What began as an ordinary lunch break turned into an extraordinary fight for dignity for two Indian PhD students in the United States. Aditya Prakash and Urmi Bhattacharyya, two students of the University of Colorado Boulder, recently became the leading story after a $200, 000 (around 1.8 crore) civil rights settlement over what they claim was discrimination at the institutional level, all started by the smell of Indian food.
And you are not mistaken. Palak paneer.
Prakash who was then a Ph.D. student in the Department of Anthropology of the university, happened to go to his microwave to warm up his lunch when in September 2023, it was alleged a staff member complained about the strong smell and ordered him not to use the appliance. Prakash argued that it was a common space and that different cultural groups will consider various smells good or bad, it is all subjective.
“My food is my pride,” he later told the media. “How many people do you know who face racism because they eat broccoli?”
The disagreement, however, didn’t end in the kitchen. According to the couple, things soon spiralled into something much more serious. Prakash was allegedly called into repeated meetings with senior faculty, accused of making the staff member feel “unsafe.” Bhattacharyya, who stood by him, said she was abruptly removed from her teaching assistant role—without explanation.
Then came the real shocker. The university allegedly withheld the master’s degrees that PhD students usually receive en route to completing their doctorate. Students around the world have particularly resonated with this caseas well as international students trying to figure out alien systems. It does not only touch on food but also belonging, identity, and the daily struggles that students far from home have to endure.
Occasionally, the start of a revolution is marked by a single microwave... and a bowl of palak paneer. I will not be silent,” she wrote.
Students around the world have particularly resonated with this case as well as international students trying to figure out alien systems. It does not only touch on food but also belonging, identity, and the daily struggles that students far from home have to endure.
Occasionally, the start of a revolution is marked by a single microwave... and a bowl of palak paneer.
When Palak Paneer Sparked a Legal Storm: How Two Indian PhD Students Won ₹1.8 Crore in the US
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