Discover a century of South Asian American activist history on the streets of Berkeley, California! (And soon, San Francisco.)

Community historians Barnali Ghosh and Anirvan Chatterjee bring South Asian American movements and histories to life on an engaging 2-mile walking tour.

You’ll visit original sites, hear the stories, and come away inspired by four generations of immigrant freedom fighters, feminists, and more. These are the secret histories we were never taught.

→ Learn more, or register for an tour ←

As seen in National Geographic, NPR, the San Francisco Chronicle, Atlas Obscura, and more. We were voted Best of the East Bay (2014), awarded the national APIA Preservation Award (2016), and received a proclamation from the city of Berkeley on our 10th anniversary (2022). We’ve run 293 Berkeley tours for 4,316 people since 2012! And now we’re testing a brand new tour of San Francisco — 6 SF tours for 145 people since our launch in 2023.

P.S. Check out our Instagram, Facebook, Secret Desi History blog, Black/Desi solidarity 101, public research notes, and mailing list.
new tour dates are also announced on our social media

Upcoming Berkeley dates

2025 dates coming soon

What participants say
  • “one of the most amazing experiences ever”

  • “a fantastic, interactive, inspiring, and provocative tour”

  • “I cried, felt my heart break, felt scared, and uplifted…this was an incredible experience”

  • “love the details of your detective work and how you brought it to life in the spaces it happened”

  • “I wish we had the opportunity to learn this when in school”

  • “your research, words, heart, and labor of love is such a gift”

  • “I have felt like an outsider during many moments while living here, but this is the first time Berkeley has most felt like my home”

  • “I found it really moving…there are roots within our community that connect to our current activism”

  • “this is an experience I'm going to carry with me for a long time”

  • “I loved it, and will continue bringing people”

  • “thank you for showing me that I have a history in the country…in these times, it’s hard to remember that we belong”

What we do

Live events

We run an award-winning monthly walking tour, and curate art and community events.

Original research

We conduct and share original research, and collaborate with others doing related work.

Advocacy & fundraising

We work on campaigns like Kala Bagai Way, and donate tour profits to movement orgs.

Talks & interviews

We do talks and interviews about our histories, and share referrals with other activists and experts.

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook, or Anirvan's history posts on Facebook and Mastodon, or Barnali's art on Instagram or Mastodon.

Previous Berkeley dates: Aug 4 (BASS 2012), Sep 29, Oct 13-14, 20-21, 28, Nov 3-4, 17-18, 2012, and Mar 30, Apr 7, May 4, Jun 16, Jul 4 (DesiQ conference), July 13, Jul 27 (BASS 2013), Aug 25, Sep 21, Oct 20, Nov 1, 16-17 2013, Mar 8, 27 (Stanford Alternative Spring Break), April 4 (NAES conference), April 13, April 26 (AAAS conference), May 3, May 24 (Stanford Okada dorm), May 26, June 15, July 19, Aug 24, Sep 6, Oct 25-26, Dec 20, 2014, and Jan 31, Feb 21, Feb 27 (Berkeley APASD), Mar 28, Apr 26, May 31, June 5 (Race, Space, Violence conference) 2015, 13, 20 (Seeding Change), July 26, Sep 20, Oct 3 (Dalit Women Fight), Oct 4 (APA NorCal 2015, with Black Panthers Tour), 17, 22 (NLG SF conference), December 19, 26 (Munshi) 2015, Jan 23, Feb 7, Mar 6 (Arcadia), Mar 19, Apr 23, May 22, June 25, July 16, Aug 17 (Seeding Change), 28, Sep 24, 2016, Jan 28, Feb 26, Mar 11, Mar 26 (Grassroots Asians Rising), Apr 30, May 7, Aug 14 (Seeding Change), Sep 2, Aug 8, Oct 28, Nov 4 (Stanford Okada), Dec 2, 2017, Jan 21, Feb 12, Feb 25, Mar 25 Apr 15, May 19, June 16 (O.P. Jindal), June 19 (Seeding Change), June 24 Jul 8, Aug 13 (BASS), 25, Sep 23, 29 (UCB, Markaz), Oct 7 (AID), Oct 28 (Berkeley Historical Society), 2018, Feb 10, Mar 3, 10 (Cal APATH), 22 (APIDA), 24, Apr 16 (Techniques of Memory), 28, 2019, May 9 (GSPP), May 19, June 21 (Seeding Change),, June 30, July 7 (including APIENC LEX), Aug 5 (BASS), Aug 11 (SMU Human Rights), Aug 25, Sep 22, Oct 13, Nov 16 (UCB), Nov 17, Jan 12 2020, Jan 26, 2020 (UCD MENASA Retreat), Feb 16, 2020, June 27 2021 (reopening!), July 11 (feat. Rani Bagai), 25, Aug 1, Oct 9 (200th, feat Rishi Reddi), Oct 24, Nov 14, Dec 19, 26, 2021, Jan 9 2022, April 17 (public + UCB Jakara), May 22 (Bridgespan), May 22, May 29, July 10, July 31 (CAIR), Aug 10 (Third Act), 13 (BASS), 21, Sep 18, Sep 23 and 30 (BPL), Oct 1 (UCSF), 8 (Stanford A3C), 15, 16 (CEDSOC, SF State), Nov 20, Dec 4 (Ramanujam), 12, 2022, Feb 26, Mar 5 (Berkeley Haas) 2023, 19 (USF), 24 (Miramonte and Campolindo High), 25 (Stanford ASB), 26, Apr 30, June 20 (Seeding Change), 25, July 1 (APILO), 24 (Fellowship Ctr for Racial Reconciliation), 30, Aug 14 (BASS 2023), 27 (API Giving Circle + USF immigration class), Sep 24, Oct 14, 27 (USF), 28 (Stanford), Dec 2 (UC Berkeley SSWANA) 2023, Jan 21, 2024, Apr 6 (Narika), 21, May 11, 12 (Okada), June 1 (CHCI conference), 15, 29, July 14, 21 (Hewlett), Aug 7 (BASS), Sep 8, Sep 7, Sep 21 (Stanford Markaz), Oct 19 (Chabot), Oct 20, Nov 9 (Stanford), Nov 17 2024.  Previous SF Mission dates: May 7 (preview), 13-14 (When Eyes Speak), Oct 21 (with Shaping SF), Nov 9 (Hopelab) 2023, Mar 10 (USF IME), 27 (SFUSD), 31 2024. Previous SF Tenderloin dates: Sep 26, Oct 30, 2024.