Interviewer: Hi, Good Morning Neeraj. We're from the San Jose State University Library the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I: library, and I'm Mantra Roy. I'm the Open Education librarian an I: this is my colleague, Bernd Becker
I: using the camera. So we are working on an Oral History project to capture the
I: various ways that Desi identity can be described in
I: Silicon Valley.
I: So we start with a few questions. N: Sure. I: just to and you know
I: it's really a conversation. It's like, to know about you
I: and your work in Silicon Valley, so
I: just to get started. Tell us a little bit about yourself to describe your journey up until now.
Neeraj: Well, I was a banker in India, but my passion was always towards the media; so in
N: 1997 got an opportunity to work in Bollywood I: Hmm. N: for a production company and that production
N: company was based out of New York
N: I've worked with them---
N: for couple of years in Bombay, then I got an opportunity to come here to do some events.
N: With the same company, so that's how my journey started with the US.
N: ---
N: I landed here just one month before 9/11 happened.
N: So
I: And you were in New York?
N: I was in New York that time. We were shooting for a
N: TV serial for Zee TV that time in New York City.
N: And then unfortunately the thing we know 9/11 happened.
N: After that company
N: gave me more
N: opportunities to work for the media.
N: They gave me opportunity to work for an advertising company and they have different branches in New York City and,
N: they all, they also used to run a new, they still run a newspaper called Indian Express.
N: I'm still the, you know, the business head for West Coast for them.
N: And it's, it's a newspaper from India; you know that, it's Indian Express.
N: Then they, they give me the opportunity in
N: 2007 to shift to San Francisco because
N: we used to have only East Coast Edition that time and my boss told me, you know,
N: Why not you go there and it's a big Indian community in San Francisco coming up and let's start a, you know,
N: a West Coast Edition there.
N: Then I, they shifted me and the other reason of shifting, you know, I was little,
N: not that comfortable in New York City because it's a lot of, you know, the winter was like
I: Laugh
N: Laugh
N: Too bad there, you know, and people told me other weather wise and you know, California is really good.
N: So I took the opportunity. I landed here in 2007, started the newspaper
N: called Indian Express, it's still printed in the West Coast
N: and then in
N: 2009 I saw that Indian community is growing like anything. I mean a lot of immigration is happening.
N: In fact when I went for my working visa, U.S. Consulates, I
N: got my visa because you know that Officer said you are the first one who is coming as a media
N: Laugh......
I: Laugh
N: Otherwise, everyone else is like, you know, techie! So he said after like
N: so many weeks I'm looking for somebody who's applying for some different visa.
N: So he was excited too, I was excited too and then I was fortunate to get visa,
N: working visa for immediate (inaudible)
N: Then I landed here in San Francisco.
N: I saw that lot of Indian community is growing here, and there is very less media opportunity.
N: I mean there was few newspapers
I: Hmm
N: But there was nothing else. I: Hmm..
N: So then it came to my mind because I, I saw radio working in New Jersey and New York and
I: Hmm
N: People were like very, you know,
N: dedicatedly or and you know, follow that radio, used to call like ABC Radio, I still remember,
I: Okay
N: in New York City. So I thought, you know, there is a very good opportunity to start a radio.
N: But radio is very expensive; so somehow I found a broker. I went to him I said, you know
N: I want to start a radio station here. He said, no, Indian population is very less.
N: You can't you know, I don't think radio can work here
I: Hmm
N: for a particular language.
N: ---
I: And you have mostly Hindi language content, right?
N: We have all Hindi and English but cater to only Indian community.
I: Right.
N: So then he said no, it's not a, you know, good market right now and
N: he didn't give me that much of, you know,
N: What you follow it is time. He said no, don't waste your time and then after one year, then somebody started at AC
N: Station called 1170. Yeah, and
N: it started doing very well. People, everyone was talking about it and
N: I went back to my broker and said, See?
N: The radio has started. You didn't give me the opportunity. You now see how it is working. So find me a station now.
N: He said no, there is already one radio station. So
N: that is enough for your community.
N: I don't think another radio station can work and then eventually I was able to convince him
N: and he found me a station
N: called
N: 1550 AM.
N: It was owned by CBS. We, we started very well. 1550, people started liking it.
N: What I did different from other stations was I bought the content from India. So we
N: we, we made a studio in India.
N: We've hired people in India and they made a programming for us instead of. We also had few people here
N: but the kind of, you know,
N: people, the RJ's you get in India, you don't find them here.
N: But eventually,
I: not even in the Indian population here?
N: Eventually, we found like a lot of them but to start a radio station, you know
I: hmm
N: very first day, it was very difficult to find you know, yeah, somehow, people started, like, a
N: s,tation and became overnight a very popular station and
I: hmm
N: the rest is history. [Laugh]
I: Yeah yeah its a very well known station.
N: So eventually we
N: So we left 1550, we went to
N: 1170
N: last year because of a bigger frequency and ...
N: Now it's from 1550 now we're on 1170; that's how we
I: So how many RJ's work with you here? N: Uh, we have 40+ RJ's here. Yes
I: All stationed in this office in San Jose?
N: Yes, most of them are. We have three in house and rest of them, they come and go. I mean most of them are
N: technical people but they have a passion towards RJ.
N: What we do is we do RJ hunt every year. So every year we find one two
N: different RJ's, you know. They've worked in India for some radio station. I: Oh, I see.
I: That's great. N: Yeah, that's interesting.
I: Yeah
I: So when you made the move to San Francisco,(a) of course the weather appealed
I: And the fact that you know that the Indian community was growing on the west coast
N: I took it as a challenge, you know, I thought, you know, this is the market and there is nothing here
N: So it's a good opportunity to do something. I: Right. So over these years like, what does
I: what is being Desi
I: mean to you here like in Silicon Valley? Like you have lived in New York City or worked there, you know Indian content,
I: but doing it here. How is it different? How is being Desi different here? N: Okay.
N: The crowd, the kind of people in
N: east coast are different
N: compared to the west coast.
N: The main difference is here, the most of the people are techie people.
N: In east coast most of them are business oriented. I: Hmmm.
N: The culture is different. Here, they're, I would say they're more educated
N: community. It's much younger. In New Jersey,
N: they are like second and third generation now.
N: But here it was
N: the first generation which was coming, migrating from India and they still have that Indian thing in them.
N: So, the moment they were landing here, they were missing that thing.
I: Okay. N: That culture, you know, because obviously you are the first generation
N: So, so you, a lot of things you miss in India. Have so many RJ's here.
N: They just came here like eight or ten years back.
N: They still go every year,
N: you know, twice or three because they miss India so much.
N: So I thought why not we get something here, which is which they miss in India. So I
[Phone ringing]
N: So I spoke to couple of people. They said, you know, we miss the Indian radio station here, so
N: that was also in my mind while I was looking for a radio station, right?
I: So in terms of programming, like, you do, you have music programs. You have chat, talk shows on different topics.
I: How do you decide on what is going to appeal to the Desi community?
N: Okay, the thing is when we started this station, so we found that a lot of,
N: you know,
N: Desis which are here,
N: they not only wanted to listen to music, music because in music there are so many apps
N: there are so many, you know things you can just
N: click it and listen to anything you want to?
N: So we thought, why not we create something interesting where people talk about so many things and which
N: educate them also at the same time?
N: So, so we made this
N: station like you know, it's not a
N: entertainment attempt, is an infotainment station.
N: So here you will get the information you educate them with
N: nice good educated people plus we will give you entertainment at the same time. So whenever we
N: we
N: have any client coming in, so we wanted to make sure you know he is well educated in his own field.
N: He talks well and he connects good with Indian community.
N: So these are the three different things and if it doesn't, we train them,
N: you know, how to talk on radio.
I: Do you think over the years when you started, say in 2009 right? and 2019, 10 years,
I: do you think the way you appeal to the Desi community has had to change over the years? N: Ummmm
N: Means in terms of what?
I: The content that you have been preparing. Like, so people who came into 2010 and
I: people who are coming now. N: Yes Yes, so eventually you'll learn so many things over the period.
N: You know what people like, what people don't like. So we yes, we do changes according to, you know,
N: we take suggestions from people and people do call us. I mean, oh, I don't like this kind of language,
N: I don't like this kind of program, why you are giving so much of, you know.
N: We have some kind of programming which sometimes people don't like it.
N: And here people they have so many means of reaching us. I: Hmm.
N: They just go to our website email at so this was garbage or this was good. So we get those feedbacks and
N: on basis of that we, we decide what, what is working what is not working I: Right.
I: So, so you identify yourself as a Desi of Silicon Valley?
N: Of course, yes.
I: So, how, how do you describe that? What does that mean to you? N: Desi, Desi means, you know
N: Laughing.
N: Okay, first of all
N: Food. I: yes. N: Okay. We eat Desi food every day, you know, I travel a lot and
Everywhere I go I always look for an Indian restaurant. I: Okay. Hmm.
That’s the first Desi thing I have.
I: This area is full of
N: This area is full of Desi yeah, so
N: Of course, we can't, we can't leave that. That is in our blood.
N: So, of course we try to change ourselves according to the American culture, but end of the day,
N: you know, we miss what you know, we got in our blood from India.
I: So food is one part of N: food is one part of it and dress up. You will see you know, I always
N: follow the
N: Indians,
N: you know, clothing style. I don't follow still, don't follow that American side. I: Okay. N: That's the second Desi thing
N: I have you know. If you see all my clothes are from India; so I go there and do lot of shopping.
I: Do you see that part kind of being reflected in Silicon Valley in general? Like a lot of Desis tend to dress,
I: You know food part, yes, because there are so many restaurants people eat a lot, you know, outside food
I: because they get that kind of home food.
N: It depends on person to person.
N: Yeah, it's not like I don't see everyone is following American culture or everyone is following
N: Indian culture. It's a mix, mix, yes.
I: But there are a lot of, like, events for Indian communities, right? Like we know these parades
I: music shows, these are very
I: unique to Indian communities. So do you think that and you can expose?
N: Of course, of course!
N: You know, you see, if you see the events we do here
we
We celebrate Diwali much bigger way, what we used to do in India. I: Why is that?
N: In India, it was just one day.
N: Here, it's like it's Diwali party starts from month,
N: you know, before the Diwali because you know every friend circle. You have like 3,4 social circles.
N: So everywhere you have a different Diwali and then you have different Diwali events.
N: You know, we go. That's the only thing we can do on the weekends. I: Right.
I: Why are there so many Diwali parties?
I: For example, I mean there are Holi parties and N: I think
N: It's more as a convenient thing
N: You know.
N: If you have a ... you know here in the U.S., you have not only
N: you know home and
N: You have so much help. You have to divert so much of time in your you know work
N: You have to divert so much of time with your kids.
N; We don't have that luxury of, you know, what we used to have in India.
N: For example, my son was born
N: Me and my wife both were working in India.
N: So my son was brought up by my parents.
N: So we don't have that luxury here in the US. So we have to take care of everything. I: Right.
N: And, and
N: if you see the schedule for kids, you are super busy. I know, you know, I have been,
N: my son was like 11 years old when I came here, so I have gone through that cycle.
N: That's seven eight years when they are in school.
N: You are, just bound up with your kids and your work. You don't have anything else to do. So then
N: you get some time during the weekend to go to the event. So
N: once you miss one event, then you have the opportunity to go to the second event
N: which is the next; so you have that, you know, leverage that. Okay,
N: If I'll miss one party, I have few more, you know,
N: Holi events coming up so I can, you can you can plan your things accordingly.
N: So you don't have to depend on one particular day or something?
I: And why do you want to go to that party?
N: Because of course we miss that thing, you know from India, Holi, Diwali.
N: Anything, all festivals were like, you know,
N: it was like, we used to wait. O now Janmashtami is coming. We have to go out the whole night.
N: Go to the different temples. So we miss, I mean we miss that thing in US
N: and in the same time we wanted to give our kids the same culture
N: which we and we miss that, you know, that what kids are missing that thing which we, you know,
N: we enjoyed in our childhood.
N: So I think by these events and all these things we gave our kids some little,
N: you know, idea what we used to do and what they,
N; that's our culture. Thhat's the one way of, you know, showing that okay, yeah,
N: not only
N: because in in school, they they they have all American culture. So this is the only way you can give them some,
N: you know, idea about what our culture is.
N: Yeah, and I have seen that, you know, that kids, they also enjoy something different for them.
I: Right and
I: so I think it's that attempt to,
I: kind of, relive and
I: continue the culture that N: Correct, Correct.
I: Is that why it is so vibrant in Silicon Valley? N: Everywhere. Not only here; you go to any country.
N: Even, I was, my friend told me in Brazil the Indian community is very,
N: you know,
N: getting bigger and bigger and they're also, you know,
N: they have started all these Diwali thing and Holi thing and everything. So, of course,
N: it's not only US. I mean everywhere, once you're outside India, you miss that. I: Yeah, yeah right.
I: So given your kind of work,
I: tell me about how you think your Desi identity helps you to succeed in the work you do. N: See what I am seeing is
N: in, even in
N: our business,
N: it's the connection.
N: in our culture, Desi, it's;
N: for our kind of business, it's not only business business. It's a relationship
N; which matters most, which I have seen. So
N: once you're Desi going to a Desi business,
N: it connects very easily,
What I have seen.
I: Give me an example.
N: For example, I
N: will give you a very classic example. There was a client which was coming from east coast, starting his business in
N: in west coast and I was talking to my sales manager and she said okay there is another radio station
N: which is approaching them.
N: And I know that from that station
N: they don't have any Indian who represent them.
N: So I
N: gave, I told her okay, don't worry. If he's an Indian, this business will come to us.
I: Okay. N: So I was pretty much sure that that Indian connections always work.
I: Hmm. N: and it worked. I: It worked. Okay.
N: Yes, so so that is the thing, which I see.
N: When I see that there is an Indian client compared to an American client
N: I know it's easier for me to convince him and to get connected. Even on radio when my client talks, I
N: always tell them to talk in Hindi too,
N: Not only English
N: because the moment you are in your own language the connection is
N: much better. I: Okay. N: Yes, there are, what I feel, yeah, and it has worked for them.
I: Sure, okay great.
I: Then
I: If you look back at your journey since you moved from the east coast to the west coast, right,
I: So how do you think the Silicon Valley has influenced
I: your
I: identities in... and in coming to that, I want you to talk about what you understand of Silicon Valley.
I: How would you define the Silicon Valley? N: You know, when I was in India,
N: I saw a picture on one of the magazine.
N: There was a big buildings and it says Silicon Valley. So I was like, okay there is something different.
N: So when I landed, I landed in San Francisco, I was, I
N: was
N: going towards Santa Clara and I saw all these companies which I have seen in India, you know
N: and they have all their head offices most of them in Silicon Valley and so every
N: Stanford is here, you know.
N: Facebook is here. Google is here. So I
N: felt like, no, this is the city where you get the opportunity to
N: to do something. I: Hmm.
N: This is the city which has created so many people, you know, who have done wonders; so
N: somehow I felt that no, here I can do something. That was the connection. I: I see.
N: And and somehow
N: in the first year when I landed, I I
N: met the each and every organizations, Indian organization, I made relationship with them. I
N: helped them in different ways and that's how my journey started here and when I started my own radio station, everyone was like
N: coming to me and helping me. I: Okay, that's great.
N: That was the other Desi connection. I: Yes. Yes, of course.
I: So, I mean, how do you see
like your future or your family's future in Silicon Valley and the direction in which Silicon Valley seems to be going now?
N: I mean, I think Silicon Valley is the future of U.S. Not only U.S., it's the future of world.
N: Everything which starts; these days, everything is technology. I: Yes N: and technology starts
N: from Silicon Valley.
I: Hmm. N: And
N: the the capacity of people spending money here is compared to any other city, which, and I travel a lot,
N: I've seen the capacity of people
N: spending money is much
N: bigger,
N: compared to all Indian cities. They have money because all, you know,
N: all tech people, they have a very good salaries.
N: So I think I and I also seen that they, you know, during the
N: downfall, Silicon Valley
N: business was not down.
N: Businesses were still doing good. I: Okay. N: Yeah, so in fact we didn't get any hit so far
N: in, you know, so so I think this is the city, I mean [laughs]. I: Good, yeah.
I: When you mention technology that's an important thing. You know, there's been some you know
I: academic research on what makes Silicon Valley culture thrive and an important observation there is that
I: you know technology and community N: Both together I: They are very
I: intensive in this region. Do you, do do you think that is true for the Desi community too? N: Of course.
N: Of course, it helps a lot. In fact
N: went to so many companies, techie, you will see only Indians there. I: Only Indians.
N: Yeah, and I heard now a lot of meetings they happen there, they happen in their own languages.
I: Hmm. [Laughs] N: [Laughs]. N: That gives you an idea, you know.
N: And I don't see any any problem there.I
N: I think it makes…
N: It brings you more closer. It's easier for people to work. I: So…
I: Do you, do you think, do you have, I mean,
I: There could be so many things that I could ask you.
I: But is there anything else you want to tell us about
I: You know, this whole ... like Silicon Valley is almost like, especially the tech world right, is you know
I: Indians everywhere. You
I: know, anecdotally speaking and a lot of jokes about them, you know, skewing the real estate market for
I: salaries they make, they push up the real estate market. Schools become very competitive
N: because parents are there I: because parents are, their Indian training.
I: So, in this context, like, how do you think Desi identity will continue to flourish?
I: Will the direction change? Will they adapt things from? N: I doubt.
N: think it's in our blood. It's in our blood, so we cannot change that.
N: It will take time. Eventually. I think third or fourth generation
N: you will see the difference but not right now.
I: I mean, difference in the way? N: In the way they bring up their kids right now. Yes.
N: The more I think, yeah second and third generation. You will see the difference. I: Okay N: Yes and
N: also;
N: what's the difference between East Coast and West Coast is that the third second and third generation in east coast is
N: still Desi. I: What do you mean?
N: Means that I see they they follow all these
N: festivals
N: They you will see them
N: talking in their own language. I: Hmm.
N: But that culture is not here in Silicon Valley. I: Oh. N: Yes. I: So it's changing.
I: They don't follow the rituals, language. N: It's; see language is,
N: not that, you know,
N: issue, but the thing is we are more into American culture here
N: compared to any other,
N: compared to east coast.
I: So that though there is a strong Desi identity, yet there is a blending? N: Yes
I: Ok, and then what do you think of that? N: Um, I don't see any problem. I mean another day
N: It's not like, you know, it's not about culture itself. America is so great
N: from my point of view. I don't think if you adopt an American culture, there isn't anything bad about it.
N: I
N: think I I actually respect all cultures, but
N: if you ask me for me American culture is much better than an Indian culture. I feel
I: --- which respect?
N: Any respect. You see
N: here of we respect human beings so much.
N: That's the first thing as in humanity we should do. We respect animals here.
N: India you don't see that much.
N: So that's the first thing. When 9/11 happened I was here. I
N: don't see any reaction from any American
N: towards it.
N: They were all so good. The police was so nice. Everything was nice.
N: You don't see that in India. I'm very
N: sorry to say if anything happens in India like 9/11
N: There will be riots
N: for sure. I: Hmm.
N: So that's why I'm here [Laughs]
I: So you are a proud Desi of Silicon Valley. N: I'm proud Desi and I'm proud, you know, proud to say that
N: I follow American culture as well. Yeah. I: Thank you very much for your time.
N: Thank you. I: Yeah. Lovely talking to you. N: Same here. Thanks for coming. I: Sure. Thank you.