Ziaul Karim is an engineer who managed two restaurants in Riverside, the Bengal Kitchen and the Royal Bengal in the 1980s and 1990s. Karim and his wife Shamima were born in Bangladesh and emigrated to the U.S. in the 1980s. They have three children: Tanvir, who is a student at the Riverside Community College; Tasmin, a student at UCR; and Tasreen, still in high school. Karim has been active in the Riverside Municipal Museum 's Multicultural Council and at the Islamic Center of Riverside. In 2000-2001, the Royal Bengal was a lively informal center for the community arts: one evening each week, an open mic event featured everything from Middle Eastern dancing, bhangra, performance art, drumming circles, and Javanese music.

Ziaul Karim and his daughter Tasmin participating in the Village Festival parade organized by the Riverside Metropolitan Museum, 2001. (Center, waving.)