SF Giants fifth rounder Rohan Handa talks draft, heritage, and more

SF Giants: Rohan Handa talks family, COVID, and heritage

W: It was really awesome to see you drafted there. I’ve read that you had relatives travel from India to your home for the draft. How did it feel to have them come and support you for that day?

R: In particular, it was my grandmother who came from India. But to answer your question, simply having my family there on that very day was amazing. It was amazing. We’ve kept it a little bit of a smaller group just because you just never know what happens in this process and if things were not going to go your way, it would be around your family. And I will say that especially having my grandma from India, that’s amazing. It’s truly amazing, it meant the absolute world to me and I do think that being a family man myself, it just made it that much more important. Yeah, I’m truly, truly thankful for their support.

W: Yeah, coming from a family man like myself, I would be absolutely delighted if I was in your spot as well. India has been one of the countries that have been hit the worst by the COVID-19 pandemic. Is it okay to ask if how are your loved ones in India during these tough times? (It’s totally fine to not answer this question.)

R: No, it’s okay. I can answer this. The pandemic really, really got India I will say that. Even now, the Delta variant which originally came from India is still hitting the country pretty hard. But when it comes to my family and kind of what they had to go through, yeah both sides of my parents, we had some friends or family that have passed away due to Covid which is quite unfortunate. It’s the pandemic and everything we do is a way of memorializing them. But yeah, the pandemic really, really hit hard in India. It hit my family pretty hard too.

W: It’s really hard indeed. I’m praying that the loved ones that we lost during this pandemic will find peace.