Exploring Identity and Resilience: A Dialogue with Author Prachi Gupta and Ruchika Tulshyan
![Exploring Identity and Resilience: A Dialogue with Author Prachi Gupta and Ruchika Tulshyan](https://res.cloudinary.com/roundglass/image/upload/w_1600,ar_16:9,c_fill,g_face,f_auto/v1709191273/rg/collective/media/8J9A5285%20%281%29_bxfcnc.jpg)
The Roundglass India Center in Seattle University recently hosted a captivating conversation between the esteemed author Prachi Gupta and inclusion strategist Ruchika Tulshyan.
Prachi Gupta's discussed her memoir, They Called Us Exceptional which explores the experiences of a second-generation Indian American woman who faces detrimental cultural assumptions and struggles with mental health and family dysfunction.
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Gupta highlighted how conforming to an idealized image of a 'model minority' frequently exacts a significant yet obscured toll on immigrants. She recounts the discord, embarrassment, and solitude families face while being hailed as a paragon of American achievement when they grapple with traumas concealed from public view.
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The conversation further explored how to better support South Asian communities impacted by a Model Minority Myth that hyper-focuses on educational and professional achievement. The dialogue was both insightful and thought-provoking and shines a light on the need for mental and social wellbeing across all age-groups and communities.