What does it mean to be Indian? Growing up, I didn't get to spend much time in India. When I did go, I was very young, and my experience was naturally shaped by parents guiding their child through a country they used to call home. That curation was driven by their own experiences and their own sense of what being Indian looked and felt like.
Looking back, I now see this as a beautiful version. It leaned deeply into traditional elements rooted in Hinduism - lots of time spent in temples, at pujas, and with family. That family time meant everything to my parents, people who had left everything they knew behind to pursue something bigger. It made perfect sense that they wanted to show their kids the world they felt comfortable navigating, the world they could call home.
As a child, I didn't feel that way. My perspective was more like: "I'm going to this hot country, listening to people chant in a language I don't understand, without the creature comforts I'm used to. Why isn't electricity constant? Why can't I go to the movies as easily? Why do people look at me differently?" Now, with perspective, I'm grateful for the effort they made.
These were the questions running through my head as a child. But as I left for college, met more people, and went to business school, I realized that the version of India I'd seen growing up was no longer - or perhaps never really - the full picture. Through conversations with fellow Indians, I became genuinely curious: what does it actually mean to be Indian? What is the identity of that country?
Like everywhere else, there is no single unified answer. I wanted to understand how people my age, with my interests, navigate this country. What does it feel like to celebrate Diwali here? To experience career growth here? To go out for a drink with friends? What is the definition of fun? Of success?
I think it's more than curiosity, though. It's also, to some degree, me evaluating whether there's some part of my identity I haven't yet explored.
This is probably part of why I married who I did - my wife, Jinal. She is Indian and has always held that identity closely; it has always been a central part of who she is. Jinal carries a natural pride in being Indian, whether that's watching Bollywood movies, dancing, cooking incredible food, or moving effortlessly between Gujarati and Hindi. Being with her has made me want to close the gap between who I am and where I come from.
Jinal and I got married in late 2023. Something we both love is exploring new countries and new experiences, though these past few years have also been deeply focused on building our careers. Sometime in late 2025, this opportunity came my way - a chance for our own adventure, one that happened to be filled with work, set in a country she knew well but that we'd never navigated together as a couple. After one day of deliberating what it would mean to leave our apartment and life behind in SF, we said yes. This felt like the right next step.