Meenakshi Ahamed in conversation with Narayan Lakshman of The Hindu
| Photo Credit: N. Ravi
“The success of the Indian American community is the result of hard work, innate talent and, most importantly, the willingness to take risks”, said Meenakshi Ahamed, author of a new book that provides a detailed profile of leaders from the diaspora community who have scaled the heights of their chosen fields of specialisation.
At a launch event here for Indian Genius: The Meteoric Rise of Indians in America, Ms. Ahamed cited the case of Chandrika Tandon, an Indian American attending the event, who not only became a senior executive at top financial and consulting firms such as Citigroup and McKinsey and Company, but then went on to follow her passion in music and win several Grammy nominations in that field.
Responding to a question from the audience, Ms. Ahmed said “There is a split within the incoming Trump administration on visas for skilled immigrants. Some, such as Elon Musk, support the H1-B visa allocations, whereas others from the conservative base of his supporters feel differently.”
Ms. Ahamed explained how Indians in the U.S. have entered and succeeded to an extraordinary extent in a variety of sectors, such as IT, and reached the echelons of tech firms such as Microsoft and Adobe, but also medicine, public policy and politics in recent years.
“Indian Genius” is published by Harper Collins.
Published – January 21, 2025 09:14 am IST
