Nonfiction/Personal Essays

‘Ash’ is not my ‘white name,’ I swear!Much ado about three letters that run soul-deep… By Ashwini Gangal Few days ago, I responded to an email, getting back to a book publicist in New York City with my address so that she could dash off a galley to me next month. “Dear Cindy,” it began.

The Migratory Melancholia of the ‘Dependent Spouse’ | KQEDAn H4 visa holder in the South Bay reports from the emotional trenches of modern day immigration.

100 Days In The Bay Area Shocks A Newcomer From Mumbai!A new immigrant describes life as an H4 spouse on a 'dependent visa'- a term that has the power to upend one’s sense of self and world-view.

I moved to the US for my husband, who was on a H-1B visa. Life as a 'visa bride' was lonely.Ashwini Gangal felt like a trailing spouse when she left her life in India behind to move to the US on a H-4 visa, as her husband's dependant.

O Where Art Thou, My Perfect Cup Of Chai? Does such a thing as a perfect cup of chai even exist outside our imagination, wonders Ashwini Gangal. Musings of a disgruntled chai drinker.

Brown Gaze: The Silent Language Of Indian Strangers In An Adopted CountryA fleeting moment of eye contact with a stranger is sometimes a silent, ephemeral tribute to the commonalities shared in a strange land

So That’s What Being A Washerman’s Dog Feels LikeA year after moving to U.S., Ashwini Gangal is figuring out how to belong, much like the proverbial washerman’s dog

A Visa-Seeking Atheist Locks Eyes With Mahalakshmi Awaiting a U.S. visa, Ashwini Gangal, a non-believer, found herself in the presence of a “live” Goddess Mahalaxmi. Or did she?

A Mumbai Girl Finds Her Yash Chopra Moment At SFO International AirportMy tryst with a dating app swept me up from Mumbai on the West Coast of India and tossed me on the West Coast of America.

‘Navigate’ Is an Overused MetaphorBy Ashwini Gangal In the 15th century, Italian merchant Amerigo Vespucci undertook many a voyage—navigating rough seas for months, sometimes years, between Europe and the New World. And there’s nothing I would change about that sentence.

A Writer Reclaims Her Stripes With 100 Bylines In The BayA former editor in India, Ashwini Gangal rediscovers her writer’s muscle as she turns freelance reporter in the U.S. and racks up bylines.

Are You An Expat Or An Immigrant?“Expat” and “immigrant” are loaded words with connotations far beyond their standard dictionary definitions, discovers Ashwini Gangal

The Transformative Magic Of The Japanese OnsenOn a recent trip to Japan, a Bay Area resident experienced her first life-changing public bath in a hot spring onsen in Tokyo.

Ashwini Gangal: Meaning Behind the Name | KQEDAshwini Gangal shares about the importance of holding on to names.

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