Vignesh Babaiah was born in Bengaluru and grew up in Hyderabad. Raised in a close-knit Telugu family, he was constantly surrounded by family and friends, who showered tons of affection, care and love.
He went to graduate school (Computer Science) in 2013 at the Northwest Missouri State University and has worked/lived in several states across the US. He has been in Dallas since 2016.
He says that it has been an interesting journey to find himself, form his identity in the LGBTQIA+ community and learn how to embrace it every day that he exists. He has learnt to make his own traditions, unlearning and relearning ways of approaching life.
He is grateful to every person, situation and feeling that made him who he is and all that which is yet to come.
Please note that this is a segment that aired on Radio Caravan, Dallas, on June 22, 2023, to spread awareness during the Pride Month. It doesn't have his entire personal story and is just a small excerpt from his journey, but the full interview will follow.
Shyraa Roy is a Pakistani Singer and an actress. She started her journey in 2016 with cameo roles in bollywood movies like Mohenjodaro, Saaho and Street dancer and ended up working with B-town celebrities.
Shyraa is a transgender women with gender dysphoria, a condition which involves a conflict between a person’s physical or assigned gender and the gender with which he/she/they identify. Shyraa felt that her gender was not alligned and she coorected that with surgery. She now feels whole and correct and continues to fight the constant judgement that she faces from society.
After many struggles and uphill battles, Shyraa is now a playback singer, in Bollywood. Her first single, Raat, was picked up by the famous director, Vikram Bhatt, and used in his movie. This was her first musical break in Bollywood.
Shyraa is also a producer and writer who owns a media company called Roy Motion Pictures.
Avani is the second daughter of Indian immigrants who moved to the U.S. in the 1970s. After being born in Pennsylvania, she lived in several different states before moving to Texas when she was 10 years old. She has spent most of her life here and now works at a large research university as a career coach for health professions students. She is passionate about animals, the environment, and helping create a world where there is more open dialogue rather than censoring opinions that may make us uncomfortable. She truly believes there are teachers all around us from the tiniest ant to the largest whale in the ocean.
This interview is split into two parts. You are listening to Part 2 of Avani’s journey where she talks about her mother, Pragna Trivedi’s, incredible response and support after she got to know about Avani’s identity. You will also hear about her mother’s own journey as a child raised in a large joint family in India, to migrating to the States, to making the leap from a homemaker to a career woman, all the while ensuring that she never neglected her family’s needs.
We’ll continue from where we left Part 1.
Avani is the second daughter of Indian immigrants who moved to the U.S. in the 1970s. After being born in Pennsylvania, she lived in several different states before moving to Texas when she was 10 years old. She has spent most of her life here and now works at a large research university as a career coach for health professions students. She is passionate about animals, the environment, and helping create a world where there is more open dialogue rather than censoring opinions that may make us uncomfortable. She truly believes there are teachers all around us from the tiniest ant to the largest whale in the ocean.
This interview is split into two parts. You are listening to Part 1 in which you will get to hear about Avani’s journey right until the point where she came out to her mother.
To hear about her mother’s side of the story, please listen to Part 2.
Brinda Dass was born and raised in India and currently works as a science and policy expert in Maryland. They moved to the US to pursue a Ph D in cell and molecular biology and have since worked as a researcher, University professor, and scientist in Texas, California, and Maryland over the past 25 years. They are a graduate of Texas Tech University and University of Maryland-Baltimore in the US having first completed degrees at Madras Christian college and University of Poona in India. Obviously they are a glutton for academic rigor 😬
They live with their partner, also a scientist, two Maine Coons cats, and a dog.
They love the outdoors especially rock climbing, hiking, camping, kayaking, and photography especially macro photographs of insects and other creatures.
They are very active in the LGBT sports community in the DC/MD/VA area especially in helping minority folx find a safe and accessible space in the rock climbing community.
They are definitely very much gay!!
Kandeel Javid is an Pakistani American from New York. He has a Bachelors of Engineering from Stony Brook and graduate level education from Harvard. He is an Engineer, and an Adjunct Professor of Mathematics. He is a certified Imaam and a community co-Director of a local chapter of Muslims for Progressive Values. He has been happily in a relationship with his partner for about 3 years. In his free time, he and his partner like to go for hikes, sight seeing and traveling.
In addition to being on this podcast, this interview was also aired on Radio Caravan (www.radiocaravan.com) as part of our inclusivity series. The views expressed are that of the host and the guest, and not the radio station or any of its affiliates.
Before listening any further, please remember that this segment is intended to educate, not offend, and may not be suitable for children.
Farrah Ahmed is an attorney practicing in Dallas, Texas. Farrah is a Bangladeshi-Pakistani-American who was born in the Middle East and grew up in Dallas.
She went to SMU for undergrad and law school at Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan.
Being South Asian, Muslim, and queer, Farrah long thought she was a walking contradiction. She was able to accept herself and find acceptance by her family through years of self-care, honest and at times, uncomfortable dialogue, dispelling myths and falsehoods, and recognizing you can’t win every fight or change every mind, but they can’t stop you either. Her experiences and life-long interest in history, politics, and law affirm her belief that minority groups should support one another so that all citizens, irrespective of their race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, age, religion, sexuality and gender identity are treated with dignity and respect and are accorded equal rights.
Outside of the courtroom, Farrah loves spending time with her wife and twins, cooking and grilling, comedy, and playing crossword puzzles and trivia.
Please note that some portions in this interview have been bleeped to maintain privacy.
In addition to being on this podcast, this interview was also aired on Radio Caravan (www.radiocaravan.com) as part of our inclusivity series. The views expressed are that of the host and the guest, and not the radio station or any of its affiliates.
Before listening any further, please remember that this segment is intended to educate, not offend, and may not be suitable for children.
Ash was born and brought up in 'dil walon ke shehr’, Delhi. She grew up eating choley bhature, pav bhaji, aloo paratha, sarson ka saag. No prizes for guessing that she is a foodie! 😊 She completed her first masters in Biotechnology and recently completed her second masters in Management. Her mantra in life is "Learn from the past, Live in the present and Believe in the future”. An ardent admirer of The Bhagavad Gita, she feels that the only thing which is changeless is change.
In addition to being on this podcast, this interview was also aired on Radio Caravan (www.radiocaravan.com) as part of our inclusivity series. The views expressed are that of the host and the guest, and not the radio station or any of its affiliates.
Before listening any further, please remember that this segment is intended to educate, not offend, and may not be suitable for children.
Bhawna works as a Category Manager in the States. She moved to USA in 2015. She has lived mostly in the northern part of India but has also experienced southern culture. She is a great admirer of our beautiful, colorful, and diverse Indian ethos. In her spare time, she loves to cook, eat, spend time with family & friends, and watch movies or comedy shows. Causes that she cares about are environmental issues (plastic pollution) and human rights. It amazes her how our cultural heritage shapes one's thinking process. This thought has always motivated her to meet with people of diverse backgrounds (culture, religion, education, and geography).
Please note that some portions in this interview have been bleeped to maintain privacy.
In addition to being on this podcast, this interview was also aired on Radio Caravan (www.radiocaravan.com) as part of our inclusivity series. The views expressed are that of the host and the guest, and not the radio station or any of its affiliates.
Before listening any further, please remember that this segment is intended to educate, not offend, and may not be suitable for children.
Amal Ahmed is ethnically of Pakistani descent, but was born and raised in the Middle East. After graduating from high school, she moved to the United States to pursue a higher education. She completed her Bachelor’s in Architecture and her Master’s in Structural engineering at the University of Texas in Arlington. She is proud to call DFW her home for over 20 years. She has been married to her wife for 9 years and they have 2 beautiful children. She is passionate about her family, her work, and creating awareness about the intersectionality and diversity of families, not only in the South Asian community, but also in the LGBTQ community.
In addition to being on this podcast, this interview was also aired on Radio Caravan (www.radiocaravan.com) as part of our inclusivity series. The views expressed are that of the host and the guest, and not the radio station or any of its affiliates.
Before listening any further, please remember that this segment is intended to educate, not offend, and may not be suitable for children.
Vishal Rajpal is from Raipur, Chhattisgarh. He came to the US in 2014 to do his masters in Construction Engineering and Management and is currently working as a Construction Estimator. 2017 was a significant year for him. He came out to his friends in 2017 and also got married to his love, Franco, that year. He feels very proud and confident to be gay. The moment he started appreciating his true identity, he never looked back. He felt like he was finally happy.
In addition to being on this podcast, this interview was also aired on Radio Caravan (www.radiocaravan.com) as part of our inclusivity series. The views expressed are that of the host and the guest, and not the radio station or any of its affiliates.
Before listening any further, please remember that this segment is intended to educate, not offend, and may not be suitable for children.
Dr. Pranav Gupta grew up in the capital city of India, New Delhi. He moved to USA to pursue his residency in pediatrics and is starting fellowship in Pediatric Endocrinology at Emory university School of Medicine soon. He is passionate about endocrine disorders and LGBTQ+ healthcare.
In addition to being on this podcast, this interview was also aired on Radio Caravan (www.radiocaravan.com) as part of our inclusivity series. The views expressed are that of the host and the guest, and not the radio station or any of its affiliates.
Before listening any further, please remember that this segment is intended to educate, not offend, and may not be suitable for children.
Arvind Neelakantan (aka Dr. Neel), is from Bombay and has been an active member of the DFW community for the past 14 years. Dr. Neel is an ophthalmologist with a special interest in glaucoma and cataract surgery. He is openly gay, having come out 7 years ago, has one son and is passionate about Desi LGBTQ issues.
In addition to being on this podcast, this interview was also aired on Radio Caravan (www.radiocaravan.com) as part of our inclusivity series. The views expressed are that of the host and the guest, and not the radio station or any of its affiliates.
Before listening any further, please remember that this segment is intended to educate, not offend, and may not be suitable for children.