by Adrienne Blaine
Graphic Designer
“It’s kind of like a large social experiment: my life,” senior Karan Mangat laughingly admited. Born in Kenya, with a dual British-Canadian citizenship, many are puzzled to find that Mangat is actually Northern Indian and has never lived in either Britain or Canada.
Mangat’s grandparents, forced out of Northern India due to religious and political persecution, were given the choice of fleeing to Kenya or Fiji. They chose Kenya and as a result Mangat was born and raised in Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi. It wasn’t until Mangat was ten years old that his family moved to Los Gatos.
While attending Fisher Middle School, and more recently, LGHS, Mangat has been forced to correct numerous stereotypes about his birthplace. Mangat admits that even some of his friends don’t understand his life in Kenya. Questions like, “If you’re from Africa, why don’t you look African?” and, “Did you grow up in a hut?” give Mangat a good laugh. “It just goes to show how internationally ignorant some people in Los Gatos are,” said Mangat.
The truth is, Nairobi is not a village in the middle of the desert. It’s actually the fourth largest city in Africa. With a population of almost three million inhabitants, it has a larger population than all of Santa Clara County. Nairobi is a cosmopolitan and multicultural center, known for its literature, film, music and sports. It’s climate is similar to that of Los Gatos, with moderate rainfall and temperatures that hardly ever exceed seventy-five or fall below fifty degrees Fahrenheit. Looking at an aerial view of Nairobi it would be easy to mistake it for San Jose with its green landscape and tall business buildings.
Despite the similarities between Los Gatos and Nairobi, Mangat has been forced to cultivate an adaptive view on life. When asked how he had felt about moving to entirely new continent as a child, Mangat said he took it in stride, as he takes many things. “I’m not the kind of person who gets shocked,” said Mangat. Friends of Mangat describe him as a chameleon: able to carefully observe his surroundings and blend in with the appropriate persona. Mangat describes his talent as more of an interest in “talking to people and learning what they are like.”
Despite Mangat’s penchant for anonymity, he did disclose some of his unique interests, which include, but are not limited to, rally racing, golf, traveling, and military strategy. Mangat said, “[Military strategy] helps you understand things in your own life and why they happen the way they do. It’s a good way to understand humans in general.”
This summer Mangat interned at a major hospital in Nairobi. He took several trips outside of Nairobi to serve poorer citizens in the Kenyan countryside. “The part I admire is that they might not have everything, but they are still happy people. Most people that you talk to are not bummed about being in the position they’re in. They’re actually pretty happy and content with their lives,” said Mangat.
Mangat’s plans for the future are simple: the pursuit of happiness. He refuses to restrict his life to one path. Mangat said, “I mean what is the meaning of your life anyway? That’s the hard question to ask. For different people it is different things. For me it’s just be happy without harming other people.”