Tulsi Patel
Tulsi Patel co-founded Patel Brothers and helped transform a small Chicago grocery store into a nationwide retail enterprise. Working alongside Mafat Patel, he played a key role in expanding the business and building distribution networks capable of supplying Indian ingredients to communities across the United States. The company’s growth addressed a critical need for immigrants […]
Mafat Patel
Mafat Patel co-founded Patel Brothers after recognizing how difficult it was for Indian immigrants to find familiar ingredients in the United States. Starting with a single grocery store in Chicago in 1974, he helped build the company into the nation’s largest Indian grocery chain. By creating a reliable supply network for Indian foods and household […]
K. Yaman Kira
K. Yaman Kira founded Ceylon India Inn, the earliest known South Asian restaurant in the United States, establishing a culinary foothold for the diaspora in New York City. Operating between 1913 and 1915, the restaurant served sailors, factory workers, students, and immigrants seeking familiar food and community in a new country. More than a place […]
Prince Ranji Smile
Prince Ranji Smile introduced Indian cuisine to elite American audiences at a time when few Americans had any exposure to South Asian food. After arriving in New York in 1899, he cooked at the prestigious Sherry’s restaurant, one of the city’s most prominent dining establishments. His culinary skills and public profile attracted significant media attention, […]
Raja Krishnamoorthi
Mentioned in PNS12
Rajan Zed
Rajan Zed is a Hindu priest and interfaith leader. In 2007, he became the first Hindu to deliver the opening prayer before the United States Senate, marking a milestone in the public recognition of Hinduism within American civic life. Through his advocacy for interfaith dialogue and religious inclusion, he has worked to increase awareness of […]
Deepak Chopra
Deepak Chopra is an American physician, author, and wellness advocate. Beginning in the late twentieth century, he popularized Ayurveda, meditation, and mind-body medicine for mainstream American audiences through bestselling books, lectures, and television appearances. His 1993 appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show introduced millions of Americans to holistic approaches to health and spirituality. Chopra has […]
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada was a Gaudiya Vaishnava spiritual teacher who founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in New York City in 1966. He introduced the devotional traditions of Krishna bhakti to American audiences through public chanting, temple communities, and translations of sacred Hindu texts. Under his leadership, ISKCON grew into a global […]
B.K.S. Iyengar
B.K.S. Iyengar was a yoga teacher whose method transformed the practice of yoga in the United States and around the world. Emphasizing precision, alignment, and the therapeutic benefits of postures, he introduced millions of Americans to yoga as a discipline for physical and mental wellbeing. His influential book Light on Yoga became a foundational text […]
Paramahansa Yogananda
Paramahansa Yogananda was a Hindu spiritual teacher who established one of the first enduring yoga and meditation movements in the United States. Arriving in 1920, he founded the Self-Realization Fellowship to teach Kriya Yoga and meditation to American audiences. His influence reached the White House when President Calvin Coolidge received him in 1927, and expanded […]