Meet Your Neighbor

Manjula Mair Gupta is the Founder/President of the “Chai with Manjula organization. She is also the producer, director and host of the TV show “Chai with Manjula’ – a show about giving. Manjula is working passionately towards developing initiatives to promote philanthropy. The weekly TV show airs on Public Access Television in the Bay Area.

Pooja Sankar is an IIT'ian and Stanford graduate who founded Piazza so every student can have that opportunity to learn from his/her classmates. An idea (a phenomenon actually!!) conceived in 2009 by a shy girl from a small town in India has seen explosive growth.

Narpat Bhandari is one of those successful emigrants from India who achieved success in his ventures abroad. He has 30 patents and papers in the field of semiconductors, software and High Definition Television (HDTV); chaired professorial position at University of California in Santa Cruz; amongst the top 10 Indian Americans honored by NFIA; founded many successful start-ups & non-profit called The Indus Entrepreneur (TiE). He is now CEO of Global School of Silicon Valley. Get to know Narpat Bhandari as he talks to our team on all things bay.

Anamika Khanna, a British-born, lawyer-turned-mother-turned-chef & partner of Kasa Eatery in San Francisco. Anamika's been cooking Indian food since she was a little girl growing up in London and India, Kasa is her vision of Indian food with a broader audience.  They have got accolades from local media and numerous awards. She has also written a children's book  “The Mischievous Monkey ”, teaches cooking classes in SF and a good poker player.

Farhana Huq started her own organization called C.E.O. Women that allows  immigrant and refugee women become more self-sufficient by teaching them how to start their own business and learning vocational English as a second language (ESL) courses.

Councilmember Ash Kalra earned his seat on the San José City Council in the November 4, 2008 election. He is amongst the first South Asian to hold a significant position in elected office. For 11 years, he worked as an attorney for the Santa Clara County Public Defender's Office representing indigent clients in Drug Court prior to being elected. He has also taught as a part-time professor at San Jose State University.

Prasad Kaipa is Executive Director, Emeritus. He has advised CEOs and coached Executive Teams in the areas of Innovation, Business Transformation, Decision Making, Strategic Thinking and Personal Mastery. Some of his clients include HP, CISCO, Disney, Adobe, Apple, Xerox, Boeing, Mastek, BAE Systems Mastek and Navteq. Dr. Kaipa is a visiting faculty at the Indian School of Business and part-time faculty at the Saybrook Graduate School. Get to know Prasad as he talks to our team on all things bay.

Naeem is a world citizen whose career was shaped in the high-tech industry having started or worked at seven companies and advised several dozen startups. He has distilled his knowledge and personal experiences in his writings and teaching to help guide entrepreneurs all over the world. He is a faculty member of the Berkeley-Haas business school at the University of California, Entrepreneur, Mentor and authored many books benefiting entrepreneurs. Get to know Naeem as he talks to our team on all things bay.

Mona Sampath as many of us know her is a dance choreographer, instructor & Bollywood fitness GURU. The name has become the closest synonym for anything Bollywood in the San Francisco Bay Area. From Shahrukh to Ranbir, Karishma to Shilpa & Akki (Akshay Kumar) to A.R. Rehman, all have danced on her tune. We have seen her spectacular dance sequences and known her as an amazing artist, today let's get to know Mona's personal side as she talks to Bay Area Desi about all things bay!!

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Shekhar Rahate is a popular name in fashion designing with choreographing for Femina Miss India, Finesse, fashion shows with top models, launched his brand “Tathastu” and  worked in Tyra bank's ’s “America’s next top model”. Shekhar has been honored by Cambridge who’s who of America. Shekhar talks to Bay Area Desi about all things bay!

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