Spring Break
Modest Indian role models share stories
Ling-Mei Wong
Daily Staff Writer
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All three individuals said they were not role models, but have their own stories to tell.
Student activism from independent Indian
Organizing a relief drive while juggling 15 units and not having a driver's license was no easy task for Shruthi Reddy, a sophomore system physiology, or pre-med, major.
The petite 18-year-old organized the Hurricane Ivan Relief Drive last month, sending clothes, medicine and blankets to victims in Granada. In order to send the clothes, she said she needed to write letters, fill out forms and call many people.
"People ask me if I'm doing this for med school applications, and it's like, 'No!' " Reddy said.
There were easier options for Reddy to rack up community service hours, but she said that she wanted to do something different.
"I want to make a difference in people's lives," she said.
Along with her community service, she tutors chemistry and is conducting a chemistry workshop this semester. For the workshop, Reddy said she makes worksheets for the students.
Her classes include organic chemistry, biology and physics, which she said keeps her busy.
"I'm stretching myself thin," she said.
Reddy said that she was inspired to have the relief drive after helping her sister Samatha Reddy send two shipping containers of clothes to Calcutta, India last year.
"My individualistic approach comes from following my sister's footsteps," Reddy said. "She brings out the best in me."
She said that she felt she made a difference in the lives of some of the poorest people in India.
"You should have seen the joy on their faces," Reddy said, referring to pictures of the clothing distribution taken in India.
Reddy feels a debt of gratitude to her homeland, as she identifies herself as an Indian. She and her family immigrated to America in 1998 when she was 12 years old, Reddy said.
"I'm Indian in the sense that I eat Indian food, enjoy Bollywood movies and music, and keep up with latest news in India," Reddy said. "But most importantly I stay true to my Indian values and ideals in terms of ethics, discipline and modesty."
She said she cheers for India when India plays against Pakistan in cricket matches.
"It's so exciting and they play really good cricket," Reddy said.
However, she said she became more independent after coming to America.
"U.S. culture shaped me into being more individualistic," she said.
Her parents were not entirely supportive of the relief drive because they wanted Reddy to concentrate on school, she said.
"My parents are more strict (than American parents)," Reddy said. If she wants to go out at 7 or 8 p.m., she said it's "too late".
She said that they did not understand why she was doing community service, since it is not widely practiced in India. Service for family was common, but not service for the community at large.
However, coming to the United States has taught Reddy to stand up for herself.
"You just need to step out of your parents' shadow and grow and be yourself," she said.
Reddy said she hopes to continue community service on the side.
"I try to do what I can," she said. "It's giving back to India."
After she finishes her bachelor's degree and medical school, Reddy said she wants to return to India.
"In the long run, I plan to go back to India and set up a practice," she said.
For now, Reddy contents herself with her chemistry workshop and tutoring, she said.
She did the chemistry work "since I'm so into helping people," Reddy said.
With all her classes and extracurricular activities, Reddy's said her volunteer work can be stressful.
"It does take a lot out of you," Reddy said.
However, she plans to continue helping others and make a difference, she said.
"The satisfaction is so amazing," Reddy said.
Cultural background "never played a role" for professor
Dressed in flowing saris, Manjari Ohala does not resemble many of the professors in the English and linguistics departments.
Ohala is one of the few Indian women who is a fully tenured professor on campus.
When she first came to SJSU 30 years ago, she said she did not know any other Indian women who were teaching. Her other Indian colleagues were men teaching in engineering and the sciences.
"Even now, probably among the faculty, they're (Indians) rather few," Ohala said.
Ohala was born in what is now Pakistan, before India and Pakistan separated in 1947. She grew up speaking Hindi, her native tongue, she said.
She said she became interested in linguistics when she was introduced to the literature of Sanskrit and Hindi.
In order to analyze these texts, she needed to know linguistics, which became her area of study.
"I am, by training, a linguist," Ohala said.
Ohala first studied in India and eventually earned a doctorate in linguistics from UCLA. She moved to the Bay Area with her husband, who works at UC Berkeley, she said.
She taught Hindi for a year at UC Berkeley, but she said she wanted to teach linguistics. She filled a parttime position at SJSU and has been here since 1974.
She said she has never felt discriminated against for her culture.
"It never played any role," Ohala said. "Linguists are very tolerant people because the subject matter that we study are different languages, different cultures. So as far as my linguistics colleagues having differences of opinion, it would not have been based on my cultural background. It would have been some issues that would have come up."
Ohala's choice of clothing was not an issue either, she said.
"I never wore skirts or blouses," Ohala said. "I have friends in corporations who must conform."
She said at first no one mentioned her clothing, but now students ask her about her attire.
"My students accept it," Ohala said. "They feel that they can be accepted for their culture."
She said she has seen more Indian and Pakistani students in the last 10 to 15 years. However, she gets about one Indian student every few semesters.
"The (Indian students) are in the hard sciences," Ohala said, which include computer science and engineering.
In her time at SJSU, Ohala said she has seen the campus become more diverse.
"I think that my students accept it," she said.
Professor teaches Indian literature of love
A turban and full beard earn Atamjit Singh attention in airports and luggage checks. Singh, a lecturer in Punjabi in the foreign languages department, is a
Sikh, and to remove his turban is not appropriate for his culture, he said. The word "Sikh" is Punjabi for "disciple" to the Gurus. It is not a branch of Hinduism, according to the BBC Guide to World Religions.
"There's pressure to conform," Singh said.
Because of his appearance, he said he is sometimes mistaken as a Muslim, particularly after Sept. 11.
He said that some people who look Middle Eastern were killed and shot at in America, but he believes that violence is not the answer.
"The best way is not to fight back but to educate," Singh said.
Singh said he teaches his students to be tolerant by talking about his culture.
"(When I teach), it's not just teaching languages but planting the seeds of social, cultural background," he said.
When he teaches his students poetry, he says they bring their experience of the poetry to American life.
"The (Sikh) poetry is about love for the whole humanity," Singh said.
By focusing on love and acceptance, students can express their diversity, he said.
"Students play a unique role about extending education about themselves to American society," Singh said. Singh was educated in India, earning a doctorate from the University of Delhi. His thesis was "The Topic of Love in the Literature of Punjab," he said. Singh's native tongue is Punjabi.
He said that Sikh literature describes man's love with God using metaphors such as love between husband and wife.
"The first Sikh guru made an open declaration that he was neither Muslim or Hindu, but was a man of God and had come to sing His glories," Singh said.
After writing his doctoral thesis, Singh trained in linguistics and went into teaching.
"You reach out, help students," he said. "Extend and take generosity to other people."
He said he wants his students to be more comfortable expressing themselves.
"Different minorities here in the United States, they are like a group of flowers," Singh said. "Flowers of different blooms and colors, but all of them have their own fragrance and they have their own smells."
Singh said that being distinct is acceptable in America.
"That American dream is celebrating diversity," he said.
However, being unique can be harmonious as well, Singh said.
"It's not different, it becomes one,"
he said.
