India Is Hurting

Let’s Do Something to Change That

In my two most recent posts, I shared a few of my perspectives on community with you. This week, I want to highlight a community that really matters to me: the Indian community.

I was born and raised in America, but my roots in Indian culture are still very strong. Even though I have spent no more than one cumulative year living in my ancestral motherland, I consider its natives ‘my people’.

Indian-American Ambivalence

As a first-generation Indian-American, I view ideas like safety and freedom with a dual lens. The American in me sees them as a basic human right, while the Indian in me sees them as a luxury. This ambivalent mindset makes India’s current state extremely difficult to process. 

S. Mitra Kalita @mitrakalita

To be desi right now is to have feeds teetering between America: vaccines available for all, extra doses here there everywhere, selfies of joy and reunions ... AND India: friends and family begging for beds and oxygen and prayers, hoping they live to dose 1 or 2.

More Than Just Headlines

As I’m sure y’all have seen in the recent headlines, India is hurting. Today I want to highlight how these are more than just headlines. It is personal for me and a lot of people in the Indian community. Over the last 2 weeks, I’ve received daily calls informing me of yet another family member, friend, coworker, or acquaintance who has passed at the hands of coronavirus.  

That’s why I want to leverage Stories by Shiv to raise awareness and funds for Covid relief in India this week. If you are looking to securely donate, my company is matching 100% of donations. 

You can send me your donations on Venmo @shahshivani, and I will follow up with a receipt confirming submission.

Thank you,

Shiv

---

FYI: These dollars will be distributed evenly across the following organizations:

• Charities Aid Foundation India: Implementing large scale humanitarian projects and mobilizing resources for frontline workers, doctors, nurses and other essential service providers.

• GiveIndia: Providing a safety net to daily wage worker families by giving a minimum wage in cash directly to these families. 

• Goonj: Working with over 400 partner organisations to provide essentials to vulnerable communities during these tough times and to drive economic recovery. 

• United Way of Mumbai: Supporting local hospitals and civic bodies with medical supplies and protective equipment.