Jeremy Gyan Malhotra – Kathryn Ann Davis Wedding Celebration
The Malhotra family and relatives with the bride and groom, from left: from the Chicago area: Daniel Murphy (holding son Shiva); Dr. Jayant Malhotra, the groom’s uncle, his daughter Meena Murphy and daughter Shashi Nila; from Houston: Alexandra Shepherd and fiancé of Stefan Malhotra, the groom’s older brother; the bride and groom; the groom’s father Jawahar Malhotra and grandmother Shakuntla Malhotra, seated; and from Frederick, Maryland, the groom’s cousins Pam Jaggi, husband Rajiv Jaggi and sons Tanay and Rohan
WASHINGTON, DC: They met seven years ago while volunteers in the US Peace Corps in Togo, a slither of a country in the hump of Western Africa. He was stationed in the tiny village of Aheppe in the southeast while she was in the northwest, ten hours to the north by jungle taxi. But the distance and the drudgery of riding in a barebones taxi with strangers picked up along the way, along bumpy roads, passing by the tall, branchless-till-the-bushy-top boabap trees, couldn’t deter them once they had found each other.
So, it was with some degree of surprise when Jeremy sent his parents a picture of the side profile of Kathryn looking up to a baopap tree. And at their wedding celebration, her parents remembered how they knew “this thing was serious” when Kathryn asked if Jeremy could join the family for a short vacation in South Africa.
Before the wedding celebration at the Dumbarton House in Washington, DC with the bride Kathryn Davis and groom, Jeremy Malhotra, on the left: Alexandra Shepherd and fiancé Stefan Malhotra, the groom’s older brother; and on the right, the groom’s father Jawahar Malhotra.
It only got more serious as time passed by and they both had completed their two-year tour in the Peace Corps. After a short period working in NGOs in Washington, DC, they both went for their Masters degrees at Columbia University in New York and after they finished in May 2016, moved to Yangon, Maynmar (better known to many Indians as Rangoon, Burma) where Kathryn worked for the Clinton Health Initiative as the head of the Malaria Eradication Program for the region and Jeremy worked with NGOs doing conflict resolution work until he relocated this past May to Washington, DC to work with the State Department. This past Saturday, October 28, the young couple celebrated their wedding in the historic Dumbarton House on Q Street in the heart of the Washington, DC. It was a close affair with family and many friends who came from across the country and beyond: Jeremy’s mother’s family from Paris, France and Geneva, Switzerland; his father’s family from Chicago, New York, Washington, DC, Maryland and Houston; and Kathryn’s family from England, Minneapolis and Cleveland. The wedding itself was non-religious and non-traditional, with respect paid to Hindu traditions too. Afterwards, following drinks and hors d’ourves in the garden, the reception was held in the downstairs banquet hall which spilled into a tented addition.
At lunch with Jeremy and Kathryn Malhotra, the day after the celebration, were the extended family of the groom from Washington, DC; Paris, France, Houston, Texas and Fredrick, Maryland.
The wedding was made extra special as Jeremy’s two grandmothers were there to attend – Edith Giacchetti, 92, from Paris, France and Shakuntla Malhotra, 89, from Houston, Texas. Unable to attend but there in mind were Kathryn’s grandmothers Rose Sullivan, 90, of Cleveland and Ann Davis, 88 of Chicago.
Kathryn Davis, who just turned 32, was born in New York City but raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her younger sister Beth. After finishing her Bachelor’s degree in International Studies from George Washington University, she spent two years in the US Peace Corps in Togo, Africa and later received a Masters in Public Health from Columbia University in May 2016. She will be relocating to the US after finishing her work assignment in Myanmar later this year. She is the daughter of Michael Davis, who retired as the Executive VP of Human Resources at General Mills and his wife Celia who has a photography business, both of Minneapolis.
Jeremy’s grandmothers Edith Giacchetti, 92, (left) from Paris, France and Shakuntla Malhotra, 89, from Houston, Texas attended the wedding.
Jeremy Gyan Giacchetti Malhotra, 31, was born and raised in Houston, spending most summers with his mother’s family in Paris, France. He received his Bachelors from the College of Media and Communications at the University of Houston, Main Campus in 2009 then worked in the US Peace Corps for two years in Togo, Africa. He received his Masters degree from Columbia University, with specialization in International Security Policy. After almost a year in Myanmar, he has joined the US State Department this past May. He is the son of Indo American News Publisher Jawahar Malhotra in Houston and Dr. Claudine Giacchetti, a Professor of French Literature at the University of Houston, Main Campus.
The couple will spend a week long honeymoon in upstate New York and Montreal, Canada before returning to Washington, DC where they will settle for now, depending on where their work may take them in the future.