Part of a series of interviews documenting the unique immigrant experience of Asian Indians in northeast Ohio and explore issues of professional, family, and religious life. Dr. Sam Rajiah is the first Indian from South India that we have gotten to interview so far. He is originally from a Christian family that lived in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. His Father and Mother both had a great impact on his character. From his Father he got his desire to selflessly help others and from his mother his love of music. Dr. Rajiah seems in general very conscious of social issues. Due to a strong religious background, much of his socio-political involvement are with organizations with a religious orientation. For example, he is a part of an Interfaith organization in Cleveland that seeks to foster interfaith dialogue and understanding among the different religious communities of the Cleveland area. Also, because of where he comes from there is a noticeable identity separation in his interaction with other Indians. When he talked about the development of the Asian Indian community, it seemed that while he was friendly with people from North India, he was more closely associated with people of South India. This regionalism was not so strong in the beginning but was still there and got stronger over time as the Asian Indian community grew in NE Ohio. Despite some of this regionalism, Dr. Rajiah seems to have a general egalitarian ethic about him: He believes that all human beings are valuable regardless of their differences, though we also need to be able to respect each others differences as well. This is the first of three videos depicting this interview.