Finding Home in the Community

The truth of being a part of a diaspora is best described in the words of the author Salman Rushdie, who writes — “sometimes we feel we straddle two cultures; at other times, we fall between two stools.” The diasporic agony therefore lies in this perplexing reality of simultaneously being part of multiple societies as well as the feeling of belonging nowhere. I met octogenarians, Mukesh and his wife Ambica, at one of the weekly luncheons offered by IACS to understand what aging in their situation entailed and how IACS helped them find a sense of home in a foreign land.

Mukesh and Ambica are Indian Gujaratis who grew up close to the coast in Mombasa, Kenya. They fondly reminisce about the family gatherings by the ocean, Mukesh’s dive lessons after school, buying cassava chips, soupy potato, and roasted chili-lime corn from the food carts near their schools. Some fond memories after their wedding were those of watching Indian movies like Kati Patang, Mother India, and Ganga Jamuna in drive-in movie theatres.

In 1963, Kenya got its independence from the British. The new government’s Africanization policies, and resultant exodus of South Asian settlers owing to discrimination, led to the exodus of several South Asian settlers from the region. In 1967, like many East African Asians holding British passports, Mukesh and Ambica left Kenya for England. There, they faced their first cultural shock — harsh winters, unfamiliar food, and social isolation. Mukesh had begun a postgraduate degree in mechanical engineering but had to drop out due to financial strain. Despite the setback, they built a life. All three of their children were born in the UK.

Mukesh moved with his family again in 1985 — this time to the US. Ambica found her first job at a Dairy Queen owned by another Indian immigrant. Gaining inspiration from the owner, Mukesh and Ambica gathered the courage to buy their own franchise in Wenatchee in 1991. At the time, they were the only Indian family in Wenatchee. The next 15 years were marked by hard work as Mukesh and Ambica ran the business together, working 12-hour shifts and rarely taking time off work.

By 2006, Wenatchee had slowly changed. Other Indian families had moved in—owning gas stations, motels, working in public utilities or on H1-B visas. But by then, Mukesh and Ambica were ready to wind down. Retirement didn’t come with rest at first. Like many aging immigrants, they found themselves far from their children, who now lived in California, and unsure of where they belonged. While they had lived in the US for several years, they lacked a day-to-day support system. They had worked all their lives, and now faced the deeper challenge of loneliness, ageing, and health concerns.

It was then that they returned to a space they had first encountered in the 1980s— IACS. What began at first as a monthly lunch gathering of Indian expats has today become a full-fledged community program that offered Mukesh and Ambica the one thing aging immigrants often seek— a sense of belonging and connection.

It was at IACS that Mukesh met Amit—who’d studied at the same university in Tanzania as Mukesh decades ago. They had never met back then, but now, in their late 70s, they bonded over Africa, their student days, and their long journey to belonging. One day, they even dialed an old classmate still living in Kenya. In a single conversation, two continents collapsed into one shared laugh.

Now based in Sammamish, Mukesh and Ambica attend IACS senior programs thrice a week. There’s yoga, tai chi, and shared lunches — Mexican on Mondays, Indian on Wednesdays, sandwiches on Fridays. For the couple, it’s not just about food or bingo (though Mukesh never misses a round). It’s about familiarity and friendship.

Non-profits like IACS are often seen as providers of services. But for seniors like Mukesh and Ambica, it represents a place of belonging. Thus, the diasporic feeling of straddling two different worlds and rootlessness finds a home in this community.