Growing up in India, my fascination with culture, community and education was ignited early on as I learnt about my own culture from my extended family and read about the colonial and pre-colonial periods of South Asian history.

Relocating to the United States just before starting high school, I was interested in preserving my ties to the culture of my home country. I commenced a project with my grandmother to archive our family and community history.

 

At the same time, I wanted to understand my new suburban American community at a deeper level. I have enjoyed learning more about the social and economic landscape of my new home by examining it through a cultural and historical lens, both through research efforts and volunteering to create an oral history of my town with the local history center. 

 

I also have a profound interest in the field of education particularly as it relates to culture and have spent several years interning at a non-profit educational technology organization focused on early childhood education in India. These experiences made me aware of the vitally important role that culture plays - in families, classrooms, and society more broadly - in the cognitive development of children and creation of socio-economic opportunities for youth and adults. I explored these ideas through a historical lens by researching the emergence of the monitorial system of classroom education in the early 19th century as well as how the G.I. Bill of Rights shaped access to education and housing in post-war America. Through an anthropological prism, I also researched how gender norms impact the education of girls in India.  

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This website brings together various aspects of my journey of cultural discovery. I hope you enjoy browsing it and look forward to your observations and feedback.