Love and Marriage of Mixed Cultures


Monica and Jay Clancy.

Monica and Jay Clancy.

By Zeenat Kassam Mitha-

Love stories are some of the best stories to hear about because they involve the heart. Emotions are at an all-time high when they involve falling in love. It is common for either party to feel like they have butterflies in their stomach. They are tongue-tied, their knees shake or their hands sweat, all simply because their beloved is near.

Love often leads to marriage, and when people of different cultures marry, the stories involve a passion that only the heart understands. In Fort Bend, we have several such stories. Here are a few of these during this auspicious month when love is celebrated in such grandeur. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Monica Garcia and Jay Clancy

Monica Garcia and Jay Clancy met in January of 1995. Garcia was born in Guadalajara, Mexico. She moved to Houston and was working as a social worker with her mother and Clancy’s mother, who introduced the two. Clancy was born in Jacksonville, Florida, but he had recently moved to Texas. He was finishing his master’s degree in corporate training and development.

When Garcia and Clancy first met, they felt an instant connection. They couldn’t keep their eyes off of each other. After their very first lunch date at the Cadillac Bar, they knew their relationship was special. They were engaged after six months on Christmas Eve 1996, and they were married on November 29, 1997. The Clancy’s now live in Sugar Land with their three boys and are working together to build Clancy Learning LLC, a corporate training consulting company.

LinLin Hsiung  and Gary Yan
Hsiaolin Hsiung and Irfan Motiwala

Gary and LinLin Yan.

Gary and LinLin Yan.

Four of the six partners of Aling’s Restaurant in Sugar Land, Gary Yan, LinLin Hsiung, Irfan Motiwala and Hsiaolin Hsiung, are family members through marriage. Hsiung worked at a pharmacy in Toronto, Canada, where Yan went every day to buy something to get a glance at Hsiung. Yan finally found the courage to ask her out, and they fell in love and married in 1992 in Toronto. Yan and Hsiung are Chinese, but culturally they are Indian. Yan is from Poona, India, and Hsiung is from Bombay, India (currently called Mumbai). Yan’s family owned a prestigious restaurant, Kamling’s, in Poona that served Chinese food made with Indian spices. Yan worked in the restaurant industry before becoming an owner and the head chef at Aling’s.

Hsiaolin and Irfan Motiwala.

Hsiaolin and Irfan Motiwala.

Linlin Hsiung’s sister, Hsiaolin Hsiung, met Irfan Motiwala in college in Bombay.  She was 16 years of age, and he was 18. Motiwala said it was love at first sight for him when he met Hsiung, but it took a motorcycle accident that left him hospitalized when Hsiung knew she was in love with him. The Hsiung family also owned and operated two of Bombay’s prominent restaurants, Bombay Gym and Regal Restaurant. The food was Chinese but made with Indian spices to please the Indian palate. Hsiung worked in her parents’ restaurants since the age of 12 and loved creating new recipes, which she now does at Aling’s.

Motiwala moved to the United States in 1992. Hsiaolin Hsiung followed in July 1992, and they married that same month in Austin, Texas. Motiwala explained, “I love the USA because differences in race and religions are much more accepted here.” Together, the two have made Aling’s a successful Chinese-Indian restaurant.

Stella Guzman and Hassan Mohammedin

 Ike and Zeenat Mitha with Stella and Hassan Mohammedin.

Ike and Zeenat Mitha with Stella and Hassan Mohammedin.

Stella Guzman was born in the outskirts of Cali, Colombia. Hassan Mohammedin was born in a town called Barzok in Iran. Through much hard work, Mohammedin and his nephew began their own retail chain of businesses that sold pagers, keys, passport photos and various accessories. From there, it grew primarily into a cell phone retail business, and at one point, Mohammedin and his nephew owned 24 stores. A few years ago, they decided to sell the majority of the stores and now own two stores.

Guzman and Mohammedin came to the United States within 10 days of each other in December 1985. They met riding the bus to the University of Houston. Mohammedin mustered up the courage to ask Guzman out on a date. After that first dinner, they dated six more years before getting married in February 21, 1992.

Over the years, the couple has enjoyed traveling and exposing their three kids to the cultures that they grew up in, as well as visiting tourist destinations. The Mohammedin’s say they are grateful for everything and consider themselves lucky to be living the American dream.


To share your ideas for upcoming cultural stories and  events, contact Cultural Correspondent Zeenat Kassam Mitha at zeenat@fortbendfocus.com