From India to D.C. and Back: Nikita Mandhani on Migration, Family, and Choosing Joy

Nikita Mandhani is an independent journalist and filmmaker based in India. She spent seven years at the BBC making short documentaries, launching social-first formats, and building new ways to reach underserved audiences. Before that, she worked at The Washington Post in Washington, D.C., and earned her master’s in journalism and documentary filmmaking from Northwestern University.In this episode, Nikita shares her journey of growing up in India, moving to the U.S. to pursue a career in journalism, and ultimately deciding to return home. We discuss how migration, gender, and identity influence her work and worldview, including her own family's untold story of becoming refugees after the partition. She reflects on the emotional cost of immigration, the cultural shocks of moving and moving back, and how she finds grounding through joy, travel, and curiosity.Nikita has reported from across Asia, Africa, Europe, and the U.S., and brings a global perspective to the stories she tells. Outside of journalism, she’s a voracious reader, a beginner scuba diver, an indoor climber, and a regular yoga practitioner.You can find links to her work mentioned in the episode below, especially recommended if you’re drawn to stories about migration, culture, and what it means to belong:Why I made ‘Between Two Cultures,’ our series on the daughters of immigrants Video series - Between Two Cultures The Pain of Familial Separation“This Is Not America. This Is Dearborn”