When Indras Govender first set foot in the United States, he was astonished by the welcoming attitude he encountered whenever he went. “To come to a country and just walk into any restaurant or go anywhere you want, it was like, ‘Whoa,’” he stated as he recalled that moment.
Coming from apartheid-era South Africa, Indras and wife, Tilly, (now an assistant dean in the social sciences division of the College of Letters & Science) lived a life fraught with overt racism and discrimination due to their Indian heritage. It was the early 1990s. Nelson Mandela had just been freed after 27 years in state prison, and South African president F. W. de Klerk had just signed a peace accord to end the oppressive system. Still the effects of the 50-year-long regime lingered.
The life of the Govenders, however, was entirely different from where they came from.
“California’s quite the melting pot,” he said. “There are people from every country in the world here. And so you don’t feel out of place, and people are welcoming.”
It’s the feeling of that first welcome that Govender pays forward every day in his role as food and beverage manager at The Club & Guest House. Joining the campus in 2016 to head the newly revamped fine dining facility formerly known as the Faculty Club, Govender brings more than 10 years of experience as a restaurant owner, combined with his formal training as a certified public accountant and his genuine passion for the epicurean experience.
Learn more about Indras and The Club & Guest House over at The Current.
(Image Credit: Jeff Liang)