‘American Desis’ Podcast Talk Domestic Violence with L.A. Prosecuter Pallavi Dhawan

This week Arjun Gupta and Akaash Singh revisited an old interview with Pallavi Dhawan, who works in the family violence office in the LA County District Attorney’s office as a prosecutor of felony charges.

This week Arjun Gupta and Akaash Singh revisited an old podcast interview they had done with Pallavi Dhawan. Dhawan works in the family violence office in the L.A. County District Attorney’s office as a prosecutor of felony charges ranging from rape to murder.

With such a heavy job description, this week’s podcast had to delve into appropriately intense subjects. After an initial introduction into the nature of prosecution, family law, felony versus misdemeanor charges, the district attorney’s office, the difference between jail and prison etc., Singh, Gupta and Dhawan, discussed what it is like to handle cases dealing with violence in the home.

Dhawan mentioned how “we’re all so worried about crimes on the street,” when sometimes the crimes that occur in private and at home—spaces where one should feel safe and loved—can actually be the most challenging to deal with. She was drawn to this career because of “first-hand experience witnessing” of domestic violence and childhood abuse.

Dhawan accepted Gupta and Singh’s statements about the emotional toll her job must take on her, but she also emphasized the importance of separating her emotions from her duty as a prosecutor. I was hoping to get a little bit more of insider look into some of Dhawan’s own experiences either with cases or her own past, but the conversation shifted gears to examine the impact of her “Indian-ness” on Dhawan’s career decisions.

Not so shockingly, Dhawan started college as a biochemistry major but then changed to political science—she was able to convince her parents this was okay because it was still a “science.” It sounds like Dhawan’s parents are like my parents and their insistence on engineering majors for all three of their kids—although, to this day I thank my parents for that insistence. Her parents supported her decision to pursue law, although they have often wanted her to practice defense because of a certain “prestige factor” and the fact that it is more lucrative.

This was, without a doubt, the longest “American Desis” podcast I have listened to yet, so the conversation took yet another turn and discussed Singh and Gupta’s perception of the “inner strength of Indian women.” Obviously, there was no argument from my end on this point, and I also agree that this perception is not really understood outside of Indian culture—just like Gupta’s “Indian Prince Syndrome” is also not understood outside of our culture.

Gupta described this phenomenon where many Indian men, we should say South Asian men, in general, overall really, often feel elevated on a pedestal within their own household and then subsequently feel intimidated by strong women outside their homes. Despite agreeing with this, Dhawan, like many other South Asian women, ideally want to find a South Asian partner because of the sense of commonality that comes with shared cultural background. And luckily for all of us, we know that the “Indian Prince Syndrome” can fade with time.

Listen to this podcast when you have some downtime and want to learn a bit more about a well-educated, strong, Indian woman and what has shaped her career goals and life outlook.