I am a Mumbai-born painter who now resides in the United States. My work depicts my upbringing as a Jew in India, which is largely Hindu and Muslim. In my art, I create a mosaic inspired by both Indian/Persian miniature paintings and illuminated manuscripts, combining imagery from my history with the position I perform in America today.
The terrorist attack in Mumbai on November 26–29, 2008, was a slaughter of both Indian residents and foreign visitors. Six people, including the Rabbi and his wife, were slain when the Chabad house in Mumbai, a Jewish outreach facility featuring an educational site, a synagogue, and a guesthouse, was attacked. These attacks alerted the world (or acted as a reminder in some circumstances) to the existence of a small but ancient population of Indian Jews who had lived on the Indian subcontinent for over 2000 years.
I was deeply disappointed by the lack of media and news coverage as a Bene Israel Jew growing up in a predominantly Hindu and Muslim town in the heart of Mumbai. Some of my American friends were perplexed and asked numerous questions. “Did Jews initially settle in India when the Chabad house was founded?” “If not, how did the Jewish population in the area look? “Does that make sense?” This conversation with my buddies sparked the idea for my Fulbright application.
Source: https://cies.org/article/weaving-indian-jewish-narratives-during-my-fulbright
