Meet the Godfather of Silicon Valley's Indian Tech Wave.
Born at the dawn of India's independence, Kanwal Rekhi's journey from Partition-era refugee to Silicon Valley legend uncannily mirrors the rise of modern India.
Told from his son's point of view, the documentary explores how one immigrant's innovation led to the foundation of the internet, ignited India's telecommunication boom, and fueled the entrepreneurship wave that helped India become the fifth largest economy in the world.
The prejudice and sacrifices he made along the way forever shaped the man behind the success. As an unexpected challenge befalls his wife Ann, father and son must confront questions of belonging, purpose, and sacrifice.
One of Silicon Valley's most influential — and least conventional — pioneers.
The first Indian-American founder and CEO to take a company public on the NASDAQ. A co-architect of India's entrepreneurial revolution. A mentor to more startup founders than he can count.
Born into a lower-middle-class refugee family after the Partition of British India, Rekhi arrived in America in 1967 with $8 in his pocket and a thick accent — and was promptly underestimated. He transformed that doubt into fuel. After earning his master's in electrical engineering, he co-created Excelan to commercialize Ethernet and TCP/IP — the basis of the Internet — leading the company to a successful IPO in 1987 before spearheading its merger with Novell.
As president of TiE (The IndUS Entrepreneurs), he helped build the world's largest mentoring network for Indian entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. He has mentored 10,000+ entrepreneurs and invested in 200+ early-stage teams, including Exodus Communications, Poshmark, redBus, Sierra Atlantic, and NetMagic.
Nowadays it's common to see Indians at the top of tech companies. That wasn't always the case. My father arrived in America with $8 in his pocket and had to fight his way to the top, through prejudice and adversity, forever changing the perceptions of Indians in America in the process.
What began as a biographical portrait of my father evolved into something much more intimate — a story of identity, family, sacrifice and loss. He met and married my mom, a white American woman, a mere ten years after bi-racial marriages were decriminalized. Tech was a white man's world, where no promotion was ever handed out to people of color.
It was a challenge being the filmmaker but also a subject. My co-director, Swetlana — a queer journalist and filmmaker based in India — brought objectivity and perspective to this very intimate process. Navigating identity while growing up in a small town in India, Swetlana's journey reflects both my father's journey as well as mine.
Our hope is that this film can bridge cultures and hearts — a reminder that citizenship is not stamped on passports but forged in the daily struggles of society. My parents built a life across borders and time, proving what's possible when just one person believes in you. This film is my personal quest.
— Ben Rekhi, Director
