Juhi Naithani, an adjunct professor of marketing at Quinnipiac University, fell in love with the man of her dreams and the United States, the country where he lived.
Born in India, Naithani moved to the United States to follow Ashish Bagai. Naithani and Bagai, an aerospace engineer, were married in the United States and now live in Hamden. They met in India in the village of Gurgaon. They met while Bagai came back to India for a visit.
“I fell in love and I came to Connecticut to get married,” Naithani said, in her distinct Indian accent.
She moved to the States in 2000 and soon after her daughter, Ananya, 2, was born. Naithani decided to take care of her daughter on her own and get a part time job.
She studied at Quinnipiac and decided that it was a wonderful place to be a part of, as well as being very convenient and close to her daughter.
“I felt it was the best for me at the time and I soon found out that it was also a lot of fun,” Naithani said.
She first worked as a graduate assistant and soon realized that teaching was a true passion. She always had interest in international business and took many electives in international business while getting her MBA in marketing in Belgium.
For the past three years, Naithani has been teaching classes in international business and marketing. She is glad that her job is part time so she can care for her daughter. She feels that it will make a big difference in her life.
Naithani’s style of teaching changes from class to class. She usually displays Power Point slides and uses them to prompt discussion. She feels they give the class direction and can be used as a support tool.
Her major motivation for teaching is ther ability to share with her students her past experiences.
“Not only am I from another country but I have also traveled quite a bit and have experienced many cultures. I like that I can share that with my classes,” Naithani said, citing an example of this when she wrote her international business students’ names in Hindi.
Naithani sometimes wears American style clothing and other times clothing made in India.
“My students have a lot less exposure in countries that are further away than I do, so I can expose them to a lot of what they don’t know,” she said.
She enjoys living in America and enjoys teaching American students but Naithani would like to go back to India.
“I have been in India much longer then the States. I miss my friends, family and the whole idea of being in India,” Naithani said.
She also expressed mixed feelings about raising her daughter in America.
“I am not unhappy with my daughter being brought up here,” Naithani said. “I know that there are benefits and disadvantages in both countries. I just hope that she learns as much about India as she is learning about the United States.”
