It was almost 60 years ago that Dilip Singh Saund became the first Indian-American and first Asian to be elected to the US Congress, followed by Bobby Jindal in 2004.
Now with the US elections looming in November, there is a good chance we may see Indian-Americans in the US Congress. Here are five candidates and their unique Indian-American stories. The first in the series: Upendra Chivukula.
Upendra Chivukula: The People’s Man
Assemblyman Upendra J. Chivukula of New Jersey is very much a people’s man, rubbing shoulders with the person on the street and well aware of the difficulties the middle-class faces. He’s been there and he’s walked in those shoes. He is running for US Congress from New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District but he’s come up the hard way and understands the concerns of his constituents.
He was born a continent away in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh in a lower middle-class family. He and his five siblings, parents and grandmother lived in a mud hut with thatched roof without electricity where schoolwork had to be done outdoors under the street lights, and life had to be lived on a fixed income. The family even moved to Chennai in search of work.
“My father held many jobs including that of cashier and teacher and was a very honest man who taught us good values,” recalls Chivukula. “My mother was a music teacher, teaching classic Karnataka music and she played the veena. We still have the veena back home and when I visit her, I see that she is still singing. She is 83 years old and I wish I had the gift and talent that she has!”
Upendra Chivukula – The Power of Education
Education was important to the family, Chivukula says: “It was difficult because of our financial condition but I was able to get scholarships for pre-university. Then thanks to the Government of India, I got the Merit-cum-Means scholarship to study for the five year engineering degree at Guindy Engineering College.”
Believing that education is the greatest equalizer, Chivukula started dreaming the American Dream in Chennai and set out for the US in 1974 on a student visa, and worked his way to a Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering in the City University of New York. He subsequently also acquired a certificate for Senior Managers in State and Local government from Harvard University.
Growing up in India, Chivukula was inspired to be politically aware. “I was inspired by John F. Kennedy and Jawaharlal Nehru who were influencing world politics at that time,” he says. “In India there were so many political parties and so many political activities that it really made the difference in my political activism.”
Empowering the South Asian Community
New Jersey has the largest Indian-American population and Chivukula has connected well with the community and won their support. Ask him what motivated him to get into politics, and he says, “In the late 1980s, there were a series of racial attacks on Indian-Americans in Jersey City by the ‘Dotbusters’. The Indian American population was small in numbers and was quite apolitical. I wanted to get the community engaged in the political process and also work towards the political empowerment of the community.”
Chivukula was part of the Indian American Political Forum for Political Education and worked with community organizations to advance landmark legislation to fight bias and hate crimes in New Jersey. He became active in mainstream electoral politics in 1992 in the Clinton-Gore Presidential election, working in voter registration drives and political canvassing.
As a grassroots organizer in the 1980′s, Chivukula really paid his dues, serving the State of New Jersey in many roles, starting as a Public Member of the New Jersey State Board of Social Work Examiners. He was then elected to the Township Council of Franklin Township and was elected mayor in 2000. Over the years, he worked on boards, committees and commissions on the state, county and local levels, immersing himself in civic government for the citizens of New Jersey.
In 2001 he was elected to the New Jersey Legislature, going on to become Deputy Speaker and Chair of the Telecommunications & Utilities Committee. Currently he is the Vice Chair of the Homeland Security and State Preparedness Committee. He is the first Asian-Indian American elected to NJ General Assembly and the fourth in the nation to be elected to state office. Chivukula has sponsored clean energy legislation which has earned him the title of Mr. Energy from the Star Ledger, generated green jobs and made New Jersey the state with the most solar installations.
New Jersey is home to Chivukula as he’s lived in Franklin Township for over 30 years with his wife Dayci, his son Suraj, daughter Damianty and two grandchildren, Dylan and Eshaan. Hard work and dedication have been his mantra for success and his ability to connect with people from all walks of life has been an asset. He speaks half a dozen languages and brings the precision, clear thinking, and innovation of the engineer to all that he does.
His Congressional bid was recently endorsed by Democracy for America and was also added to the list of races to watch out for by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). As a lifelong Democrat, he brings a passion to the issues of jobs and the economy, healthcare, education and the environment.
Chivukula: Hardships and Challenges
Chivukula’s foundations were laid many years ago in that small hut in Nellore. He says, “My memories of childhood are of great hardship but also of great challenge to bring out the best in me – succeeding at any cost through hard work, and struggling to pursue opportunities that were not readily available. I would not change my life for anything as I had the taste of the good and the bad, and a tremendous zeal to succeed.”
As a youth in India he learned several languages, and since his wife Dayci is Cuban, he has also picked up Spanish. Communicating with people is a passion for him, and going to bat for them will also be his forte: all through his childhood he played everything from cricket to football to gilli-danda. He laughs: ” I was known as an outdoor person as I was never home! I was always playing sports in the hot weather, coming home with dirty clothes and hands.” Yes, Upendra Chivukula is all ready to play the game and get his hands dirty in representing the interests of his constituents in Washington DC.
(C) Lavina Melwani
(This first appeared in Hi blitz)
