People With Bihari Origins - Personal Stories & Community-Building
A few days ago I shared my story about moving back to Bihar from Chicago.
What came back humbled me completely.
The messages, the comments, the connection requests, the stories people shared in my DMs at midnight. And what I keep finding underneath all of it is the same thing: people who grew up bilingual in belonging and departure, who carry Bihar the way you carry a first language. Instinctively, quietly, sometimes with grief, sometimes with a pride so stubborn it surprises even you.
So before I do anything else, I want to find you.
If you have Bihari origins, I want to hear your story. Not the polished version. The real one. The family lore. The reason someone left, or stayed, or came back. The aspiration that felt too big to say out loud. The thing your parents built quietly and never got enough credit for. The pride. The complicated mix of everything.
And the people who are here right now, building things, making things work, showing up every day. Those stories too. Especially those.
Storytelling is my thing. And I think there is an archive here waiting to be built. I want to write your stories, give them the voice they deserve, and take them to the people who need to hear them. Policymakers, builders, anyone who shapes what Bihar becomes next.
Here is what I am hoping to do with all of it:
1. A podcast, interview-format, capturing these stories properly. In voices and texture and detail, because Bihar's narrative has been told too often by people who never had to live it.
2. A collective, for everyone who wants to move from story to action. I will map what people are working on or want to work on, where the energy is, and create groups for actual brainstorming and collaboration. Not a WhatsApp group that dies in three days. Something with real momentum.
And in parallel, I will be writing about your stories here and on Substack.
If you want to be part of this, whether you have a story to share or an idea you have been sitting on, please reach out. DM me, comment below, or fill out this form: https://lnkd.in/gmjAA8B3 . Tell me where you are, what you carry, and what you think Bihar needs from those of us thinking about what comes next.
And if you want to volunteer and help build this from the ground up, I am especially looking for you.
I do not have all the answers. I have a direction, a lot of conviction, and now apparently a lot of company.
Let's build something.
substack.com