The Motel Patels Built Empires. For Younger Generations, It’s Complicated.
Gujarati Americans own over 60% of America’s motels. But, for some, joining the family business is too close to home.
Mehr Singh
How Cruises Became South Asian Getaways
Bollywood and value for money ignited our wanderlust. Now, those approaching retirement and seeking comfort are some of the industry’s newest patrons.
How Shan Masala Spiced Up Diaspora Tables
Despite competition and import bans, the Pakistani venture built a global, $250 million business whose fans swear by its innovative spice blends.
How Singer Set South Asian Women Up For Success
The American sewing machine had a slow start in the Indian subcontinent. Today, it has changed women’s finances, and futures, forever.
How Kumon Bred Persistence and Panic Among South Asians
The after-school program was a fixture for the South Asian diaspora. But, after peaking in the 2000s, does it now hold the same draw?
Haleem, Now Available Near You
For many, the meat-and-pulse stew is a rare, Ramadan tradition. Now, chefs are bringing it, along with inventive modifications, to the masses.
Padma Lakshmi on ‘Taste the Nation’ Season 2: “To Eat is Political”
We chatted with the food writer and TV host about how American food is immigrant food, why she doesn’t care about what the 1% eats, and what’s next.
Bikram Choudhury, the Sexual Predator Who Built a Yoga Empire
How a boy from Bengal founded Bikram Yoga and minted millions, only to abuse his students and escape justice.
Badminton’s Grand Comeback
In India, a country where cricket is a religion, the racquet sport is becoming a booming business.
How Ferrero Rocher Melted South Asian Hearts
And why the significance of the once gold standard of gifting is no longer the same.
How Horlicks, Bournvita, and Complan Took Over India
World War I, celebrity ads, and scare tactics ensured that a Western concoction became a mainstay for the subcontinent and its diaspora.
Saravana Bhavan: Dosa, With a Side of Murder
Around 20 years ago, a Chennai court convicted the infamous restaurant chain’s founder of murder. What happened next was equally surprising.
The Mangalsutra, a Mark of Marital Bliss?
How a necklace that emerged around a century ago became a big business and the epitome of marital sanctity — and how its meaning is now changing.
The Death of Paan
How the tricornered treat, once a cornerstone of South Asian life and art, has slipped to the periphery.
‘Who is Amritpal Singh?’ is the Wrong Question
This is not a story about the separatist leader, whom few support, but about the decades-long oppression of the people of Punjab.
Raquel Evita Saraswati, the Race-Baiting, Hijabi Hoaxer
How a “white as snow” activist spread Islamophobia while pretending to be South Asian, Muslim, Hispanic, and Arab.
How Amrita Sher-Gil Found Home, One Painting at a Time
The queer, Indian Hungarian painter revolutionized art by blending the East and the West, championing the female gaze, and celebrating herself.
Kali, the Avenging Goddess Within Every Woman
The Hindu god known for her fury and vengeance is a man’s worst nightmare — a testament to female power in all its forms.
Why India is Half an Hour Off Global Time Zones
Colonial control, nation-building, and political rivalry dictated elements of subcontinental life — including time itself.
Catherine Duleep Singh, the Queer, Sikh, Nazi-Defiant Princess
The lesser-known story of a Punjabi heiress who fought for women’s rights and was an extraordinary Jewish ally.
Zeenat Aman Was Never Just a Glamour Girl
The Bollywood icon is the zenith of celebrity Instagram with her radical honesty on social media. Those who are surprised are simply late to the party.
The Kaurs of 1984: The Unsung Heroes of India’s Anti-Sikh Genocide
When the government and police watched Delhi burn, Sikh women stepped in and saved hundreds of lives.
Wazwan and the Fight to Keep the 36-Course Kashmiri Feast Alive
How Kashmiris around the world are championing the ancient meal once fit for kings as its chefs slowly dwindle.
Shakira Baksh is Much More Than “Michael Caine’s Wife”
The Indo-Guyanese model broke barriers in British film and fashion, yet the media too often reduces her to a particular actor’s spouse.
Doja Cat is Not Indian. Here’s Why We Love Her Anyway.
Amala Ratna grew up in an ashram learning Bharatanatyam and bhajans, but has no Indian roots. This hasn’t deterred South Asian fans from claiming her.
Saffron, the Hue of the Gods Enmeshed in Scandal
How the color that once conveyed divinity, piety, and national pride became weaponized.
Hot Tamale Louie: The Pakistani, Tamale-Slinging Cowboy
How Zarif Khan changed a Wyoming town and redefined what it means to be American.
Merle Oberon, the Actor Who Passed for White
The first Asian to be nominated for a Best Actress Oscar maintained a lie she would take to her grave. Who was she really?
Trinidadian Doubles, the Unlikely Street Food Hit
How the national dish lifted families out of poverty, led to a family feud, and changed Caribbean cuisine forever.
‘Seinfeld’ Failed South Asians. We Watched Anyway.
The popular sitcom’s depictions of “poor immigrants,” India, and Pakistan were grossly racist. So why can’t we quit the show?
How Indo-Fijians Found a Home in California
Centuries of colonial abuse and decades of discrimination fueled an exodus to a state where about 75% of Fijian Americans live today.
Ethiopian and Indian Food: An Interconnected History
Sambusa and samosa. Injera and appam. Misir wot and dal. How over 2,000 years of trade shaped the cuisines of the two ancient cultures.
How the World Lost Dhaka Muslin
Once Bengal’s pride, the translucent fabric vanished under the British. Centuries later, can Bangladesh now resurrect it?
Madhur Jaffrey, Always the Perfectionist
The chef, actor, and writer showed the West that Indian cooking was worthwhile and Indian women had bite. And she still has several projects up her sleeve.
How India Became a Nation of Eggetarians
The egg’s prominence in the Indian vegetarian diet is a point of contention. The perennial question is: are eggs meat?
Homeopathy in South Asia: Snake Oil or Salve?
How a German semi-scientific approach to curing disease became big business in the subcontinent.
In Tadka We Trust
Each drop is a sensory universe. Here’s how the technique as old as time came to define South Asian cuisines.
Paisley: The World’s Oldest Form of Cultural Appropriation?
How Europe stole one of the oldest block prints from Indian, Iranian, and Kashmiri weavers — and why everyone from The Beatles to Bollywood donned it.
How Tandoori Chicken Took Over South Asian Thanksgiving Tables
For the diaspora, the no-frills dish has become a curious fixture of the iconic holiday meal.
