How the Telugu immigrant community is instilling their culture in the next generation
Editor's note: May marks Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, which celebrates the histories of Americans hailing from across the Asian continent and from the Pacific islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. NPR's Picture Show will be bringing stories from these communities to our audience this month.
India is a land of diverse cultures and languages. Telugu Americans are a huge part of the Indian population living abroad. Telugu photographer Akash Pamarthy explores the Telugu community and identity in the United States through four lenses: family, keepsakes, festivals and food.
Telugu-speaking states Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in India account for 14% of all Indian Americans living in the United States. According to the Center for Immigration Studies, between 2010 and 2017, the number of native Telugu speakers in the U.S. surged 86% – the largest uptick in a foreign language-speaking group.
Family
Pavan Vemuri, 37, and Keerthi Sanivarapu, 35, moved to America from Telangana, India, for better opportunities and a quality of life called the "Indian American Dream." Both are engineers, worked through the immigration process, obtained work visas and bought a home together and currently raise their 2-year-old son, Ridhay Aaryan Vemuri, in Novi, Mich., with their Indian heritage.
"Our generation
