Latest / Chavadi: The Meeting Place / Episode #34 - Manjunath Shetty

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Episode #34 - Manjunath Shetty · Chavadi: The Meeting Place

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Today we have Majinad Chetty.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: He's married to Pavitra.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: They have a daughter, Siri, and a son, Hari.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: And they've been uh living in Seattle for 26 26 years.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome, Majinath Uncle.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: How are you doing today?
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you, Siddhartha and uh Aka.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_02: Should I say Lalitaka?
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_02: It's fine.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's fine.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: Aka's fine.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you, Sidh and Lalita.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_02: It's so oh, sorry.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_02: Back pause it.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_02: Back-to-back calls are coming.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_02: So can you restart pausing this?
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, you can keep going.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he just edited.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: He's got it out.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_02: Interesting.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_02: First of all, uh, thank you, Chavdi, for taking your time and giving me an opportunity to be part of this conversation today.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_02: And thank you, Sid and Lalita.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_02: This is a great initiative, and it really gives uh connecting the community together and sharing the experiences, and uh, it's uh absolutely a fantastic uh uh platform for the community.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Manju.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: We appreciate you being here with us this morning, giving up your time.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, awesome.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get started then.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: So let's start off with the uh the start of um Manju Onko, right?
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: So with your with your family growing up in Kundapur, very close-knit community.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, give us some more details and some more color of what your childhood looked like.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_02: So my childhood was very simple, and it's all surrounded by the greeneries, coconut farms, and patty fields.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_02: I I really enjoyed my childhood, and uh and that's a beautiful uh place uh between the Arabian Sea and the Western Guards, and I always see that uh the place I see is always rooted with uh community and cultural activities.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_02: And um, even though I had like an uh tested my early life is so difficult with the father and sisters passed away in my early age, it's all my family and the local friends and community, they were my foundations.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_02: That's where I learned a lot.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and the other thing I really have some one thing uh Siddha I wanted to pause so far is are we good so far, or do I need to edit anything or let me know?
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_02: No, no, very good.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: Very good.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: We'll just have the conversation, Manju.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: You're good.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_02: That's okay, right?
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_02: So I I do see that uh childhood memories are uh very simple memories, right?
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_02: My mom used to go to temple every Monday.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_02: We used to have brown rice, fish curry, or vegetable curries, all those things every day.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_02: But that is the day I long for these white rice things, rasam and beans, curry, because that we only have that in a week that uh the white rice is my uh favorite uh part of that uh meal because I really enjoy that piece.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_02: And the second thing is we used to have bhajanas every day that gave me that kind of um the spiritual active, right?
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: The discipline, how that connects family come together before sharing the meals, and I see that the bhajanas every night before we go to our dinner or the sleep that had made a significant uh impact and uh childhood moments for me.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: And did you have a lot of when you talk about family, you had lots of cousins and uh that you spent time with, or was it uh you and other do you have any other siblings?
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_02: Ours was a joint family.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_02: Uh-huh.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_02: I mean and my brother, but uh it's all all my uncles and uncles and uh everybody together with Aja and Aji, and that that was like uh a joint family setup for us.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_02: So we okay.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that is special.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_01: I think not not a lot of people have that experience anymore, that joint family experience.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: But uh tell me something, uh Manju.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: I know it sounds like you were rooted in Bunt traditions, living with family and things like that, but is there something else that probably equates to bunt for you?
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: And like we tell our listeners, buns are a community from South Canada, Tulunaru.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, is there something that equates to bunt for you?
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_02: What's a great question?
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's a great question, right?
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I really see that buns when I witnessed in my early age as a bunt, right?
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_02: It's more of leadership, entrepreneurship, relationship, right?
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_02: Whether they are in agriculture or business or professions or temple activity or anything, right?
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_02: The the mindset of uh leading with the initiative, the courage, okay, right?
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_02: They are so important.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_02: That's what I see that.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_02: And the second piece as a relationship, mainly on these rituals, right?
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_02: Temple activity, festivals, polar, and all those things, how they connect together, that they reinforce our relationship together and respect each other, one another as a couple.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_02: One other thing I see as a yakshagana, the yakshagana played a very important role in my childhood, and also because it is not just an art.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_02: Because as I kid, I really see that as a the devotion aspect of that, the discipline aspect of that, the value-driven storytelling aspect of that that had a significant impact on me as an individual at that early age.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: Did you ever participate in a Yakshagana?
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: You did?
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, wow, cool.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_02: But I'm not I at one point I thought at the childhood is my career is an Akshagana artist.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_02: Oh I was so much grounded in Yakshagana.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that sounds fun.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: But obviously, you didn't pursue that.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_02: I still support.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_02: I couldn't make it, but I still have my uh I do some Yakshagan uh makeup sometimes.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, just reveal that my uh feelings, you know.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um so moving on a little bit, sort of past childhood, um, you're in your sort of teen adolescent phase.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_02: But I just want to check between these questions.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_02: Are we good so far?
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_02: Any anywhere we need to I think we're doing good on time.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: We're doing good.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not the one I'm worried about the the flow of the conversation.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_02: If you it's great.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, it's great.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: Don't worry about it, don't worry about it.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_02: Anything to edit or anything, let me know.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_02: But I just okay.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: And we'll do all the editing when we're completely done, Manju.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: So you won't need anything to do.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_02: You have to know the data for editing.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I wanted to do.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: No, no, you will be your okay.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um cool.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: So sort of moving on into your teen years, adolescence, going up to college.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: I really want to focus on your relationship with your mother.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: It sounds like you have had a few family members pass away when you were super young.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so tell us maybe more about like how your mom really set the tone in the house, what your your what your relationship with your mom was like growing up.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and yeah, tell us more about that.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's it's all mom because uh her primary focus for both of us is focused on education.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_02: That was her ground rules, and she helped her shape us to be educate, educate, educate yourself.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and that's what she did for almost uh 15 to 20 years at home, helped us uh focus more on in our education.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: And then I think you mentioned also you were sort of struggling to figure out what you wanted to focus on.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: So until college, you were sort of in this discovery phase, right?
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, tell us more about this discovery phase.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: What did it entail?
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what did you discover about yourself, or what did you not discover?
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, how did that go?
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_02: No, it it's it's see what happened was with the early age, um, my elementary school or at Ulturu or Viveka Junior College, where I did my high school and um uh PUC, it's all about discovery of life at that point because less exposure about the world is all about discovery.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_02: I did not have any ambition as such, right?
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_02: It is more about okay, mom asked me to go to school, I go to school.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_02: I did not have any kind of a oh, I have to do this ABCD in my life.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_02: But the realization happened when I go to when I went to college, Bandakarst College in Kundapur, and that's where I see the broader perspective of what the world is, and that's where I actually pivoted the my journey from the textbook to the world.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_02: And then I went to my college I did in uh RSuratkal, where I did my masters, and that is where my second chapter started.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_02: It's a turning point.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: And how did you um eventually you you do your undergrad and masters in technology, right?
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: Did you naturally gravitate to this, or was it something you discovered in your discovery phase that you were inclined towards?
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_02: I wouldn't say it is a more of a discovery, it is more about a universe uh assigned to me that particular time.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_02: Or because the computer at that time was a happening.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: It was an in thing, yeah.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_02: Right, and I don't know, I haven't chosen this field.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_02: It was uh come to me.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe I I gravitate to my luck or my uh blessing from others.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like sometimes sometimes the universe gives us the answers, right?
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_02: I I would say the universe, you're right.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_02: I I would uh gratitude to the universe for that particular uh call.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: And then after college, you work in Bangalore for six months, I believe.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, um, and then you decide to move to Seattle.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: So tell us a little bit more about the motivation, and this is like you're from Kunapur, very close to your mom, very close to the community, and then you you have this motivation to move to America.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe give us more about the why or the how and the whole process.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_02: So when I moved to Bangalore after my college, and I had an opportunity to come to US the first six months.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_02: At that time, my my mom said no.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_02: And I then I decided to stay in Bangalore again after six months.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_02: Again, the opportunity has come.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_02: And I said, mom said, now you can go, but uh you stay probably one one and a half year, right?
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_02: That's how I started, right?
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: How long has it been now?
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_02: It is 26 years now, a little bit older.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: So you said the opportunity arose as in you got a job, or uh uh like you knew somebody in Seattle who said come join us?
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_02: It was a job uh that uh I moved to Seattle.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay, okay, okay.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: And uh that would have been really huge for you, like like we like you've said so so many times already that you're really connected to family, to community, and then to come all the way across to America would have been a shock, a change for you.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: How did you cope with all that?
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_01: Being away from mom, uh managing on your own.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_02: No, it's certainly the new challenges, new country, new opportunity, and also whether being at that time of the Seattle is like more of uh reigning all the year throughout the year, and you hardly see sun once in a while.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_02: And that was hard.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_02: So being a bachelor, and we had a good circle of friends, and and it's it's hard to connect back to the back home too.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that point, it is, but but it was a a turning point, transformational time, right?
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_02: Even changed uh year over year, and now it is a beautiful, wonderful place.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_02: Also, super good because we see almost non-stop sun for 90 to 100 days, so it is changed significantly.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, even the weather has changed, huh?
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_02: Weather has changed significantly.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, but uh, you know, you were talking about uh, and when we talked earlier, you said something really powerful that even as you chase your dreams, you need to stay connected to roots, to your roots.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: How were you able to do that?
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: You know, mom was all the way in India.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, what were the challenges you faced to do these things?
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so especially at that point, I wanted to bring mom here, show the world, and show the and that is where uh we initially had uh multiple rejections for her visa because her status and widow being widow and other stuff, they always get the oh, she is a potential immigrant for US, right?
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_02: Multiple rejection on that, but I did not give up, and that is part I really proud of that is persistency and continuity of that.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_02: I did not give up, and when my daughter uh born that day she got the visa, and she's been here for multiple times being with the so she is the lucky charm, she is the lucky charm, and uh that's where she was here for multiple times being with the kids and growing up, so that's the part uh I could connect uh for my kids and family, stay connected and on the community aspect.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um, while I was in the technology side, at the same time I used to be part of the community nonprofit organization in Seattle areas and multiple sectors and segments, whether it's Shagana or Kannada or uh different things, I was focused more on the I was a member of uh multiple uh nonprofit organizations as founder members.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, that's where I spend uh technology community and um uh connecting these uh aspects together.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so it all came together for you.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: So taking you a little back before that, uh you you were sounds like a mama's boy, right?
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: But in a nice way.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure she's super proud of you.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: But so and and then back in the day, I mean, of course, you're much younger than I am, but even in your day, arranged marriages were more in than uh, you know, love marriages or meeting somebody of your own choice.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: But when you were a bachelor let free in Seattle, did your views on romance change, or were you still okay with an arranged marriage?
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_01: Tell us a little more about your marriage and oh, about my marriage, it's an arranged marriage.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_02: So when I returned back for the first time, my mom was looking for a girl and uh and happened to find her.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_02: She is uh for relative Avitra, and then at that time she was around 19 uh year old.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, young, yeah, very young.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_02: Very young, yeah.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_02: Now after marriage, she she completed her um degree and she moved back in 2003.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_01: So you were her guide, her mentor, teaching her, or had she ever been to the US before?
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_02: Or no, that was the first time for her.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, and how many years had you been here before she came?
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_02: Three years.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: So you knew enough to at least kind of guide her a little bit.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_02: Little bit, little bit.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: And like you said, you had a strong community, so I'm sure she was there were people around her too when she came, or yes, we are friends because when when I moved here, uh I had my roommates and college mates, we're all come together.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_02: In fact, in fact, uh they're all stay together even uh uh close by here.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_02: So that journey, the journey, it is the extension of my college.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_02: So that was the beauty of this staying here with uh uh my friends that I knew from college, and we in the in the college dorm, and now it is like an uh dorm in a family dom.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_02: It's a family dom, yeah.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: That is cool.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: So moving on to your kids.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: So you have two kids, uh older son Hari, I think, and daughter Siri.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um younger one is Hari, yeah.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, younger one is Hari, older one is Siri.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um tell us more about the uh I guess the values you raised them with, uh, what your focus on in terms of parenting was, especially drawing from your own background, and maybe how your mom's parenting style rubbed off on you in certain ways, but also you had your own um sort of American style also that's sort of meshed with uh with whatever you're whatever you grew up with, right?
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: So tell us more about that.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_02: So it all credit goes to Pavitra because she's also started her uh career here in technology for uh six, seven years.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_02: And after our second kids, uh she made I mean we made a courageous and selfless decision to have her focused on family and raising kids.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_02: And that was a wonderful uh thing she has done rising up together.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_02: We wanted to give everything start from the home.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_02: We wanted to give them the parenting an opportunity for kids to grow up and taking her everywhere needed.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_02: When you think about kids, for us also it is uh first time.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, parenting it's very hard, and we are learning together in this uh cultural shock between whether to write supply to India or US or going back, that going back syndrome is always there, right?
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, true.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we struggled a lot in that early ages, but when my daughter used to say it's kind of a play-doh, you have you have colorful cultures come together and beautiful uh art on the plate, you can make it.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_02: So I always play-doh concept, uh very vivid, yeah.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_02: It's kind of I see that, right?
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I I'm stuck between all these colorful play-dows, and yeah.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_02: So that I see is yes, uh, giving them the opportunity to grow and excel and uh build their own career in life.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I think this idea of like embedding sort of the foundational good values, but also letting them sort of grow independently is really important, right?
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's not only you're preaching it, but it's happening in practice because as maybe people not may not know, but Siri is studying in NYU Shanghai.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: She's uh halfway across the world, right?
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: So she's independently growing, uh, but I'm sure she's doing great there.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, so sort of curious, sort of apart from parenting, apart from work, apart from marriage, right?
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I think a lot of what your time dedicated to now is preparing and organizing and leading um the Bon organization for the the national convention in Seattle.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so maybe tell us more about your motivations and why you wanted to lead it.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's a big undertaking.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: I've seen it firsthand.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um but yeah, tell us more about why it was so important to you and um I guess um how how it's going so far.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_02: No, it's it's fantastic.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_02: I I'm so happy to be part of that, and uh uh thanks for the community for providing me an opportunity to be part of this.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_02: Uh because the Bana, what I see is not just a convention.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_02: Because it's more than that, because it is a five fifty.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, pause it for a while.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_02: I'll I'll just frame it as it is it is a five decades of uh experiences coming together, right?
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_02: So with the solid foundation uh that we have from leaders and community members from last 47 years, uh Mr.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_02: Sh founder presidents, uh, Mr.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_02: Shankarana, and then Dr.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_02: Rabian, uh Dr.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_02: Dena Karana, many have uh formed a solid foundation for this bana.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: And then I also see many members from a community like Puja Kha from Boston, she evangelizing the Bana and spreading the word about Bana, all these things.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_02: And now my connection to Bana reignited because my first bana was with in nine in 2001.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_02: I attended Pittsburgh Bana under the leadership of uh Dr.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_02: Narendra.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_02: That is where my first exposure to Bana.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_02: From Seattle uh with my friend, and we went to uh Pittsburgh and we experienced the banner.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_02: Then I was more on focusing with my family and my local activity community for a long time in Seattle.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_02: And my re-entry for Bana is uh 2022 when uh Atlanta President Sirishan uh invited me where I reconnected to the Bana.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_02: And uh now then onwards, okay.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_02: With my uh community connections and my um I wanted to connect back to the community.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_02: That's where uh last few years I've been closely with the Bana, and uh that's where we started with the Bana in Seattle.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_02: We have a tremendous uh uh support and uh partnership from the local Bana team.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_02: And uh we have our executive team, our regional uh leaders, our board members, and our ambassadors, as well as our advisory board, and that we have a great team in Seattle, and this feels like I've done a lot of new, fresh initiatives too.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, because it's what we think about this as a transformational bana, because how we can pass on our culture and values and tradition to the next generation, so that is why what we did foundation is basically connecting these members first.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_02: So we had 950 families, now we have 2400 plus families within Bana community.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_02: We expand reach that is on that, and when the second thing about is we uplifted the technical facelift for bana, whether it's say at being the tech hub, our contribution makes a lot of sense.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_02: Our contribution to bana is uh uh tech lift and uh real-time connections, and the third one is um the focused on the buns match.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_02: That's also one of the things that is going great with Baskar and uh Pujaka from Dallas, Deepti and our UKT and Jivita and um Abhi.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_02: And there are many, there are many they contributed to Bunce Match, and that is now spreading across uh uh 10 different countries, and we are making great progress uh in terms of connecting the community together in that aspect.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: I think you also mentioned just sort of a pop question, but you you do mention when we talked earlier about the value and the importance of staying connected to your roots as you chase your dreams, and I think this is definitely relevant for both like older folks and the younger generation.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm curious if you have a pitch for the younger generation to come to the convention, why it's important.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and uh yeah, what you what you sort of think about that.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_02: No, that's a great question.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_02: See, I'm exactly I would love to see young generation here, right?
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_02: So when I went to the Texas Bana under the leadership of Mahentian and Texas team, that is where they started the youth and the icebreaker.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_02: And I really see that.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_02: And when when my my daughter went to the Bana uh Texas, she was so amazed to see the community friends and uh the fun she had for that four years, for four days, sorry.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_02: And that connection, even still, you know, Sid, right?
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_02: See, she knows so many, right?
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_02: And that is the connection we build for youth, right?
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_02: You have a community, you have a circle, you're not alone in this world here in US.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_02: You need that community that is around you for you.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_02: That feeling of sense of belonging, the unity and the togetherness, and that is the one is so important.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_02: I certainly would like to see that because we have made a great progress.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_02: Is that echoing or is it good?
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_02: So just to give the prep of our bana, if you today we are already approaching 500 attendees.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_02: And almost 45% are the first timers to Bana, and majority youth between 15 to 28.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_02: So I really super excited.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_02: Seattle team is super excited, we're all together, it's all our event together, right?
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_02: That's good.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_02: So, where I see this is a transformation more talk, youth come together, unite together, and particularly few of the kids, right?
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_02: It's not just talk about our tradition.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_02: We need to show them, we need them to experience them, right?
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_02: And then it's a networking of connections, right?
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_02: For example, once match, yes, we do have the site, it's not just the site, we come together, connect together, meet together, and that's where the expansion and the connection happens.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's not just about having it on paper or on the web, it the people make the difference.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_02: The people come together, right?
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_02: People make the difference.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_02: I'm so happy because as part of this journey together, last one and a half, two years now, all the leaders, past president, executive team, many members made so many rich connections and within the community, they are so much uh contributing to the Bana and the community.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_02: So proud of that.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_02: We are so blessed to have the community coming together.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_01: And it's obviously just from listening to you in this short time, Manju, it sounds that you are, I mean, it your passion for all of this comes through.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_01: So uh, would you say that a band culture influenced your young life and so now that's coming out now?
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_01: Or do would you say it's because you've had kids and you want your kids to continue being part of this band culture uh that you are getting involved with this now?
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I mean, or is it a mixture of everything?
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_02: I would say it's a mix of everything.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_02: It's all coming, you see, I I enjoy it gives me kind of a fulfilling experience giving back to the community and the circle, and because that's how the community helped me shape where I am today.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_02: Also, I I really enjoying uh being in this uh this space that you're in.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_02: Bringing people together, right?
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_02: It's a network or it is enjoying that journey.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_02: True.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_01: And as we you know come almost to an end of this uh this podcast, this time with you, um, is there something that you feel you would like to tell kids of today, sometimes even grown-ups of today, that you have learned that you'd like to pass on to next generations, current generations, any advice you have to give?
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_02: So it's a this generation, they have plenty of opportunities.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_02: They have the global exposure.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, right.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_02: So even though you have that plenty of tremendous exposure, but stay connected to the roots.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_02: That is super important because that is a foundation.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_02: Stay connected to the roots and as you chase your dreams, right?
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_02: Explore the world, enjoy the world.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_02: The second thing is there are a lot of uncertainty, unknowns around you these days.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_02: Be calm, be calm, talk, right?
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_02: Reflect and network as much as possible.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_02: Network, don't sit between four walls or computers or just staring at that.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_02: Don't be a machine, right?
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_02: Be a human, right?
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_02: So because the world is so much to offer, just enjoy, just enjoy beautiful.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's a great message to end on.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, just want to thank you for your time, uh, the authenticity, the transparency.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_00: I really uh had a great time talking, and I'm I'm sure we'll meet again in Seattle soon.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_02: So one thing I wanted to add there is it's also serving back to the community because that gives for young generation sometimes you need to experience yeah, right?
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_02: Serving opportunity without expectations, yeah.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_02: It will come that network that you connect, that will come to you.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: I want to add my uh thanks to Sudan's message.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Manju, thank you so much.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_01: You really made this feel like a Chaudi because you shared so much uh love information, uh messages.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I know when we talked earlier, you did say don't let regret be part of your story.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think it's gonna be a part of your story.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_01: You've done so much for so many people in helping us connect and go back to our roots while chasing dreams.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you so much and wish you all the best continuing to do this.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_02: See, thank you, Aka, and thank you, Sayyid.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_02: See the second yeah, thank you, Aka, and thank you, Sayyid.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_02: See, one thing I want is not just the life, to build a legacy.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, beautiful.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, build a legacy at the end closing.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_02: I would say to build a legacy.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_02: That thank you.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_02: Uh is coming up okay or uh