A tree for the ones we're afraid to forget.

I was born and raised in Norway. My parents came from Punjab, carrying a whole world with them — the language, the food, the stories, and a web of family so intricate it felt like a second language I never quite learned.

Growing up between two cultures, I loved my Punjabi side deeply. But I also had a quiet problem: I couldn't keep the relationships straight. Chacha, Taya, Masi, Bhua, Mama, Mami, Nana, Nani, Dadi — every aunt and uncle had a specific name that told you exactly which side of the family they came from and how they fit in. I would nod through introductions at weddings, smile, and forget the connection the moment the conversation moved on.

The strange part was watching my parents. They could trace branches I didn't even know existed. A second cousin's husband's sister — they knew her name, her village, the year she got married, and which grandmother she was named after. It wasn't a party trick. It was just how they held their family. I remember being genuinely shocked at how much they carried in their heads, and realizing that almost none of it had been written down.

That's when the fear started creeping in — the quiet kind. If nobody writes this down, it leaves with them. Not all at once, but slowly, through the generation born overseas. Through me. My children, if I have them, will only know the people I remember to tell them about, in the words I remember to use.

I didn't want to lose that. I didn't want to not know who my family is.

So I built the tool I wished had existed when I was sixteen — a place where you can draw your family, label each person with the right Punjabi or Hindi word, and actually see how everyone connects. Where you can put your Nani's face next to your Dadi'sand finally keep them straight. Where the names of the uncles and aunts who raised you get written down in ink that doesn't fade.

Desi Family Tree is for anyone in the diaspora who loves their heritage but feels it slipping through their fingers. It's for the cousin at the wedding who can never remember who's related to whom. It's for the grandchild who wants to honour their grandparents by knowing the full shape of the family they built.

Thank you for being here. I hope this tool helps you hold your people a little closer.

— Karan