When Kudrat D. Chaudhary Kontilis moved to the United States, she never imagined she’d one day make history in San Francisco. Or maybe she did, after all, she’s done it before. Chaudhary Kontilis is the first South Asian to be appointed to the San Francisco Immigrant Rights Commission, where she serves as a commissioner.
With a spark of an idea and relentless determination, she spearheaded the recognition of South Asian-American Heritage Month, making San Francisco the first major US city to officially honour South Asian contributions. In this interview with Indian Women Abroad, she opens up about the inspiration behind the movement, the allies who stood with her, and why celebrating immigrant voices matters now more than ever.
First of all, congratulations on this significant victory! How does it feel?
Thank you 🙂 It definitely is one of those moments that feel like a small step for a man but a giant leap for mankind, so I am filled with a mix of emotions, very excited for the South Asian Community in San Francisco and also humbled for making South Asian-American Heritage Month a reality.
Taking us back to the start, how did the idea for the South Asian-American Heritage Month come about?
I was scrolling on Instagram and I was going through photos from different heritage month celebrations in San Francisco, and I thought to myself: “Wouldn’t it be great if San Francisco had such a recognition for South Asians as well?”.
Then I thought, maybe there is something already in place and I just didn’t know about it, so I started doing my due diligence, aka Googling. Only to find out that, nothing really existed for South Asians, and if the recognition of the South Asian-American Heritage Month was to go through via a Mayoral Proclamation and a Board of Supervisors Resolution, San Francisco would be making history in the US, becoming the first major city to do so.
Can you walk us through the process of how you garnered support for this recognition? What sort of bureaucratic red tape, if any, did you have to go through?
Once I had the idea, I reached out to Supervisor Bilal Mahmood (he is the first South Asian and first Muslim to be elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors) and I said, “we are the first in our roles and we need to make this happen” and he replied, “let’s do this”.
After that, I met with his team, along with the Mayor’s team, with my official request. To be honest, I actually really enjoyed working with everyone and did not face any red tape or bureaucratic delays… maybe because I was always prepared in meetings and they placed a lot of trust in me.
I mean, if you think about it, it was a classic example of how inter-departmental collaboration looks like, we had the Mayor’s office, the Supervisor’s office and me (first South Asian to be appointed to the San Francisco Immigrant Rights Commission).
Could you share more about the other colleagues who played a key role in making this a reality?
Making South Asian American Heritage Month a reality in San Francisco really started with a light bulb glowing up in my mind, “wouldn’t it be great if we had a heritage month for south asians as well?”.
And from there, I reached out to Supervisor Mahmood, who was just as excited to lead this. In my first meeting with his Chief of Staff and legislative aide, I also presented my request to the Community Affairs Assistant to the San Francisco Mayor’s Office and from there we worked together to make South Asian-American Heritage Month a reality.
This, I believe, also comes at a pivotal time for the US, especially with the enforcement actions of the current government. What do you think about that?
The South Asian American Heritage Month is about highlighting the contributions of South Asian immigrants who have shaped San Francisco for more than a century, and with the growing anti-immigrant sentiment and racism, the celebration and recognition of South Asian-American Heritage Month was a reminder to the communities that we matter in San Francisco’s fabric.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Moving abroad and starting from scratch is like a new birth, it’s not easy; you’re expected to learn and unlearn a lot in a short span of time, discover parts of yourself that you didn’t know existed, put yourself out there for the world multiple times, define and redefine your identity and be in a constant mode of learning. It is not easy.
So make sure you take a moment every now and then to recognise and realise that, to know that it is okay sometimes to feel torn between the woman you were and the woman you’re now becoming, to have your beliefs tested and to have moments that make you question everything you’ve done or achieved till now.
Doubt is just as much a part of the process as resilience and self-assurance are, so make sure you approach your experience in a new country with love and kindness. Continue to grow, give back, and stay engaged.
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