Summary: (http://kamlashow.com/podcast/wp-content/uploads/ssskywalker253cthumb.jpg)American filmmaker and writer Sadia Shepard (http://www.sadiashepard.com/about.html) grew up thinking that her Pakistani maternal grandmother was a Muslim just like her mother. And therein lies an interesting story, whose roots can be traced to the partition of the Indian sub-continent in 1947 and the tragic consequences it had for so many families and people on either side of the border. Sadia discovers that her maternal grandmother was born into the Bene Israel, one of the oldest Jewish communities on the Western coast of India. The Bene Israels were concentrated on the Konkan coast (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konkan) of Maharashtra (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maharashtra) for over 2,000 years. Often known as Shaniwar Teli (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/60455/Bene-Israel) (Saturday oil-pressers), the Bene Israel community (http://www.sadiashepard.com/photos.html) now numbers a few thousand people and they are mostly concentrated in Mumbai and surrounding areas. Many have migrated to Israel, Canada, US and other countries. A few years ago Sadia went to India on a journey of discovery about her maternal grandmother's Jewish heritage and her story. Sadia spent nearly 2 years living in Mumbai in pursuit of her grandmother's story. What was the story (http://ricklibrarian.blogspot.com/2009/07/girl-from-foreign-search-for.html) of her maternal grandmother? What did Sadia (http://www.pri.org/theworld/?q=node/20179) discover about her grandmother's Jewish ancestry forms the basis of her book (http://lotusreads.blogspot.com/2009/01/girl-from-foreign-search-for.html): The Girl From Foreign - A Memoir. This interview was first aired on Stanford's radio station.
