Photos courtesy of Sam Lim Studio
After receiving her degree from Case Western Reserve University, Ritu Bakhru assumed she and her husband, Mihir, would return to California, where she grew up, to raise their family. However, after realizing the job market was better in Columbus, the Bakhrus decided to take a closer look at central Ohio.
Whereas Bakhru grew up a Cali girl, Mihir, a Cincinnati native and graduate of The Ohio State University, was familiar with Columbus. He rarely ventured into the suburbs, however, and ironically that’s where the Bakhrus decided they would fit best. Thus began a search and, as one might suspect, one suburb, in particular, caught their eye.
“We weren’t sure where we wanted to move when we first moved here,” says Ritu, “and then we looked around at a lot of suburbs, and we decided we liked Dublin the best.”
And, because the Bakhrus’ children, Krish, 11; Maya, 8; and Shaan, 7; students at Columbus Academy, are active and love to be outside, Ritu says, it was important for their new neighborhood to have lots of families with young children and opportunities for outdoor activities.
“When you drive into old Historic Dublin, it just has this really charming feeling and we loved that,” says Ritu. “It has a very family-friendly feel to it and we loved all the parks and the bike trail.”
The Bakhrus moved to Dublin in 2013 and, even as relative newcomers, Ritu says they feel at home. Though they had neither family nor friends in the area when they moved in, they soon found themselves with a new family, in a sense.
“I’d gone to a park right near our house, and I just approached this one family,” says Ritu. “They just became our friends instantly and they introduced us to so many people. Everybody was so friendly.”
The kids, Krish, Maya and Shaan, got involved in the community as well. For the last three years, Krish and Shaan have participated in the Dublin Irish Festival Kids Dash, which has ignited the boys’ love of running. All three kids participate in the Dublin Soccer League. Maya became involved when she visited a friend and noticed a lack of toys in the house, inspiring her to start an annual holiday toy drive to collect for families in need.
“We’re really fortunate. … We visited a family who is not as fortunate, right here in Dublin,” says Ritu. “My daughter noticed right away that there was a little girl that didn’t have any toys, and that really bothered her.”
Ritu says this is a common theme in Dublin: the willingness and desire to help others.
“A lot of our neighbors have similar family values, and we want our kids to be successful and to do well, and then we also have a sense of community,” she says. “In our neighborhood, we have block parties, one of our neighbors has cancer and so we did a fundraiser. We help each other in good times and bad times, and that’s what community is about.”
Ritu also enjoys living in Dublin for its sense of culture. She appreciates that her neighborhood is full of families with kids and, as a family with Indian heritage, she loves that there are opportunities for her children to learn about their own heritage through their neighbors as well. Maya is even attending a class for Indian dance right here in Dublin.
“Our parents are from India, and there are a lot of Indian families here and that’s important to us as well; I want my children to know their Indian heritage,” says Ritu. “We’re very proud to be American and to live in Dublin, but I wanted them to keep our culture.”
As a native Californian, Ritu says, it says a lot that she loves being in Ohio. The only exception being “when we had the polar vortex,” she says, laughing.
“There are much better opportunities for my children here in Dublin than there would be in California,” Ritu says. “We’re part of the community.”
And, though harsh winters can sometimes be difficult to deal with here in central Ohio, Ritu says Dublin is a great place for her and the rest of her family.
“We feel very at home in Dublin,” she says. “We feel like it’s opened its arms to us, and we would definitely recommend it as a place to live and raise a family.”
For more information or to donate to Maya's annual holiday toy drive, please email mayastoydrive@gmail.com.
Amanda DePerro is a contributing editor. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.