While a second generation immigrant, Pari Patni, did not by any means grow up settled in one place! She's grown up moving throughout the New York and New Jersey area, currently living in Battery Park City. In fact, in the YSOS photograph, Pari does not even remember where it was taken! Despite her constantly shifting environment, she has maintained a steady unit with her mother, father, and little brother. 

While Pari found her previous neighborhoods, in Jersey City and even Forrest Hills alienating, she considers Battery Park City one of the most diverse places in the city. One of the reasons her family moved to Battery Park City was to be walking distance from her high school, Stuyvesant High School (her brother currently attends the school as well). At Stuyvesant, Pari was an avid member and performer in the Bollywood dance team, "Stuy Bolly". Bollywood dance was an activity she continued at Hunter College and one she intends on pursuing at Cornell University (where she is transferring as a rising sophomore).

Bollywood dance has connected Pari to a myriad of Indian culture and politics online. Through Instagram she has been able to connect with thousands of other dancers, many of whom live in New York City. Beyond dance, she engages in online activist spaces, including reels and infographics about  as the Cockroach Junta Party (CJP). Pari is a testament to South Asian immigrant dynamism, actively growing and changing her environment. 

– Mira Goodman

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant