The Co-Founders
Anwita Kalyanapu
Hi! Welcome to the Wanderwest Website! We have been working hard in order to create a website that celebrates the different cultures of people who have come to the US. I am from Telangana, specifically Hyderabad. Growing up, I always had an internal conflict between my Indian culture and my American culture. I was born in India, but moved to the US when I was a few months old then have rarely visited India since then. In the past 10 years I had only visited India twice for a limited period of time. I lack extended family in the US as well, but have always done my best to communicate towards extended family. I have failed to explore my culture thoroughly in the past years, instead just choosing to avoid it because I didn't fully understand it, but now I want to change that. I want to learn more about my culture and spread information about it. I want more people, people like me, to understand their cultures. This was me and my partners reasons for creating Wanderwest. With Wanderwest I hope we can act as a way for people to understand the significance of their cultures as well as spreading information about mine. We hope to spread people's stories and make sure people stay in touch with their culture!
Sreisti Chowdhury
Hey there! Thanks for taking the time to explore our website. WanderWest is a group dream project created between the 3 of us and I hope everyone who visits enjoys the website as much as us. My culture is a mix of Assamese and Bengali influences. Since being the first in the family to be born in the United States my nuclear family and I are the only people in my extended family who live outside of India as a result much of my knowledge of my culture comes from my parents and 5-year visits to India. Like everyone else on the team, my culture has always been a part of my identity. Whether it be through pujas, food, clothing, and much more. I am always fascinated by our culture and it never ceases to amaze me how unique everyone's culture is from each other. This was one of many reasons we wanted to create WanderWest. Additionally, for myself, a personal reason for me to be a part of this company was to be able to share my experiences of being an Assamese-Bengali. I wanted people to be aware that each country is full of diverse ethnicities that many may not have heard about. Especially in my case where many people inside India do not know of the culture of NorthEast India. Hence I hope to contribute my knowledge to WanderWest so people become more aware of the many different ethnic backgrounds living in the United States.
Maansi Pandey
Hello! So nice to see you have taken a look at the site our team has worked so hard on creating! My culture includes both the regions of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Ever since I was a little kid, my family and I, practically every year, would go on long trips to India. There are truly no words to express my admiration and love for my second home. Though I was born and raised in Florida, my roots have never been a stranger to me. When I was younger though, whenever I went to India and met my close relatives there, they would not be able to talk to me without good struggle. However, since I was so connected to my culture, things like watching Bollywood movies and songs as well as trying to speak with my parents in Hindi every day allowed me to fully learn the beautiful language. Even without ever having properly taught Hindi in the form of classes, the exposure of my culture from a young age til now has allowed me to cross the limitations I have had with the border difference. In this way, I hoped to contribute to WanderWest as a medium for people to become more in touch with their backgrounds and express their stories as such. I believe that the richness and allure to which all ethnic backgrounds hold are beyond valuable and should be shared in a positive and beaming space; hence the creation of WanderWorks.