format.
In 2024, Team USA participated in and hosted the T-20 World Series, a significant accomplishment reflecting the continued efforts of dedicated, committed, and passionate cricket lovers like Hemant, Kinjal, and others around the country to make cricket a mainstream sport.
Daksha Jani: Their passion, persistence, dedication and more than 20 years of efforts put them at outstanding and incredible contributors to the community. Starting from grass root to getting cricket recognized as physicals education/sports option in high school, working tirelessly throughout and growing at different locations in SFO Bay Area is very commendable.
Harshida and Dinesh Mehta, 70s, “ServiceSpace Mama and Papa”
Reason for nomination
Nominated by: Dr. Jyoti Bachani
Thousands of young adult meditators call Harshida and Dinesh Mehta – ServiceSpace Mama and Papa. Many more people from around the world call their home in Santa Clara California, the Kindness Temple.
For more than twenty five years, every Wednesday evening, about 30-60, PhDs, professors, authors, doctors, teachers, yoga teachers, entrepreneurs, technologists, engineers, students, activists, gardeners, homemakers, tourists, and people from all walks of life come to sit in silence and meditate together at Awakin Circles, that started at the Kindness Temple.
Harshida and Dinesh spend the week planning, preparing and cooking a homemade vegetarian meal that they serve to all meditators, to be eaten in silence after the circle. The ripples from this kindness have spread to Awakin Circles being hosted in far away countries with the ethos of spreading random acts of kindness.
Silicon Valley innovations change the world in more ways than makes the news headlines. This movement for spreading kindness towards strangers and meditating together in community is the most consistent peace-building work that I am aware of.
The world needs this more urgently now than ever before. Awakin Circles is the inspiration for many other projects, such as Karunavirus, Dailygood, Kindspring, etc. Harshida and Dinesh are both immigrants from Gujarat. They have held full time jobs in the Valley and raised two sons. Their sons have been instrumental in using technology to create this global ecosystem of ServiceSpace, which used to be called CharityFocus earlier.
Yet, the values these technologies enable everywhere are deeply rooted in the home & what Harshida and Dinesh taught their sons. I am glad that IC celebrates 50 over 50 so I get the honor and pleasure to nominate this exceptional couple. Cannot separate them for individual nominations as their love and teamwork is the open secret to what they have accomplished.
Suneel Kakkar, 66, CEO SKAK inc.
Reason for nomination
Nominated by: Giresh Thobi, Anuj, Sumit Khanna, Ujju Thobbi, Sarini Kakkar, Sunita Merchia, Timmy Juneja, Shweta Bhargava, Priyanka Shah, Bina, Pragya Tiwari.
People said this:
“An IITK and UIC-Chicago computer engineer by profession, has spent many years in verifying cutting edge processor and SOC designs, ensuring first pass silicon success. He has held senior positions with companies like Qualcomm and IBM.”
“Sunil is an inspiration for all, through his blogs, freelance journalistic pieces, in addition to his regular profession of managing his own chip design verification consultancy company. At his age of 66, he manages to squeeze in a lot of punch.”
“Sunil is creating a positive impact on the Indian community in a big way – Sunil inspires youngsters by promoting easy to cook healthy lifestyle recipes and by judging the cooking competitions at my events which are attended by hundreds of people from the Indian community.”
“He is cherished by friends and family for his constant cheerfulness and helpful nature, always ensuring to spread joy with his humor.
In addition to his architectural prowess, Sunil is an exceptional cook, running a popular Facebook page called “Romancing the Degchi” dedicated to his culinary creations. His talent has earned him a spot as a judge for cooking competitions in the Bay Area. As the head chef of his family, Sunil delights his loved ones with innovative and delicious dishes every day.
A committed feminist, Sunil consistently highlights the importance of his wife, offering unwavering support in their daily lives. He actively models and promotes his wife’s apparel business, exemplifying the role of a supportive partner. As a leader in his community, Sunil is a role model for husbands, sought after for his advice on maintaining a happy marriage and keeping their wives happy.”
“I am just going to comment on Sunil as a person and an inspiring personality at that. Sunil comes as a whiff of fresh air to all the community events and brings his positivity with him.”
Anand Kuchibhotla, 63, President & CEO, University of Silicon Andhra
Reason for nomination
Nominated by: Vijay Rajvaidya and Sita Addepalli
He founded Silicon Andhra in 2001, a non-profit organization with goals to create cultural identity for the next generation youth, mainly living in the USA. He has received multiple awards and honors, including the D.Litt (Honoris Causa) from KL University.
With over 25 years of experience in social entrepreneurship, community leadership, non-profit management, and education management, Anand Kuchibhotla is passionate about preserving and promoting the Indian culture, literature, and tradition among the global diaspora. As the founder and president of the University of Silicon Andhra, a WSCUC accredited university in Milpitas, CA, he oversees the development of the institution. UofSA offers programs in Indian fine arts, languages, yoga, sciences and is planning to build a world-class medical school.
Additionally, he adopted Kuchipudi village in Andhra Pradesh, India, to protect Kuchipudi classical dance.
Jyoti Bachani, 62, PhD Professor at the Saint Mary’s College of California
Reason for nomination
Nominated by: Pragalbha Doshi
I nominate Jyoti Bachani for her compelling yet subtly powerful ways of leading with utmost generosity and unapologetic truthfulness – instigating the best out of others, inspiring genuine expressions, fostering community connections, allowing an authentic flow of events – and walking away in quiet celebration.
Jyoti Bachani is a co-founder of the US and India chapters of the International Humanistic Management Association (IHMA). She is a flag bearer for using the arts to humanize management. She pursues interdisciplinary practice-relevant research to understand the role of creativity and mindfulness in strengthening the role of individuals in organizing. By leading arts based experiential workshops, she professes that humanizing is an imperative in the information age.
She is founder of Poetry of Diaspora in Silicon Valley, a literary group, that meets regularly to read poems, write about poetry, and co-create conversations in poems, in private and public forums. She is a contributing author for India Currents magazine and curates a monthly column called Poetry as Sanctuary. This column became the first avenue of published articles and poetry for many in the community. She has mentored the organizing, hosting and participation of online public poetry reading events that received rave reviews and also became the first platform for many new poetry readers who discovered their own voice with a new confidence. Many skilled artists hold space with generosity for the hesitant new comers at these events – Jyoti Bachani affirms poetry reading as a practice of our authentic expressions and not a place of performance. This fosters the passion, presence and genuine connection within the community and the ripples go beyond into the world.
Additionally Jyoti Bachani has created a major impact with publishing three multi-lingual anthologies by Poetry of Diaspora poets – Memory Book of Poetry of Diaspora in Silicon Valley, Starry Nights & The Circle. These anthologies have turned passionate poets who are humble about their art into published authors. Jyoti Bachani is compassionate and expresses humble gratitude for the poet contributions to her heartfelt endeavors and projects she brings to the community.
Ashok Srinivasan, 60, Founder PA-Desi community network, Palo Alto
Reason for nomination
Nominated by: Jyoti Bachani
Ashok has created a virtual community called PA Desi that brings together many desi on a shared platform. Earlier it was an email list but now the groups have proliferated on WhatsApp – with several special interests. It is remarkable to have a place for airing community concerns, learning from each other, be it about how to get OCI cards renewed or plumbers. The list allows for civil discussion on socio-cultural issues, with mild moderation by Ashoka.
Shambhavi Dandekar, 52, Kathak dance artiste, Sunnyvale, CA
Reason for nomination
Nominated by: Prajakta Karandikar
Shambhavi Dandekar is an internationally acclaimed Kathak dance artiste, who has carved a niche for herself through her sheer talent, unique performances and unparalleled choreography. “Shambhavi’s International School of Kathak is her brainchild.
Despite her traditional training, Shambhaviji has broken the bounds of the traditional repertoire and regularly produces innovative masterpieces, 2 of which have earned her rave reviews in The New York Times (Drive East Dance Festival Dancing the Gods Festival). She is a member of the International Dance Council of UNESCO. ‘Singaar Mani’, ‘Nritya Ratna’, ‘Bharatashree’, ‘Kala Teertha’ are some of the prestigious titles awarded to her in India. She is also a proud recipient of ‘P. L. Deshpande Youth Award’.
In 2021, Shambhavi ji introduced the pathbreaking Distance Learning Program for adult beginners in Kathak, which saw an overwhelming response from students in the US and across the globe benefitting more than a hundred students from more than 10 countries and 60 cities across the globe.
In the span of 30 years as a Kathak artist, she was able to inspire and groom more than twenty students in India and in the US, to take up Kathak as their sole profession and source of livelihood. She was able to show through example that it is possible to comfortably earn one’s living by dedicating one’s life to art.
Purvi Janardhan, 52, Co-Founder and CEO DogHood
Reason for nomination
Nominated by: Pragati Grover and Chirag Shah
Purvi Janardhan is a notable tech entrepreneur with significant contributions in the tech and pet care industries. Purvi co-founded theDogHood, a social networking platform for dog owners. TheDogHood connects dog lovers both locally and globally, providing a community for pet parenting experiences.
The platform includes several and offers curated content on pet training, health, and nutrition, making it a comprehensive resource for dog parents. DogHood is known as “NextDoor for Dog Parents” and now has 15000+ dog parents from all over the US.
Prior to her entrepreneur career, She worked at PayPal for 10+ years, established the Data Warehousing team and was in charge of PayPal financial reporting and supporting Europe regulations providing technical leadership to the European government.
Her passion for using data to analyze and gain product insight is a key throughout her career. She is leveraging data to predict user behavior and analytics in her entrepreneurial journey while having a data science shop to drive product insights.
Through these ventures, Purvi Janardhan has made significant strides in leveraging technology to create practical solutions in everyday life, particularly focusing on community building and resource management.
Nandini Mandal, 53, Dance Professor and Artistic Director, Pittsburgh PA
Reason for nomination
Nominated by: Aparna Nigam and Hiral Shah
Nigam: Has overcome personal and health obstacles, not once, not twice, but many many times. Continuous to teach and propagate dance and culture for students and the greater community. A relentless soldier for arts and culture.
Shah: Mrs. Nandini Mandal founded her own school for training students in Bharatanatyam, folk, and nav nritya. Being an immigrant, she focuses her classes not only on dance but cultural roots of India. She hosts many renowned dancers for workshops so her students can gain the skills and confidence they deserve.
She was diagnosed with cancer in the midst of her growth as a dance teacher and a mother. She took the disease on like a pro and fought through the rigorous treatments. She received bone marrow transplants, had a hip surgery and many such challenges but she never stopped dancing and never stopped teaching. Today she hosts annual programs to promote the Indian arts as a way to raise funds and awareness for the American Cancer Society.
She also hosts confluence events called Vilaya to display as many dance forms of india through her own troupe and other invited artists. In 2023, her troupe performed and presented the entire Ramayana for this event. As if this wasn’t enough, Nandini Mandal chose to join Point Park University as a professor where she is teaching non-Indian students the art of Bharatanatyam. They have always presented a few of her choreographies.
Nandini Mandal has travelled across the country and farther with her art, performing at various events and festivals. Her students participate in competitions and showcases, highlighting their dedication towards Bharatamatyam. The Nandanik Dance Academy and Troupe is constantly growing and looking to expand their horizons.
Nandini’s many accolades would need to be put into a book just a few words are not enough.
Pragati Grover, 59, Director of Community Relationships, Team4Tech
Based out of: Menlo Park, CA
Reason for nomination
Nominated by: Mahesh Jethanandani
Pragati Grover has made significant contributions to the field of education through her extensive involvement in various educational and community organizations. With over 20 years of experience in the non-profit sector, Grover has held numerous roles that emphasize her commitment to education and community development.
In the Saratoga community, she served on the Saratoga Union School Board for four years. She also served on the Saratoga City Planning Commission as well as the Library Commission.
She currently serves as the Director of Community Relationships at Team4Tech, a nonprofit impact accelerator bridging the digital equity gap in education to create inclusion and opportunities for learners in under-resourced communities around the world. Her role involves fundraising, strategic planning, program management, and all aimed at supporting educational initiatives through technology.
Moreover, Grover’s dedication to education and community service has been recognized with the 2011 Asian American Hero Award, which honors individuals who have made significant impacts in their communities.
In addition, Grover is one of the Founding Circle members of Neythri, a non profit organization whose mission is to foster, engage and advance a global community of South Asian professional women of all backgrounds and experience who are committed to helping each other succeed. Grover is also a LP in the Neythri Futures Fund, a historic first venture fund that positions South Asian women front and center as key stakeholders both as funders and founders.
Grover also serves on the Advisory Board of Dreami, which focuses on workforce development by offering a comprehensive platform designed to facilitate career development programs. Their services cater to corporations, nonprofits, and educational institutions, enabling them to efficiently manage mentorship, coaching, and other career growth initiatives.
Mythili Sankaran, 58, CEO & Co-Founder, Neythri.org
Reason for nomination
Nominated by: Pragati Grover
Mythili is the co-founder of Neythri.org. Neythri’s mission is to foster, engage, and advance a global community of South Asian professional women of all backgrounds and experiences who are committed to helping each other succeed.
Neythri has created dynamic spaces for South Asian professional women to collaborate, share knowledge, and connect to resources that will help them grow, thrive, and support one another. This cross-generational, cross-industry platform aims to foster dialogue and leadership development through connections, mentoring, learning, and support.
In addition, Mythili started the Neythri Future Fund (NFF), which is a historic first venture fund that positions South Asian women front and center as key stakeholders both as funders and founders. The oversubscribed $10 million fund brought together an enviable roster of 249 LPs, 90% of which are South Asian women; 70% being first-time investors. Having been a largely invisible minority in venture, NFF offers South Asian women the opportunity to expand their knowledge base, amplify their influence, and strengthen their financial position by entering and participating in the investment arena.