On the Road Again

SAADA’s Road Trips Project aims to showcase and archive untold stories

With its vast land mass and sprawling interstate system, the United States has hosted countless road trips. But the images and stories of the cross-country journey in the pop culture imagination haven’t always reflected a cross-cultural reality. The South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA) has aimed to change that, by starting a unique Road Trips project to help document and share the stories of South Asian Americans who have driven across the nation. We interviewed Executive Director Samip Mallick to learn more about the project.

WHERE DID THE IDEA FOR THE ROAD TRIPS PROJECT COME FROM?

We started the Road Trips Project in 2017. Just months prior, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, an Indian immigrant in Olathe, Kansas was shot dead in a bar where he was having a drink with a friend after work. The gunman reportedly yelled “go back to your country” right before opening fire. This was a time of heightened tension for all immigrant communities in the U.S., when our contributions to American society and our very lives were being questioned and devalued. It is in that environment that the Road Trips Project was born, to ensure that South Asian American experiences were recognized as a fundamental part of the American story.

WHAT’S THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF THE PROJECT?

The goal of the Road Trips Project is to reframe an American tradition through the eyes of the South Asian community and ensure that our community’s voices and experiences are included. There are millions of miles of roads across the United States, and traveling them has long been seen as a rite of passage for Americans. From Jack Kerouac novels to Hollywood movies, American culture is steeped in the mythology of the “open road.” Yet, so much of this imagery has long been limited in who it includes. The appeal of the open road is deeply rooted in the freedom to travel—safely and without fear, harassment, or intimidation—a freedom, which many cannot take for granted. SAADA’s Road Trips Project highlights the long and diverse history of South Asians traveling across the country, whether for family vacations, cross-country moves, romantic getaways, or any other reason. These trips include memories both good and bad, humorous and sobering. Taken together they help us redefine what the American road trip looks like, and ultimately who is included in the American story.

WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT TO DOCUMENT THESE STORIES?

Documenting these stories helps to expand the circle of who is included in the American story. As archival scholar Jeannette Bastian has said: “A community without its records is a community under siege, defending itself, its identity, and its version of history without a firm foundation on which to stand.” Stories like those in the Road Trips Project help our community assert that we were here, we are here, and we belong here.

ANY MEMORABLE OR SURPRISING SUBMISSIONS SO FAR?

One personal favorite is a story submitted by the Indian American novelist Chitra Divakaruni, where she shares about a road trip that she and her husband Murthy took 33 years prior. Their road trip was from Northern California, where she was a student, to Washington State. One highlight for them is visiting Mt. Rainier, where Chitra recalls: “I remember that some of the waterfalls and peaks had been given Indian names by the

Transcendentalists, from our Vedas—that was so amazing.” She ends by reflecting on the ways that made her feel that she was living in a culture that embraced many people from many countries, and hoping that wonderful aspect of America’s diversity never changes. What Chitra’s story reminds me is that our memories of years before are not only about what we experienced then, but what we are experiencing now, and what we hope for the future.

Have a road trip worth remembering? Share your own stories at roadtrips.saada.org.