Devi Oral History Interview
Devi and her sisters have owned Karma Nepal Crafts for the past six years and up until the pandemic was running a flourishing business, with profits going towards helping provide their female handicraftsmen in Nepal earn a fair wage.
They began their business as a temporary stall in the NY summer street fairs before finally venturing into a retail storefront.
Deepa Oral History Interview
Deepa recently moved to New York from Nepal in 2019, before the pandemic hit, and was thrust into navigating a new career space. She had business experience in Nepal, and was a professional nail tech, so upon moving to New York she took on the role of working with a largely knit community of Nepali nail salon owners in Queens.
Thiru Kumar Oral History Interview
Thiru Kumar owns the most successful Dosa carts in New York, serving dosas inspired by his Tamilian and Sri Lankan roots. Fully content keeping his business on the streets, Thiru has been featured in several NYC news articles and has been going on two decades with his flourishing business.
Tenzing Tsering Oral History Interview
Tenzing Tsering is renowned Tibetan chef who moved from India to New York in 2010 (?) and started his own restaurant. They hit a little success in the beginning with New York Times highlighting their early days and local papers following suit. However, since then his business faced quite a few struggles, from needing to relocate to struggling to draw in customers.
Shaheer Oral History Interview
Shaheer, 23, and his younger brother, Saqib, 18, conceived the idea of PyoChai during the pandemic. Saqib, a high school student, realized that most of his peers would need to Uber to their closest bubble tea joint or Uber Eats because there were no student-friendly cafes near them. That’s when the two young brothers came up with the idea for a South Asian-inspired bubble tea cafe.
Pradeep Deol Oral History Interview
Pradeep Deol (PD) owns The Last Stop, a late-night bar in the Bronx, that caters to a large South Asian crowd due to its Indian fusion menu and tendency to play Indian and Punjabi beats throughout the night.
