5 questions with Abishek Eagala ’23
From south India, Eagala, after receiving his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, worked for three years in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. His first trip to the United States was to UD, where he is pursuing a master’s in engineering management. We asked him about his impressions of his time here.
1 - What was your impression of UD when you arrived? It’s a great school. But at first I wasn’t sure. I didn’t like the weather; it’s not like India. And the cars! Everybody has cars. Nobody walks. I went outside to ask for directions. Nobody was there. Was there a curfew? Something political? No, people just weren’t walking. In India, there are people walking everywhere.
2 - What else was different? Food. But I accepted that not everything is curry; you can get used to mac and cheese — if you put enough pepper on it. I’ve found a grocery store in the Belmont neighborhood where you can get the Indian rice called sona masoori — unlike sticky rice, its grains stay separate. And a friend introduced me to an American food that I love — meatloaf. If I ever start a restaurant, I’ll have a masala meatloaf on the menu.
3 - Have you been able to travel? Yes! I still want to go to New York and see the Statue of Liberty; and I heard of a museum there about a TV show that’s very popular in India — Friends. I’ve seen the Capitol in Washington, D.C., and went on spring break to Mexico, to the coastal city of Puerto Vallarta. And I’ve been to Florida. That’s weather more like India! St. Augustine; it’s billed as “America’s oldest city.” (It’s the longest continually inhabited European-founded U.S. city.) I had alligator meat and frog legs — they do taste like chicken. There were only white people there. I was uncomfortable; there was nobody like me.
4 - Was that true anywhere else? Salyersville, Kentucky, was the first place I had gone where everyone else was white. I went on Campus Ministry’s 2022 summer Appalachian program. The experience was awesome — sleeping in hammocks, listening to John Denver, eating meatloaf. I had brought enough spices (like cardamom and cloves) for nine weeks, so I cooked food for the kids. Even the parents came and ate.
5 - What did you do this summer? I worked at a camp at RecPlex. (One kid wanted to know if the red dot on Indian women’s foreheads were tattoos.) And I work as a grad assistant for education equity programs at the Fitz Center. We place UD students in Dayton schools to tutor in math and reading. One decided to switch her major to teaching! And I do site visits to Dayton Public Schools Neighborhood School Centers. Seeing me play with the kids, a teacher said, “You mingle well.” I replied, “I’m Indian. I mingle.”