What do you worry about? I worry that mischief makers deceive good hearted people and lead them astray.

What is your wish for the United States? My wish is that the United States lead the world in promoting justice among all its people and protecting the ecosystem across the land, water, and air.

What role do you play, or want to play in making that wish come true? I am a volunteer leader in my faith community and as a steward in the Cook County forest preserves and Illinois Nature Preserves.

Anything else you wish to say about being Asian American? I feel blessed that I immigrated to the United States as an eight-year-old. I was old enough to compare and contrast my previous life in Japan and my new American girlhood. I became conscious of my Asian-American identity when I made many friends of various backgrounds when I left my parents’ home in San Diego and went away to college at UC Berkeley.

After graduating I came to Chicago and fell in love with its vibrant culture and all its diverse people. I embraced the Bahá’í Faith in Chicago and this has transformed my life. I met a Russian-American friend who invited me to travel with her to Russia. I ended up meeting my husband Nehru in Vladivoskok, the major port city in the Russian Far East. There we were acquainted with people belonging to various Asian indigenous communities.

After Nehru and I were married we settled down in Chicago and our daughter Masumi was born here. She is currently a carefree teenager in a suburban public school. She’s had a unique Asian-American experience, having gone to Japanese and Tamil schools from age 3 to 15. She speaks, reads and writes our three family languages fluently, and she’s now learning Chinese and Malay.

We are a uniquely American family. We are part of a big Asian-American community - we have friends of all different Asian (and non-Asian!) backgrounds from our many years in the Chicago heartland and from other places we have been. Our life is enriched through these friendships. Our treasured heritage and lived experience have primed our hearts to love everyone.