Indo American Oral History Interview with Rao Ratnala

Rao Ratnala, founder of the Ratnala-Bahl, Inc. was interviewed by a retired IT Manager from Chevron, Sita Mutyala

Rao Ratnala, founder of the Ratnala-Bahl, Inc. was interviewed by a retired IT Manager from Chevron, Sita Mutyala

HOUSTON: Rao Ratnala, founder of the Ratnala-Bahl, Inc. was interviewed by a retired IT Manager from Chevron, Sita Mutyala, MBA, herself an author, artist and a social worker.

Ratnala first came to New Mexico in 1962 as a student and got his Master’s degree in Civil Engineering from University of Virginia. Met his American wife, Kandance Jones in New Mexico, got married and moved to Houston 43 years ago and had never visited India since then.  He has a son, Ravi and two daughters Melissa and Melanie.

A shy person by nature and a man of few words, but politically influential Ratnala, a lifelong Democrat, was one of the original founders of Houston’s South Asian Chamber of Commerce, the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce and also Indo-American Political Action Committee. He was part of a fundraiser for both Democratic and Republican party candidates and was invited to White House many times. In March 2000, he was one of the only two people from Houston to have been invited by the White House to accompany President Bill Clinton to visit India.

In the early days, Ratnala along with a group of people in Austin, made a presentation to General Services Commissioner under the administration of Governor Anne Richards for inclusion of Indian Americans into Historically Under Privileged Businesses (HUB). Until then, Indians were considered privileged minority.

His service to the community was also exemplified by his company’s pro-bono services provided to design the Mahatma Gandhi statue’s pedestal. The ground breaking for the project was done in Hermann Park by former Mayor Lee P. Brown on October 14, 2003 and the statue dedicated by former Mayor Bill White on October 2, 2004.

Among various Awards that Ratnala and his Company received, he takes pride in the fact that his company was named the fastest growing company for six years in a row and was recognized and honored by Houston Metro in its celebration of  Asian American Heritage in Houston.

Ratnala’s video interview will be digitized and permanently archived along with other interviews in the Indo-American Oral History collection of the Houston Metropolitan Research Center, which is administered by Houston Public Library.

The Indo-American Oral History project is a Legacy Project for Houston’s Indo-American community.

For participation in the project,  call Krishna Vavilala at 713-795-5169 or email kvavilala1@gmail.com.