KUOW Events

Two Indias, Near And Far

Visitors to a historic sight in Hyderabad, India.Indian immigrants are the fastest-growing immigrant group in the country, and the pace of growth is faster in our area than just about anywhere else.In Redmond, Seattle’s tech hub, one in 10 residents are Indian. This deluge of workers and families has shaped life on the Eastside, and it’s having ripple effects on life in India as well.KUOW reporter Liz Jones travelled to South India for three weeks on an international reporting fellowship to explore this immigration trend. This series was possible thanks to a grant from the Ford Foundation, administered by the International Center for Journalists. Carol Smith is the editor.Scroll below to see all the individual stories, or listen to the full series here:00000181-fa79-da89-a38d-fb7f2add0001Download Our EbookExplore Hyderabad through Liz Jones' photography by downloading our free ebook on to your iPad using the iBook app and searching in the store for "Two Indias."Don't have an iPad? Download the PDF version of the book.00000181-fa79-da89-a38d-fb7f2add0000Join the conversation on Twitter using #TwoIndias. Add your own story, or sign up for email updates about future events, here.

Storywallahs: Coming Home Isn’t Always Easy

KUOW | By John O'Brien,

Bond Huberman

Published December 10, 2015 at 1:42 PM AKST

Taken at the second Storywallahs event; the theme was Coming Home. — This was the second Storywallahs event; the theme was Coming Home.

The 24-year-old man didn’t have a home.

So he came up with a bold plan: Go to the nicest neighborhood in Grand Rapids, Michigan, knock on the doors of 10 mansions and ask if he could move in.

“I was really scared to do it; but in my heart I knew getting 10 nos from 10 strangers didn’t mean anything,” he said. “Getting one yes would change my life forever.”

He was an Indian-American from Buffalo, New York, and an aspiring entrepreneur. He decided to take a risk.

One person said yes. In fact, the FIRST person said yes.

The young man was among 13 South Asian-Americans who told their stories on November 22 at KUOW’s second Storywallahs, an event inspired by The Moth and our Two Indias series. The theme this time was “Coming Home.”

Hopeful storytellers and their families packed Seattle Asian Art Museum’s underground auditorium as emcee Agastya Kohli randomly chose a dozen speakers from a hat.

Produced in partnership with Pratidhwani, Tasveer and the Seattle South Asian Film Festival, Storywallahs is an original event series from KUOW. Jennie Cecil Moore recorded the event.