American Daughters of India: The Immigrant Experience

Urmi Otiv
  • 5.0 (8)
  • Personal Journals
  • Updated Biweekly

A podcast for all Indian women and those who would like to know them better.

Episodes

  1. Self Confidence & Career in the United States

    05/07/2025

    Self Confidence & Career in the United States

    Even with a professional science degree from India, our guest found herself working in a department store when she immigrated to the U.S. However, she chose to take this experience as an opportunity – an opportunity to learn the American language, accent and the system. Now she is established in her own field as a scientist, but reflects on her retail experience as pivotal in developing her confidence and sense of self in a new country.

  2. Episode 09: The value of Being Openminded

    04/30/2025

    Episode 09: The value of Being Openminded

    In this episode, my guest shares her experiences about how she had to let go almost everything she had learnt while growing up in India to build a new life with her husband who had not lived in India for a very long time,  and her American-born children. By staying flexible and open-minded, she transformed in ways she herself could not have imagined!

  3. Finding A Cultural Balance In The U.S.

    04/23/2025

    Finding A Cultural Balance In The U.S.

    In this episode, our guest reflects on what we gain by living in the United States. Through her own experience, she shows that it's possible for American culture to positively enrich and influence your life while still holding onto the Indian value system and family ties you grew up with. It is about arriving at a fine balance within yourself and with your current environment.

  4. Overcoming a Nightmare in the First Five Years

    04/16/2025

    Overcoming a Nightmare in the First Five Years

    What started as a series of unbelievably scary nightmares, eventually turned around completely with patience and perseverance! In this episode, our guest recounts the rough start she had as a newly arrived immigrant; however, by staying focused on the real purpose of her stay in this country, she was able to overcome these deeply disturbing obstacles & built a successful life for herself in the United States.

  5. Building a Better Life in the United States

    04/09/2025

    Building a Better Life in the United States

    In this episode, our guest shows us that where there's a will, there's a way! Coming to the U.S. to provide her children with a better life was initially difficult without compromising her own career. While it was taxing (physically, emotionally, financially), and full of critical sacrifices; our guest proves that determination and commitment go a long way.

    23 min
  6. Being a Homemaker in the United States

    04/02/2025

    Being a Homemaker in the United States

    Even with a degree in computer science from India, our guest had a clear vision for her future: She always wanted to be a helpful homemaker and a loving mother. In this episode, our guest explores the pros and cons of being a homemaker in India vs. the U.S. While she personally prefers the organized lifestyle of America, she reflects on growing up in India with her mother as her sole mentor. We also discuss what we learn by raising a family in a new country, and the cultural differences between her and her U.S. born children.

    30 min
  7. Navigating Professional Transformation

    03/26/2025

    Navigating Professional Transformation

    Navigating a new workplace as an immigrant is never easy. From language barriers, to cultural and social differences, many immigrants feel isolated and cast out by their professional peers. In this episode, our guest reflects on the very real prejudice she felt in her career and how she overcame it. What began as an insecurity-- the color of her skin and accent—she turned it around as her source of strength.

  8. Thirty Years of Personal and Social Transformation

    03/12/2025

    Thirty Years of Personal and Social Transformation

    The most unexpected part of the immigrant experience is the unique way we change after living abroad. In this episode, our guest shares the ways she has grown and changed after living outside India for 30 years, despite the fact that her family and friends say that she has “not changed at all.”.

    25 min
  9. Building Community in the First 5 Years

    03/05/2025

    Building Community in the First 5 Years

    The first five years are notoriously difficult for most immigrants in the U.S. In this episode, our guest recounts her initial years settling in a new country, and how the time and investment she made in her family aided the transition. From supporting her husband through his grad school, to taking an active role in her kids’ education and upbringing, she managed to build a community for herself.

    19 min
  10. Moving to the U.S. as a rich 'Dhobi ka kutta!'

    02/26/2025

    Moving to the U.S. as a rich 'Dhobi ka kutta!'

    In this episode, our guest talks about wanting to be ‘ a rich dhobi ka kutta’ - the washerman’s dog that gets fed twice. We immigrants should aim to make our lives twice as rich - with two countries to call our own, two cultures to learn from, and several places to call home. A perfect way to be an immigrant in the U.S.

    29 min
  11. Introduction

    02/19/2025

    Introduction

    Welcome to “American Daughters of India; The Immigrant Experience” (ADI). This episode is an introduction to this podcast series, it tells you everything you need to know, and what to expect from it.

    5 min
  • 11 Episodes

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A podcast for all Indian women and those who would like to know them better.

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