Neera Tanden: Power, Policy and Poise

The Obama-Biden Transition Team office in the nation’s capitol was buzzing with activity, awash in smiles and friendly banter in December. It was early enough that the overall mood was still celebratory, and the enthusiastic, brisk walking young staffers were not yet overwhelmed with the stark realities of governing.

Among the many offices in the building was one set apart for Neera Tanden, a longtime Democrat and counselor in the Department of Health and Human Services. In just over a decade since graduating from Yale Law School, Neera Tanden has had a meteoric rise through the world of Democratic policy makers. Starting out as one of thousands of campaign workers, moving to the Clinton White House as a mid level staffer, Tanden was one of Hillary Clinton’s closest advisors during the 2008 Presidential Campaign. She served as domestic policy director for the Obama campaign before taking up her current position.

Cheerfully ignoring the multiple ringing phones and constant visitors, Tanden speaks in clear, eloquent sentences, peppered with the occasional casual “like”. She is youthful, energetic and energizing, while simultaneously strikingly thoughtful and sharply intelligent. She is slim and compact, with a near constant bright smile. Her candid responses were refreshing and lucid.

She has clearly given much thought to the narrative of her life. She is humble, allowing her impressive accomplishments to speak for themselves. And throughout our conversation, she returns again and again to the same theme: that she is not the sole architect of her life. She constantly acknowledges her family, touches of serendipity, and, most often, the power of government to change lives.

Growing up in Bedford, Mass, Tanden was immersed in politics from early childhood. Her mother, Maya, who was then working towards a Ph.D. in political science at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass., would fill the home with friends and hold long conversations about politics.

“She was very politically active and politically minded.” remembers Tanden. Her mother grew up in Kanpur in a very political home; her father was active in local politics there, and her grandfather had been a freedom fighter in British India.
As a young child, Tanden and her older brother, Raj, soaked up the stories and conversations. “A tribute to both my parents is that they talked about politics actively. My father tried to talk about philosophical issues often, and was very encouraging of us developing our own opinions. My father, even though he’s conservative, supported raising a strong daughter.”

At age 5, however, the foundation of Tanden’s life was dramatically shaken. “My parents divorced, and my father left the picture immediately.” she remembers matter-of-factly. Tanden soon became intimately familiar with government support systems. “When my parents got divorced, my mother had to go on welfare. She needed to get a job. She had never worked before in her life.”

SINGLE MOTHER
Tanden reveals not a glimpse of self pity when recalling this doubtlessly difficult time, simply pride in her mother for maintaining a strong home for Tanden and her older brother, Raj. “She was a single mother, and got divorced at a time where there were very few Indian women divorced.” Tanden says. The family greatly benefitted from the social services available to them, and her mother was able to work her way up. “By the time I was in middle school, we eventually were able to buy a house.”

Tanden is acutely conscious of the degree to which various social services not only kept her family afloat, but allowed them to thrive. “I’m incredibly grateful that there was a support system here that allowed me to flourish, in a way that wouldn’t have existed in India or elsewhere at that time.” The family moved to public section 8 housing, but was able to stay in Bedford, an affluent town with excellent public schools. Tanden acknowledges the good fortune at play. “We were so randomly lucky that Bedford had created this new low income housing.”

Tanden is deeply grateful for the high quality public schools available in Bedford. “I didn’t come to realize this until later, but one of the big reasons I think I’ve had the successes I’ve had is because I’ve been able to go to really good schools. If things were different, who know what schools we would have ended up in?” After graduating from high school, Tanden enrolled at UCLA, and is bursting with public school pride. “I didn’t go to private school until Yale,” she notes.

Tanden’s political leanings were dramatically shaped by her experiences and the ways in which the government has been essential to her success. As she grew up, she became more aware of the role these structures had played in her life. Apart from one year when she became a fan of Ronald Reagan, Tanden began building a solid progressive philosophy.

“I remember an argument I had with my father [when I was]in High school, about welfare. My father is a Republican. He was like ‘People are lazy’ and I was like ‘We were on Welfare!’ He just could not wrap his head around it.”

As her political philosophy was starting to take shape, so was Tanden’s drive to participate in the process. She began feel the pull towards political activity as a teen. “In high school, I really understood that these things matter. I read the newspapers and read Newsweek as a high school kid. At UCLA, I immediately started working on the presidential campaign.”

At 18, Tanden dove right in to the 1988 Dukakis campaign, leading a precinct and immersing herself in the grassroots campaign. Though the campaign wasn’t successful, Tanden’s drive to participate in the political process was cemented, and she had forged connections that would eventually lead her to the White House.

Tanden was not only building the foundations of her livelihood and ideology, she also found a central character in her personal life. “That’s how I met my husband,” she says of working on the Dukakis campaign. “So the campaign was definitely good for something!”

PRIVATE BENJAMIN
As she begins speaking of her husband, painter Benjamin Edwards, Tanden visibly softens and her smile widens into a big grin. She clicks away rapidly at her computer to pull up his latest piece, a 12X20 foot imagined cityscape of a futuristic DC. According to Edwards, his art often explores the intersection of virtual and real worlds.

The painting is impressive, showing meticulous detail and design. All crisp angles and full of light, the art matches Tanden’s clean, bright sensibilities. She is delighted as I admire it. She speaks of her husband in reverential tones: “He is a person of incredible integrity.” Edwards is no longer directly involved in politics, and Tanden seems grateful to have him as a touchstone.

Edwards seems equally awed by Tanden. “She’s always been extremely motivated. I always knew she would end up doing something great,” he says, recalling a summer internship Tanden held at a law firm while she was still in college. “The people at the law firm called her a ‘Firecracker’. It’s the perfect description of how she is, a little firecracker. They were just so impressed with her and how hard she worked.”

Edwards is candid and humble during our conversation, mentioning several times that Tanden is a “harder worker, better student” than he. On learning that his wife considers him as the most influential figure in her life due to his deep integrity and honesty, Edwards immediately returns the sentiment. “We really reinforce each other’s good qualities.” he says. “All those things she said, I could say the same about her.”

While Edwards is closely connected to New York City because of his work, he and Tanden live in D.C. with their two young children, 6 year old Ilana and 3 year old Jaden (“I did it before Britney Spears!” Tanden remarks about naming her son).

Tanden’s children are growing up in a melting pot world, and Tanden mentions that many of her daughter’s friends, like the new President, are of mixed race.

“My daughter is very much like ‘I’m half Indian’.” chuckles Tanden. “She likes to talk about how her mom is Indian.” To Tanden, it is important that as her children get older, they understand where they come from. She wants them to “know they come from India, that it’s a very different country, that they have wealth of experiences and cultures to tap into. It’s part of who they are and what they will be.”

Tanden’s mother lives close by and visits regularly. “She makes Indian food, and is starting to talk to [my daughter] in Hindi, although she is completely resistant to it.” Tanden is grateful for her mother’s support, as her own schedule can be grueling.

Presidential campaigns are notoriously backbreaking, and the 2008 campaign in particular stretched on for an eternity in the life of a child. When Tanden was asked to join Clinton’s presidential campaign as policy director, she “had a tremendous amount of anxiety about taking on a presidential race and having two very young children. When I started, my son was only 15 months old and my daughter was 4 ½ years old.”

Tanden decided to take on the challenge, working tirelessly for Hillary while somehow attempting to maintain a steady presence in her children’s lives. “There was times of stress, and times when my kids were like ‘where’s our mother?’” Tanden admits. She made an effort to be home to eat with them and tuck them in, often sacrificing sleep in order to get her work done. “I never went a day where I passed a memo in late.”

FAMILY FIRST
Fortunately for Tanden, Clinton was very understanding. “She totally appreciates the importance of balancing family and work. She’s always been incredible about supporting women.” In her time at the White House, Tanden recalls a female coworker who was able to work for Hillary part-time. “And no one goes part-time at the White House,” she notes.
Even in the jam packed campaign schedule, there were several occasions when Tanden’s family priorities shifted the entire program.

“There was one time when we had a prep for one of the first debates, but it was the same day as my daughter’s Pre-K graduation,” she recalls. Tanden refused to miss the graduation, and remembers that “Hillary was totally great. She moved the debate prep… did it at a time I could do it.” Clinton, Tanden recalls, said “It’s more important for you to be at Ilina’s pre-K graduation than this.”

“She was a great boss in that way – she was a great boss in every way. She’s strong and really brings out the best in people,” Tanden says.

She clearly adores and reveres Clinton. Her whole body seems to radiate pride for her former boss as we begin talking about her. “She’s a great friend.” Tanden says sincerely. “She’s one of those people, you get in her foxhole, and she’ll get in your foxhole. She knows you work really hard for her, and she’ll do whatever… if you really need something, she’ll be there for you. She cares about how you’re doing.”

“I feel like I somewhat grew up with Hillary since I started working for her when I was 28.” says Tanden. “She taught me how to understand things, how to learn, how to see the connections between things.” Tanden credits Clinton with moral guidance as well: “I’ve also just learned about how to be a good person. She’s very loyal, and has always supported and looked after our family.”

Tanden recalls an occasion when Clinton was slated to do a Public Service Announcement on Sesame Street, but fell ill. “She had this massive coughing fit, and actually had to cancel a speech in the morning.” remembers Tanden. “She called me, and I was like ‘Ilina is going to be SO disappointed!’ Ilina loves Elmo so much.”

So, Tanden says, Hillary decided to go ahead with the announcement. She took Ilina and the other children from the office, and, to Ilina’s delight, introduced her to Elmo, (“Like, the giant puppet Elmo.”). “She really wasn’t feeling well, and she did it because she didn’t want to let Ilina down.” Tanden says about Clinton.

Her feelings for the Hillary seem to go well beyond a simple working relationship. She speaks of Clinton in unequivocally idolizing language, unabashed about generously using superlatives and the strongest compliments she can bring to mind in an attempt to represent the depth of her admiration. “If there is anyone who can solve the world’s problems, it’s Hillary Clinton.” declares Tanden, in respect to Clinton’s position as Secretary of State.

Tanden’s path to the Clinton White House was a case of ready intelligence meeting serendipity. That, and her marked ability to make people want to take her with them.

STARTING POINT
After graduating from Yale Law, Tanden landed a position on the California 1996 Clinton/Gore campaign from connections she had developed while working on the Dukakis campaign. Luckily, she says, the Republican convention happened to be in California, so she worked with a team of people from Washington.

After the campaign, “someone that I worked with went to the White House, and he invited me to go.” Tanden was initially placed in a small role in the chief of staff’s office, but was able to quickly move around, finally landing in domestic policy, which has been her focus for the past decade.

Tanden recalls a pivotal event in her relationship with Hillary. It was 1999, and Tanden had been working in the Clinton White House in a dual role, serving the president mainly on children’s issues and after school programs, and working with Hillary on a broad swath of domestic policy issues. Tanden was also getting married soon.

“Hillary very nicely threw me a wedding shower at the White House.” recollects Tanden, still giddy with the memory. Originally it was slated to be in the more conventional East Room, but Clinton “moved it up to the private residence. It was really phenomenal.” Tanden at the time was still a mid-level staffer. “There was just absolutely zero requirement for her to do that, [it was] just a completely generous thing to do.”

Hillary’s admiration for Tanden soon became abundantly clear. It was the end of the Clinton Presidency, and Tanden knew Hillary was considering a run for Senate. “A couple days later, she did this Good Morning America thing with her husband, and she announced there that she was running. I walked with her back, thanking her for the party she threw and discussing my plans to go work at a law firm in New York. Then she basically said ‘Can you work for me?’”

Tanden immediately agreed. She went on to serve Clinton on and off for the next 8 years, joining in the Senate as her legislative director. In a 2000 New York Times profile, the then-29-year old Tanden was identified as “the smart kid, aka the policy wonk” of Clinton’s team. Clinton would call Tanden “The Computer” because, as Edwards explains, “She’s got a mind like a computer. She can pull up any little snippet of policy at a moment’s notice.”

In the Senate, Tanden worked on many issues, and notably, managed Clinton’s health-care plan. “Hillary had very strong views on health care. She had a very expansive process. We looked at other countries, at what the system could take, at think tank proposals,” Tanden says, proud of the depth of thought and extensive research that went into formulating one of Clinton’s key issues and Tanden’s current occupation. Clinton was concerned with demanding excellent health care both on a policy and a personal level. Tanden recalls advice she received from Clinton during a time when her daughter had been getting frequent ear infections.

Clinton gave Tanden comprehensive advice about getting the best care, including “going to the doctor at the right time, making sure the doctor looked at it individually, making sure that the doctor was looking at it in a whole host of ways and was concerned with getting to the root of the problem” and not simply treating the current symptoms, remembers Tanden.

INTENSE EXPERIENCE
During the presidential campaign, one of Tanden’s most hectic phases came immediately before the unveiling of the Clinton health-care plan.

As issue that Clinton was so passionate about, it was “a very intense experience” for the team. “The week before the rollout, there was no night where I slept more than 3 hours, and several nights where I slept not at all. It was the hardest I’d ever worked in my life,” Tanden says. “We flew to Chicago the night before, and were going over the final edits of the speech.”

Tanden said that after all their arduous work, they realized in a moment of reflection that this was a great plan and a great speech. “And Hillary just turned to me and smiled and gave me a high-five.”

In looking back to the presidential campaign, Tanden wistfully reflects on the gap that she perceives between the candidate she knew so well, and the public’s perception of her. “I’ve seen her in good times and bad times, and to me, she is an incredibly inspiring person. I was always concerned that people didn’t see enough of how she was inspiring.” she laments. “[Clinton] has done more to change people’s lives in her career than most people know.”

Tanden emphatically rattles off some impressive accomplishments, her campaign director hat still planted firmly on her head. She still ardently wants to prove that Clinton more than has the chops to become President.

“One of the first things she did after graduating law school was go door to door and examine the problem of disable children in Massachusetts, which helped created legislation to ensure disabled children had access to good education.”

In Tanden’s view, “the campaign did not highlight how she was an inspiring figure at much as it could have and should have. That was our fault. It was all in her bio.”

After Clinton conceded to Barack Obama, Tanden had to make a decision about her next step. She was, and is, fiercely loyal to Clinton, but is also clearly driven by her desire to affect the direction of policy. She made the decision to join the Obama campaign in June, and was the most senior member of Hillary’s team to make the transition at that time; in the end, the Obama team hired only a handful of Clinton loyalists.

The move was quite significant; the political blogosphere lit up at the notice. Filled mostly with balanced support, there are also several heated judgments scattered throughout the blogs with Obama loyalists declaring her a “filthy Clinton” and those on the other side calling her a “traitor”.

“It wasn’t tough for me,” Tanden says about her decision to work for Obama. She had been publicly critical of Obama during the campaign, but her desire to work for the issues, and not just the person, took precedence. She concedes that there was an adjustment period for her and for members of Obama’s campaign, who now had to work with someone who they had, until very recently, been fighting.

Tanden was tapped for the Obama team by the campaign’s chief strategist David Axelrod, who, ironically, she had met while working on Hillary’s 2000 campaign. She discussed the move with Clinton before making a decision. Clinton, Tanden says, was strongly encouraging.

“She said ‘I’m going to do everything I can to help them, and you should do everything you can to help them. It’s important that he’s president. These are grave times.’” Tanden went on to serve as Obama’s domestic policy director during the campaign.

Tanden seems content with the way things worked out, and pragmatic about the circumstances. “They are both two extraordinary people. If either one of these people ran any other year, they would have been the nominee,” she says about Clinton and Obama. She is well aware of the Obama’s draw (“Obama is tremendously inspiring.”) and is comfortable with his ability to lead. “He’s very smart, policy oriented, makes great decisions, very level headed.” she says. “Things have gotten very screwed up, and it’ll take time to clean it up. But he’s met his expectations each time.”

In her current position, Tanden will concentrate on health-care reform. After all of the time she has spent working on the issue, she may finally get the chance to see it come to fruition. She is optimistic about their chances this time. “The stars could not be aligned better. Everybody knows we need to do something. There is a lot of momentum for change.”
After that, who knows? One thing Tanden is sure about: she won’t be running for office any time soon. She is more comfortable influencing and shaping policy from an administrative standpoint. “I’m happy to help people run for office. I worked my heart out for Hillary, and worked my heart out for Barack Obama. But the idea of calling up people and asking them for money is something that I don’t want to do.”

The most dramatic impact that Tanden’s Indian-American background has had on her is in her unique insight into America as a land of immigrants, who arrive here with nothing and depend on a variety of government channels to bring them up to equal footing. Throughout our conversation, Tanden returns again and again to her early dependence on Welfare, Public housing and Public schooling. “I think having that kind of experience informs a whole series of progressive views.”

Tanden’s patriotism is rooted in the dream of America as a meritocracy, where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. To her, this success is dependent on government. “ I think that applies to a variety of things: that everyone should have access to education, that its wrong that just because you don’t have a certain kind of job you don’t have health care, and that we have a system where you’re really rewarding people for the work they do and not who they know.”

Tanden returns to her high quality public education, which she sees as a great equalizer. “I think that’s a unique experience of immigrants, who really do rely on the school system to make sure that they have the opportunities that other people have. Being an Indian immigrant has really informed my view of how important education is.”

She feels solidarity with President Obama in that respect as well. “I think he also thinks of education that way, to ensure that everyone has the opportunities that he did. He didn’t know anybody or have any big connections. He became president of the United States, just because of skills! It’s not like he didn’t earn it.”

In reflecting on her path and current position, Tanden is humbled, grateful and proud. “I’ve always been mindful that I’ve been able to go from being a kid who grew up on welfare to work in the White House, and work on this campaign and work with the Clintons, and I have no connections. I went from being someone who briefed Hillary on issues to being one of a handful of advisors on her Presidential campaign. That was not because of anything other than that she thought I did a good job.”

originally published in The Indian American, January-February 2009

Sikhs in America: Through the Lens

Seeking to dispel the notion that “turban means terrorist”, Brazilian born American Photographer Fiona Aboud spent the past 2 years traveling throughout the United States, capturing everyday images of Sikhs In America. Shilpi Paul reports

In April 2006, Photographer Fiona Aboud made her way to Midtown Manhattan to capture portraits of participants in the Annual Sikh Day parade. In its second decade, the parade was a chance for Sikh Americans to march in the city, proudly displaying their cultural identifiers, celebrating traditional dress, dance, and food.

Aboud, an acclaimed photographer who has been published in The New York Times, Time Magazine and Sports Illustrated, has always been drawn to capturing individuals in the midst of “life changing events”, seeking an emotional authenticity that is difficult to recreate in a formal studio setting. Aboud brought the portable photo studio she had been using for her “Street Portraits” series to the Sikh Day parade and found herself falling into what would become a two- year long, nationwide project.

“I tried to always study things I felt were misunderstood,” the Brazilian-born photographer says, “and were also on the periphery.”

Her interest in understanding this often-misunderstood group coupled with the Sikh parade participants eagerness to dispel misconceptions of their culture led to the eventual creation of Aboud’s photo collection “Sikh in America”.

Aboud is still awed by the warm reception she received from her first moments at the parade. “During the parade, I had people giving me food, inviting me to the gudwara,” she remembers.

These invitations extended into the future and into private family homes. One invitation led to another, and soon Aboud was traveling all throughout the United States photographing Sikh Americans in their homes and workplaces. She was soon able to realistically visualize embarking on a massive project. “There’s never been a comprehensive photographic documentation of Sikhs in America,” she says. “No one’s really tackled the project as a whole.”

Aboud hopes to explore “the challenge of maintaining your identity and still being an American,” with her collection. She wants to investigate “how Sikhs are a part of our country, and how they reconcile their traditions within it.” She photographed both first- and second-generation Sikhs, as well some as Caucasian Americans who had converted to Sikhism. Aboud sought to capture “people who are contributing in different ways, business or social.”

Her collection focuses on portraying Sikh living typical American lives and contributing to the mainstream society. Showing intentionally stark contrasts of Sikhs in traditional dress and unshorn hair in classically American settings, often on suburban landscapes and inside of familiar-looking American homes, Aboud represents this juxtaposition as just one more American story in the teeming mass.

“This photo could be any family, any city, any place in this country,” she reiterates. “The context of the pictures helps people relate, to see that this is their life.” The images drive home the idea that the individuals are one of the many faces of America.

Sikh Americans are not well understood by the mainstream American public, and are often erroneously associated with a vaguely defined image of “terrorist.” After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, US media outlets filled the airwaves and newspapers with images of turbaned terrorists seeking to destroy Americans. The image of Osama bin Laden, turban clad, immediately conjures up the fear and anger of the 9/11 attacks. The Sikhs, in an unfortunate coincidence of culture, wear turbans to represent their devotion to their religious path.

Sikh Americans found themselves under attack almost immediately. Despite several campaigns to dispel the connection and to correctly identify different types of head coverings, Sikh Americans fell victim to bizarre and horrific acts of violence and discrimination.

On Sept. 15, 2001, days after the terror attacks, Balbir Singh Sodhi, a gas station owner living in Mesa, Ariz., was shot to death by a man seeking tragically misguided revenge for the 9/11 attacks. Sodhi was the first of many such hate crimes, and the Sikh community has been forced to deal with the misconceptions since then.

“People just stereotype ‘turban means terrorist’,” says Aboud. “Because you see some images on the news, that’s what people come away with.”

Aboud hopes her project will help to break the mistaken connection. “When I first did this project,” remembers Aboud, “some of the reactions I got were ‘Oh, wow, how did you get in? How did you infiltrate them?” In stark opposition to the image of secrecy and isolation, Aboud says getting to know the community “was the easiest thing ever.”

“As I learned in the gudwara,” she says, “it’s the complete opposite. Generosity and welcoming like I’ve never ever experienced with anybody - It’s ridiculous to think that people have that in their mind that they’re somehow closed off.”
Aboud relates tales of utter trust and welcome, doors being left unlocked for her to freely enter and invitations to stay the night at countless homes. “At every house I go to, I never leave hungry,” Aboud says with a grin. “I joke that that’s why I’m doing the project, so I can eat amazing Indian food.”

Her upbringing no doubt has contributed to her uniquely compassionate take on the “outsider” experience in America. Raised in the US by Brazilian-Lebanese and Russian Jewish parents, Aboud has had a lifetime to contemplate how exactly the immigrant experience plays into identity formation and self-definition. “I feel like, in general, my upbringing was very worldly,” says Aboud. “I would go to Brazil and see the poverty, and see how people live and that understanding people is so crucial.”

Aboud’s parents also shaped in her a curiosity and elevation of the individual story. “I always loved people and their stories. My dad always instilled in me that everyone has an interesting story to tell, everyone from the guy driving the cab, to the CEO of some company.” Her portfolio illustrates this belief, and is filled with individuals performing everyday duties with a palpable sense of pride. Aboud’s photographs consistently have a respectful and optimistic quality to them, revealing the creator’s worldview.

Aboud is now planning on as wide a distribution as possible for the book. “When the book comes out,” she says, “my goal is to have Sikhs buy it, donate it to libraries, put it in their doctor’s offices, go to schools. The idea is to get it out there as much as possible.” She hopes that her photographs will play a small part in helping the public at large to understand the Sikh community and to see Sikhs as truly American. “There are still a lot of unreported harassment and hate crimes,” says Aboud. “In such a pluralistic society, we shouldn’t have to have that.”

“It’s overwhelming, the need that there is.”

originally published in The Indian American, July-August 2009

Fundraiser for leadership grooming program

Dozens of young and successful Indian Americans crowded the White Tiger, an upscale Indian restaurant blocks from the Congressional Office buildings in Washington, D.C. on a recent evening. They were all there for a cause.

The event that brought them together was a fundraiser for the Washington leadership Program (WLP), which has been placing Indian American college students in internships on Capitol Hill since 1994. Founded by Gopal Raju, the former publisher of News India Times who passed away last year, the program has since gone into limbo. The May 13th fundraiser was part of an effort by WLP alumni to rebuild the program after a yearlong hiatus.

The organizers sold tickets priced between $35 and $500 for the evening of Indian appetizers, networking and speeches. Alumni Sam Arora, a former aide to Hillary Clinton, was master of ceremonies and Ohio State Rep. Jay Goyal delivered the keynote address. Also attending were Maryland House Majority Leader Kumar Barve, Ralph Nurnberger, who serves on the WLP board, and Prakash Khatri, former ombudsman for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

A slideshow ran continuously throughout the event, flashing scenes of successful internships from years past and along with intermittent photos of Gopal Raju. A pioneer of Indian American publishing, Raju created the program under the Indian American Center for Political Awareness (IACPA), with the stated intention of “inspiring, encouraging and introducing Indian Americans to public service.” For more than a decade, the program brought young Indian Americans to Washington to hold summer internships in Congress, planting seeds of political participation amongst almost 200 students.

“When he passed away,” says Harin Contractor, a 2002 WLP alumni, says about Raju, “the program passed away with him.”
Contractor was one of the main forces behind rejuvenating the program. “It changed my life,” says Contractor, now a Senior Consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton.

Keeping the name Washington Leadership Program, Contractor and the other WLP alumni contributed enough money from their own bank accounts to enable five young Indian American students to hold internships on the Hill this summer. After their initial success, they began branching out to find more donors in the larger Indian American community. The May fundraiser was part of this effort and attracted more than 100 people.

Ralph Nurnberger, who was the director of the program from its inception in 1994 until 2004, and who now sits on the board of advisors, beamed at the youthful faces that surrounded him. “What makes this night so special,” says Nurnberger, “is the average age of the people here. These are young people willing to put up funds for the next generation. That’s what’s so wonderful about this.”

Unlike a typical fundraiser, the average age at White Tiger appears to near 35, and the majority of voices to be heard have not a trace of an Indian accent. Under Nurnberger’s watch, 180 students worked on the Hill as interns.

Raju recruited Nurnmberger to run the program because of his extensive experience as legislative liaison with the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee. “Raju saw a lot of similarities between the two groups,” explains Contractor.
Khatri, President and CEO of KPK Global Solution, LLC, noted WLP’s affect of the larger Indian American community. “What Ralph has done,” says Khatri, “is connected 180 kids into the system. With 180 kids, you’ve connected thousands of families.”

A frequent speaker at past WLP events, Khatri has spoken widely about the need for Indian Americans to get involved in public service.

“The only way in a democracy to really have an impact is to be there at the table,” he believes. “It’s not about sitting on the sidelines and giving money and hoping someone else does your job for you. It’s about participating in the democratic process.” Khatri believes that the second generation has a greater opportunity than their parents to really become incorporated into the mainstream.

“The first generation provided a huge funding,” he explains, “but because of their accents, etc., they were considered outsiders. Their children are the ones that managed to get accepted.”

Suresh Gupta, a physician and WLP sponsor who attended the fundraiser, also feels that the second generation can integrate into the mainstream more easily. “We worked hard,” Gupta says of his generation.

“We could not go into politics because we had to establish ourselves. We came here with nothing. We had to support our family back home and our children.”

A vocal supporter of WLP – he announced that he will sponsor an intern and made out a check for $1,500 – Gupta emphasized the need to support the next generation.

“I always felt it was important that our community support the children. They are our future; they are the ones who can take us places. If they do well, we do well.”

The May fundraiser, says Contractor, “was without a doubt a tremendous success. We hope to carry this momentum forward as we continue to branch out and look for support from the community around the country and not just in Washington, DC.” The event raised more than $15,000, including corporate sponsorships.

This years interns were selected through a “rigorous application and selection process that involved multiple rounds” and inputs from various alumni and the board of advisors, Contractor said. Orientation is set for June 15.

The alumni have been taking advice from the old guard, but are up for the task of reviving and operating this program on their own. Nurnberger is an advisor, but is not involved in the day to day operations. “We talk on the phone,” he says, “but they are doing it on their own. They know what they’re doing.”

It may be the ultimate proof of the success of WLP program; started less than 15 years ago, the program is now being operated by the very individuals whose careers it jumpstarted.

Contractor seems ready for the challenge. “They blazed this path,” he affirms. “Now we want to keep it going.”

originally published in News India Times, May 2009

What accounts for the sudden fascination for India in the Western World?

After years of marginal representation in West, India is now part of the mainstream dialogue. “Slumdog Millionaire” has earned acclaim in America, “White Tiger” received the prestigious Man Booker prize in Britain and is being made into a film and India is now visible in every facet of mass market American culture. Every major bookstore now has a table heaped with “South Asian literature” and a recent issue of Vogue magazine features a spread of Indian model Lakshmi Menon appearing in designer dresses on the streets of Goa.

For all the enthusiasm in the West for all things India, these creations are facing mixed reviews, if not harsh criticism, on the subcontinent.

Many Indians remain uncomfortable with how outsiders have, for better or for worse, been defining their for the world. Particularly distressing and offensive, many believe, is the glamorizations of poverty and the focus on depravity. Why are Westerners so intensely drawn to movies like “Slumdog” and books like “White Tiger”, which focus on the wretchedness of the poor?

Putting aside the question of how realistically “Slumdog” director Danny Boyle portrayed the abject poverty of the streets of Mumbai, why is there such a pornographic hunger in the West for this depiction of poverty? Why is it that movies about middle- or upper-class Indians don’t create such enthusiastic fervor? Why is the Western world so wildly supportive of anything that represents the raw savagery of India?

These movies and books must offer Westerners a release from guilt; they are addicted to the compassion that they feel for the characters in these books and movies. A ticket to a movie offers an opportunity to feel the joy of empathy with the less fortunate and balance out the unpleasant dissonance of living in plenty while others across the globe suffer in squalor. The compassion Westerners feel serves as an emotional balm for their distress.

“Slumdog” satisfied an aesthetic dimension as well, by representing poverty in a hyper stylized, vibrantly colorful way, and allowed viewers to feel that they were seeing the beauty in poverty.

The media circus surrounding recent horrific events in the life in child actor Rubina Ali, who portrays a slum dweller in the movie and is famously back on the streets, are also a result of the intense fascination with Indian poverty. Feeding this desire are the ubiquitous news stories of her father allegedly attempting to “sell” her and the intensely personal video of the vicious physical fight between her mother and stepmother plastered all over mainstream blogs and news outlets. The media knows that there is a ravenous appetite for these stories and images, created by the desire to feel this at-your-fingertips empathy.

“The Darjeeling Limited”, another recent movie based in India created by a Westerner - though with American characters - self consciously approaches the idea that India offers Westerners a kind of emotional balm. The film plays on the almost abstract notion that India can serves as an instant cure for spiritual emptiness. The characters acknowledge this and buy a ticket to India, and then a ticket on the Darjeeling Limited train, ready to embark on an “authentic” Indian journey in search of a spiritually enriching experience – much like those who rushed to see “Slumdog” or read “White Tiger.”

The West’s easy access to this spiritual balm, thanks to its consumerist culture, may seem offensive to many as well. While Indians remain immersed in reality, Westerners can buy what they want, return it at their whim, and can always escape completely whenever they want to. Not surprisingly, Indians are loath to being portrayed by Westerners who are a world away.

While Westerners celebrate the success of these films and books and relatively well off Indians put forth their critiques, the reality is that a large number of people in India desperately need help.

Despite its steep economic growth, India has failed to provide so many of its citizens with even running water, electricity, and sewage processing. Where does the responsibility lie? Do movies like “Slumdog” actually motivate people to act charitably, and do their producers assume any responsibility to do so? Do the privileged have a responsibility to help the needy, and has the “Slumdog” phenomenon helped or hindered this responsibility?

Will the emotional balm of watching the film persuade people to act? Will the spotlight impel more Indians to help their countrymen?

In the end, the Western audience is still looking for a way to understand and represent India and its poverty. The pendulum swings between the dehumanizing “otherness” of representing poverty through a gaze of pity and the celebratory but potentially neglectful view of exalting the beauty and dignity of the impoverished. A truly compassionate viewpoint cannot be reduced to one or the other.

Ayurvedic Spa: Beauty and Beyond

I’m lying on a slab of dark wood, dangerously close to nude. The room is small, dimly lit and smells and sounds utterly relaxing. Sesame and sandalwood scented waves swoosh around the room and replace the smoggy summer city that has been enclosing me all day. My dreamy disorientation increases as a kind, slow moving Indian woman enters the room and begins to rub circular motions onto my body with hot oils.

Like yoga ten years ago, Ayurveda is starting to take hold in pockets of open minded America. The capitalist world, it appears, has tremendous affinity for the more marketable aspects of our ancient traditions; Americans flocked to yoga classes when they discovered the slimming effects, and are beginning to frequent “Ayurvedic Spas” for glowing skin and improved circulation.

Jaanvi Shah, co-owner of the Roop Ayurvedic Center in Hoboken, NJ, has seen the growing interest in her customers, 95% of whom are non-Indian. “Many people come in for the massages and facials and know nothing about Ayurveda. Once they come here, they never go anywhere else.” Jaanvi believes that the satisfying treatments create a loyalty for Ayurveda among those customers; the all natural ingredients leave customers with smooth, radiant skin without any of the side effects that more chemical processes sometimes cause.

Dr. Anil Gandhi, Jaanvi’s partner, belongs to generations of Ayurvedic practitioners and has a bachelor’s degree in herbal systems of medicine for the Open University for Alternative Medicines chartered by the Kolkata-based Indian Board of Alternative Medicines.  Gandhi makes his own medicines, oils and lotions, and occasionally supplements his book learning with ventures into the Indian forest to learn from traditional medicine men.

Shah came across Gandhi when she was searching for a cure for her severe acne. Frustrated by the side effects of allopathic medicines, she found that Ayurvedic facials and oils healed her skin permanently and encouraged Dr. Gandhi to open a spa as a way to reach out to western customers.

The options will seem familiar to regular spa goers: Massages to ease tension, cellulite reduction and therapies to increase joint movement are offered, along with detoxifying herbal steam baths and facials that claim to smooth the skin. Treatments are priced upward of $90.

The most popular treatment at Roop Spa is Abhyanga Snana, described as a “stimulating treatment that increases blood circulation, which in turn encourages quick removal of metabolic wastes”. The treatment includes a 60 minute oil massage, followed by a 15 minute eucalyptus stream bath, followed by an herbal scrub. This treatment aims to improve skin tone and digestion and also has an energizing effect.

The complete list of services includes about a dozen different massages, each designed for slightly different results including exfoliated skin, joint and muscle relief and overall relaxation.

Six different facials have been chosen to help patients suffering from problems such as dull skin, acne, scars and oiliness. All the treatments are authentically Ayurvedic and are based on the methods as they have been performed in India for millennia.

While about 50 percent of Roop Ayurvedic Spa customers are simply looking for an alternative to their usual luxury day spa treatments, many also come seeking solutions to problems such as eczema, acne and high blood pressure. The spa has the capacity to satisfy both sets of customers.

Other Ayurvedic spas around the country also offer similar treatments.  The well-known Raj Ayurvedic Health Spa in Iowa, for instance, offers both day spa services and longer, more comprehensive treatments. The most popular is the Royal Beauty Treatment, which is similar to Abhyanga Snana, but also includes a milk bath and mud treatment.

Raj Spa’s longer services include detox and diet changes. Many Ayurvedic practitioners believe skin and hair problems are caused by internal problems, and the Raj Spa promises to nurture customer’s radiance from within.

Marketing Ayurveda by highlighting the luxurious spa treatments and beautification has irked some practitioners. Critics point out that in the United States, there is little regulation of Ayurvedic practitioners and there are vast differences between treatments that may go by the same name.

Ayurveda stresses the use of all natural herbs and oils. This natural appeal has caught hold already; Aveda, a popular brand of hair and body products sold in 8,000 salons across the country, is based on Ayurveda, though most customers probably don’t realize the history and inspiration,

If Ayurveda in America follows the path of yoga, which eventually introduced practitioners to meditation, spagoers will soon begin to learn the medicinal benefits of Ayurveda, which go beyond beautification.

After my vigorous sweat and thorough scrub, my skin feels soft and glowing, my body moves freely and efficiently, and I sleep like a baby. I selfishly hope that the Ayurvedic Spa trend continues to grow so that I can continue receiving luxurious treatments.

Originally published in The Indian American, January-February 2007

Q & A Shahed Amanullah: A Muslim with a View

For the past five years, Shahed Amanullah has been working to create an open dialogue within the Muslim community. Educated at Georgetown University and University of California at Berkeley, and brought up in California by “proud Indian” parents, Amanullah is the brains behind altmuslim.com, a website that is not afraid to ask difficult questions.

An engineering project manager by profession, the Austin-based Amanullah is a consultant for the World Bank.  Altmuslim.com has been active for five years, and Amanullah sees it growing consistently by about 20 percent every year.  Today, it offers opinion, commentary, features and podcasts on a variety of subjects ranging from the arts and community issues to politics and conflict.

While Amanullah’s parents are not devout Muslims, Shahed is active in the Muslim community and considers himself to be very religious. He developed his religious identity in college, during a time of self reflection and contemplation about his “dual culture”, an angst common in the second generation.

“In college I was active in all the Indian clubs and in all the Muslim clubs as well,” he says, and he continues to play an active role in both communities.

In an interview, Amanullah speaks about some of the troubling questions plaguing the Muslim community and explains how his website is influenced by his unique position as an Indian, a Muslim and an American.

Excerpts:

What was your motivation for starting altmuslim.com?

After 9/11, Islam and Muslims were splattered on the front pages, but there wasn’t a real coherent message coming back from the Muslim community, a message that took extremism very seriously and wasn’t simply apologetic for it. The website was something that I had been thinking about for a while, but 9/11 really made it feel necessary. I wanted to create a voice that was self critical but proud. That is what got me started. There were so many people who fell to two extreme sides, either being completely apologetic and whitewashing it all or trashing the extremists. There was an intellectually honest path that I thought was lacking.

How has your Indian background influenced your work?

I was born here, but my parents are both proud Indians. I just got back from a visit to India. I think the Indian experience actually can contribute to this discourse. A lot of Muslims who come from a Muslim majority community are not used living in a pluralistic society. That’s part of the problem. They come to a place like America and they isolate themselves because they’re just not used to it. I think the Indian Muslim experience is unique among immigrant Muslim populations because we come from a country that is pluralistic. Yes, it might have its sectarian problems, but by and large it has learned how to deal with religious differences peacefully. I think that experience is what is lacking in a lot of Muslim circles today in American and in the west. In Europe you have huge problems of Muslims isolating themselves because they just can’t deal with a secular or multi-cultural or multi-religious society. I think Indian Muslims have, and that’s the part I’d like to bring forward to this from an Indian perspective.

And your American upbringing?

One of the great things about American culture is that Americans have a unique ability to be able to self criticize in ways that a lot of other people can’t. It is one thing that second generation immigrants, and I think Indians in particular, can do that their parent’s generation can’t. My parents are supportive of me, and they say they’re glad I’m doing what I’m doing but that there is no way they could have done that. It’s just not in them to be able to do that. They’re not thick skinned in that way. I think the American culture in me can take it.

What do you wish to accomplish with this website?

I do consider myself very rooted in the Muslim community; I regard myself as a mainstream Muslim. I don’t consider myself peripheral in any way. That’s something I want to accomplish with this website, to show that it’s okay for this kind of criticism to come from the heart of a community, from the inside. I’m not just targeting the things that are wrong with the Muslim community. I’m also [focusing on] people who are not Muslims. And I’ve always tried to put my money where my mouth is. I always try to tell Muslims to get involved in the community around them, and I try to do that myself. I don’t tell them to do anything that I wouldn’t do myself.

Do you feel that the Muslim community is alienated from the mainstream?

In every community, there are a few who are alienated to the point where they have no loyalty to their country of residence.  Muslims are no exception, although I think that number is exceedingly small. In Europe, for example, Muslims have had a much harder time blending in and therefore their loyalty to Europe is compromised. Like most Americans, Muslims in the US had a renewed sense of commitment to this country; especially among those who were born here (this segment now makes up the majority of Muslims in America).  I think most Muslims would say that Islam tells them to respect any country that provides so many benefits and freedoms. It would be ungrateful to treat it otherwise. Of course, being Muslim means there is an affinity and concern for Muslims around the world.  But I can think of no Muslim who would be more loyal to a foreign country than the US.

Even in the Post 9/11 World?

There are two possible reactions to a post-9/11 America:  withdraw into a close-knit cultural community, or expand efforts to reach out to other Americans.  At a leadership level, Muslims have pursued the latter vigorously, although there are some communities that have pulled back for fear of prejudice.  There is much more work to be done, however, to interact with others.

How do you account for Islamic Extremism?

I subscribe to the thesis of Prof. Robert Pape, whose book “Dying to Win” cited territorial conflict, rather than religion, as a primary driver of suicide bombing.  It just so happens that a lot of these territorial conflicts are happening in Muslim countries (a notable exception being Sri Lanka, where the Tamil Tigers have used a large number of suicide attacks.)  Of course, religion can play a role in attempting to alleviate guilt for the crime (for example, the handlers of suicide bombers go to great lengths to convince them of the divine sanction for their actions), but the vast majority of Muslims scholars remain opposed to such attacks.

One of the reasons extremism is a problem in the Muslim world is because the interpretation of Islam has been democratized (there is no central authority to confer legitimacy to any one version of Islam).  This can be a good thing, in that it allows people to modify their application of Islam per the needs of people in different areas of the world, but it can also be bad in that it allows people the theological room to interpret Islam in an exclusivist, extremist way. 

The political strife of the Islamic world, unfortunately, provides a climate in which extremist ideologies thrive.  And as 9/11 showed us, it only takes a few of these to cause immense damage if they were to take their extremist thought far enough.

What has been the reaction to your Website?

About half of the visitors are Americans or Westerners who are just curious about what the Muslim voice in the Western light is. Most of the traffic comes from people who are making random Google searches and find one of our articles and then just kind of poke around. Because we publish so many different issues we cover a wide variety of topics. The other half is immigrant and second generation Muslims, more second generation than not.

The website is primarily geared towards the West; however, I’m trying to branch out a little bit. I’m recruiting journalists from the rest of the world and just hired a columnist from India. One thing that I’m very sensitive about doing, I don’t want to talk down to the East from the West. It would be presumptuous to feel like I understand exactly what’s going on on the ground in those countries.

Why do you feel the need for such a public forum to discuss issues that affect the Muslim community?

I think it’s really healthy for Muslims to have their internal discourse clearly visible to everyone else, to show them that we’re actually dealing with the problems in our community. It’s valuable for Muslims and it’s valuable for non-Muslims. We need to publicize the very fact that this discourse is going on. It can’t happen behind closed doors for very long without dying for lack of other voices coming in.

How have your parents reacted to altmuslim.com?

Both my mother and father are both very, very supportive of me. My mom works for the State Department, so she sees on a daily basis how the image of Muslims and the image of immigrants affect US policies. She sees a need to argue the case that we are moderate, we belong here, and we’re contributing members of society. My dad is a real Indian patriot; he retired and went back to India. And he just loves the fact that I’m pushing the envelope, pushing the boundaries. He’s really reveling in it.

During your visit to India, did you observe an open debate on social issues?

Indian society can be very honor based. If you’re going to discuss a sensitive issue, you might as well be accusing them of being guilty of it. It’s a shame. I think all communities could benefit from shining a light on their community. India is trying to grapple with a lot of issue that are very, very serious, like women’s issues, minority issues, and the Dalit community. But it’s hard for them to have a discourse about it without really touching on nerves. When I was there, I was thinking that in America we can have an all-out discussion on race and people have big differences of opinion, but nobody gets offended about it. There it’s still very, very sensitive, even today, even decades after starting to talk about those issues; you really have to tiptoe around them.

Originally published in The Indian American, March-April 2007

nobody does it better, profile of Sreenath Sreenivasan

Sreenath Sreenivasan, the young and tireless cofounder of the South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA), seems to have found more than 24 hours in the day.  Only 36, he simultaneously built up careers as a successful Technology Reporter and as a Journalism Professor at Columbia University, all while growing SAJA from a casual meet-up with 18 members to a powerful  institution that brings together over 1000 South Asian journalists from across the US and Canada.

Sreenivasan, or Sree as he is popularly known, is Dean of Student Affairs at Columbia, interacting with over 400 students throughout their life cycle at the University and leading a team to guide them and oversee their journey from admissions to career services.  He previously worked as Dean of Students, from 2005-2007, and served for 10 years as the faculty advisor to Columbia’s Society of Professional Journalists.  In 2004, he was named by Newsweek magazine as one of the 20 most influential South Asians in America.   In 2007, India Abroad named him one of the 50 most influential Indians in America.

While he considers himself a “print guy”, who subscribes to two newspapers and five magazines, Sree is established as an expert in New Media.  In addition to teaching classes on the use of New Media/Web publishing, Sree regularly covers technology and gadgets for WNBC and freelances for a variety of newspapers and magazines on new media issues.  New media was a natural way, says Sree, “to combine my loves of written, video, text, audio, all of that stuff.”

Sreenivasan’s affable manner and easy smile work well on camera, and he counts his ability to speak about these topics in “English, rather than “technologese’” with helping the audience connect with him.    Perhaps his audience relates to his love of print as well;  Sreenivasan speaks  reverentially of the “magic of the print byline” and loves both reading and being published in print publications.  That someone who sees the magic in newspapers can feel so much enthusiasm for the newest technologies gives hope to Luddite viewers that these technologies may be accessible and useful to their lives as well.

Sreenivasan’s love of technology is shared by his wife as well; Roopa Unnikrishnan, a strategy consultant and Rhodes scholar, is the author of a blog documenting “a working mom’s food adventure’s in and out of the kitchen.”  His two young twins, Durga and Krishna, are likely to join the virtual world one day as well.

Sreenivasan knew early that he wanted to be a journalist, but his parents fought him because “no Indian parent wants their child to be a journalist”.  Even today, he often, “2 or 3 times a month”, counsels Indian parents of future journalists on why this is a worthy career, and appeals to them that it’s “okay for your kid to want to be a journalist.”

A child of a diplomat, Sreenivasan spent his youth hopping from continent to continent.  His father was in the Indian Foreign Service and took his family all around the world, spending time in Moscow, Tokyo, Fiji, Bhutan and the United States.  Sreenivasan’s decision to pursue an undergraduate degree in India was a means of creating some distance from his family, of forging his own path and pursuing journalism wholeheartedly.  Sreenivasan speaks fondly of his time there; he “really enjoyed it, it was great to be in India.”

Sreenivasan always wanted to go to Columbia’s School of Journalism for a Master’s degree, although he had some success as a neophyte journalist in India, writing for major Indian newspapers.   “My plan was, if I didn’t get in to Columbia, I would keep working.  Somehow, I got in.”

He moved to New York City and never left.  After receiving his Master’s in journalism, he stepped right into the faculty.  Sreenivasan has spent 15 years at Columbia, in “the same job, with the same email address and the same phone number.”  While “fidgety” by nature, his youth spent jumping from nation to nation had exhausted his wanderlust, and Sreenivasan was ready and delighted to plant roots in New York City.

While Sreenivasan’s email address may have remained the same, the world around him has transformed dramatically since 1993, and his job has grown and adapted.  From the massive changes in communication fashioned by the internet boom, to India’s growing status as an emerging world power, to the entrance into the US work force of millions of second generation Indians with dreams very different from their immigrant parents, Sreenivasan has been eagerly and enthusiastically embracing the changing world.  He is always thrilled to find new uses for the new technologies, to closely monitor India’s progress and subsequent representation in the mainstream news media, and to connect and mentor the newest generation of working Indian Americans.

For Sreenivasan, there is no such thing as a typical day.   “Every day is so different” he says enthusiastically, and a quick glance at his frenetic online calendar, mashed with seemingly overlapping meetings, phone calls and broadcasts, verifies the controlled chaos.  “I love that everyday is so different.  It’s part of the reason that I stayed in the same job for 15 years.”

For example, on a day in early April, Sreenivasan woke at 4:30am to be at WNBC at 6:20am for his technology broadcast.  After some meetings and debriefings there, he came home and took advantage of his brief respite to spend quality time with his young twins, Durga and Krishna.  The next few hours consisted of meeting after meeting at Columbia, with Sreenivasan still settling into the varied responsibilities of his new position as Dean of Student Affairs.   Somewhere in there, he found time to post several items to SAJAforum, a blog that posts tidbits of news and media related to South Asians, with room for endless comments.  In the afternoon, he administered a “Virtual Open House” for students admitted to Columbia’s School of Journalism who couldn’t make it to New York to attend the recent Open House weekend.

The “Virtual Open House” is a quintessential Sreenivasan creation; he has harnessed the power of the internet to create on opportunity for people who would otherwise have missed out.  Sreenivasan thrives on using technology to expand opportunities.  He is always looking for ways to “use technology to reach out to people, to expand what they can do, and to bring people together. Instead of having an event for 40 people, I’d rather use technology to take that event to a global scale.”

Sreenivasan’s expertise of all things virtual and technological came about organically; he always loved writing letters, and a transition from the familiar blue Indian aerogrmas (in which the letter is its own envelope and stamp, “an amazing technology!” he gushes ) to email felt seamless and natural.  When SAJA began in 1995, well before most people were regularly using the internet, Sreenivasan comfortably created a website and liberally used email to spread the word.

With SAJA now in the hands of “a great SAJA team”, Sreenivasan is able to enjoy watching it grow and can pick and choose his role there.  Sreenivasan stays involved in fundraising activities, continues passing on his knowledge through frequent seminars and workshops, and writes and edits the blog SAJAforum.

Sreenivasan is an inspiration to stay engaged and to keep moving.   His many roles and multitude of jobs seem to energize him, rather than drain him, and he professes deep appreciation for his current life. “I just love what I do.”  Says Sreenivasan.  “I’m excited to wake up in the morning.”

Originally published in The Indian American, May-June 2008

Dhillon’s Watch

IN THE early 1900s, well before the massive immigration from India to the United States that was to occur in the later half of the 20th century, two Sikh men made the journey from the Punjab to the fertile hills of California in search of a better life.

These two men, like thousands of others, settled in the U.S. in the face of segregation and secondclass citizen status, and spent the next century working hard and ensuring a better life for their descendants. Today, one of those descendants has risen thought the ranks of the Bush administration and found unequivocal success as an American.

Uttam Dhillon, director of the Office of Counternarcotics Enforcement for the Department of Homeland Security, can trace his family tree to the time when segregation was the rule rather than the exception. Due to their similar lifestyles, laws prohibiting the emigration of Indian women, and antimiscegenation laws (those forbidding interracial marriages but which characterized Indians and Mexicans as “brown”), the early Sikh immigrant men largely found wives within the Mexican community. Both Dhillon’s grandmothers are Mexican; Dhillon practices Catholicism and regularly attends the gurdwara. “When those Punjabi men married the Mexican women,” Dhillon says, “those women were all Catholics, so that was passed down.”

‘WE ARE AMERICANS’

But more than anything, Dhillon and his family are dedicated to their homeland. “By the time I was born, my grandparents had been in the country for 60 years, and my parents had been raised in this country,” Dhillon says. “We are Americans.”

His grandfathers were part of the earliest wave of immigration from India to the U.S., and Dhillon proudly regards his early immigrant ancestors as pathfinders who paved the way for future immigrants, fighting the early battles of discrimination, racism and unequal rights.

The PBS documentary “Roots in the Sand,” which documents the Sikh-Mexican subculture, highlights many of Dhillon’s family members and was narrated by his brother. Dhillon’s grandfathers were pioneers of the first Sikh temple, Gurdwara El Centro, which Dhillon visits when he comes home to Southern California.

As a young man, Dhillon considered a career in psychology and was pursuing an advanced degree in the field when he decided he wanted to be a lawyer. After acquiring a law degree from the University of California at Berkeley, Dhillon joined a private practice in Los Angeles.

His desire to be a trial lawyer pulled him into the public arena and he served as assistant U.S. attorney in California for a number of years, working as a drug prosecutor.

Dhillon arrived in Washington in the mid- 1990s, working on congressional committees as counsel under then-Rep. Christopher Cox, R-CA (currently chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission), and he has never looked back. His years as a drug prosecutor in California have given him ample experience for his current position. He was “very interested in the (drug) issue from the time I was a young lawyer,” Dhillon says, citing as his proudest achievement a successful 13-week trial. “We got convictions and very long sentences for very bad people.”

Now on the administrative side of things, Dhillon believes strongly the War on Drugs is one that must be fought. “People say ‘You’re never going to solve this problem.’ I tell them, ‘You’re never going to stop people from robbing banks, but that doesn’t mean you don’t prosecute bank robbers.’ We need to ensure that there are always sufficient resources toprosecute drug traffickers and put them in jail for a very, very, long time.”

His position has also opened Dhillon’s eyes to the larger problems facing Homeland Security. In closely examining the ways in which drugs can enter the U.S., “you realize that if drugs can enter the U.S., other things can enter the U.S. as well,” Dhillon says. “People who want to harm us and people who want to bring in things that can harm us can enter the United States. It has made me
more aware of the difficult issues that we face every day in protecting our country.”

MY GRANDMOTHER WAS ILLEGAL

And what about “protecting our country” from illegal immigrants? Dhillon’s intimate connection with the issue does affect his opinion of illegal immigration. “My grandmother initially came here illegally,” Dhillon says. “I think I have a view or sense about that that is sympathetic. Given that my family is all immigrants, I have an understanding of the desire to come to this country. I wouldn’t be here if my family didn’t make that decision. But I have to tell you, we were raised from the beginning to think of ourselves as Americans and to follow the rules. People who come here need to follow the rules. That’s just the way it is.”

Dhillon’s current position requires him to defer to the administration’s policies on a range of issues including terrorism, racial profiling and torture. He comes from a family of Republicans and is proud to be a part of the Bush administration.

Currently, Dhillon’s main goal is to ensure the Homeland Security Department is cohesive and efficient. “It only came together four years ago, and brought together a whole variety of different departments – there is law enforcement, intelligence, science and technology,” he says. “This is a work in progress. The challenge we face is to knit all of that together. My job is to ensure that the mission that Congress gave us is being met. I need to stand this office up and make sure it’s running at a hundred percent before I leave.”

“We look every day for ways to try to prevent drugs from entering the United States,” he said, adding attention is currently focused on the southwest border, though it is beginning to expand to the northern border and the increasing problem of opium in Afghanistan.

Also among his goals are to ensure that the department “is meeting its responsibilities: To coordinate counternarcotics policy and operations with the Department of Homeland Security, to track and sever the drug terror nexus, to examine the Counternarcotics budget and make three annual reports to Congress.”

In pride of place, across from Dhillon’s desk, is a photo of the San Diego Padres. America’s favorite pastime is his favorite distraction, and it is a telling sign of just how integrated and American he is.

After three generations, a long and arduous journey from Punjab has definitely been worth it.

Dhillon’s 10

Latest book read:
“Lincoln and Gettysburg” by Gary Wells. And I’ve been reading the “National Drug Control Strategy,” if you consider that a book.

Favorite president:
Abraham Lincoln. He had leadership, greatness, strength of character and even, to go a layer below that, management style.

Greatest political thinker:
Ronald Reagan. He converted me to conservatism. It’s becoming clear that he was a deep thinker. He is just now starting to get credit for it.

Greatest Indian leader:
Gandhi. As a Sikh, I don’t think that Sikhs were all that happy with the way India turned out, but I’m an American, so I think he did a good job.

Favorite country to visit:
London, England. If there was one country I wouldn’t mind living in for a year, it’s England. I love the food. Some of the best Indian food you’ve ever had. You can’t go wrong. Very spicy, too. And the culture there was neat.

Movies:
The last movie I saw in the theater was the last “Star Wars” movie. We also watch the Poirot murder mysteries on DVD.

Television:
Well, I do watch Fox News, that sort of thing. I also watch baseball pretty much all the time during baseball season and watch every San Diego Padres game. The last TV show I followed regularly was “ER.” And I’m a big fan of “The Simpsons.”

Activities:
I run marathons. My first was the Marine Corps Marathon (in D.C.). I played softball when I worked on the Hill – that’s great fun. There’s nothing better than playing softball on the (National) Mall on a warm summer evening, even when you’re a lousy player like me.

Favorite monument:
The Lincoln Memorial. It is the best run in the city – run down the Mall, stop at the Lincoln Memorial and read the Gettysburg Address

Originally published by The Indian American, Sept-Oct 2007

Rajas and Roses

Indian beauty is feminine and flowing, dramatic and mysterious.  It carries the weight of thousands of years. The vibrant silk saris and shimmering golden chains call back to the times of majestic Rajas and warriors atop horses, when women wore their hair to their waists and princesses bathed in milk and honey.  Indeed, until just recently, much of Indian style and beauty has remained untouched since antiquity.

Indian wisdom and Hindu philosophy can be traced back to the Vedas, a vast system of knowledge that is collected in four texts and which dates back at least 6000 years.  Ayurveda, the medical portion of the texts, asserts that beauty is largely based on overall health and dictates the use of solely natural products for healing and preventative medicine. According to ayurveda, which exists today as a medical system in India, clear, glowing skin is deeply connected to the digestive system. In order to maintain the healthy skin and strong, shiny hair – both of which are very highly valued in Indian society -  women must eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and put nothing on their skin that cannot also be eaten (sesame oil, milk and rose water can be found in both the kitchen pantry and the bathroom cabinet).

Away from men and society, beauty tips in India were largely learned in the multigenerational home. Daughters sat patiently as their mothers massaged their scalps with coconut oil, threaded away unwanted hair and taught them how to line their famously beautiful eyes with kohl.  Women learned the hydrating, softening, and exfoliating qualities of milk baths in private.

Historically, curves and flesh on Indian women were seen as symbols of lush fertility. Robust health was an integral part of beauty standards and ancient Indian texts refer lovingly to round, full, “moonlike” faces.  The name “Chandra”, Sanskrit for moon goddess, was popular in ancient India.

However, in 1991, this ancient ideal began to change.  India’s government decided to liberalize the country’s economy by joining the world market, and as the  doors opened to the rapidly globalizing world, Hollywood starlets soon flashed their lean, athletic bodies on screens across the Indian subcontinent.  Corporate Bangalore got more than just jobs with the outsourcing boom as saris were soon replaced by short skirts and the venerable long hair was chopped.  Western jobs and goods flooded the country, and with them came great changes in acceptable norms and beauty standards.

It was the European and American ideal of fair skin, however, which touched a strong nerve. In India, skin color is a weighty issue.  Dark skin is frequently associated with manual labor and color alone can fuel class-consciousness and discrimination. Girls who are born with darker skin often feel enormous pressure to lighten up. For many decades a product called “Fair and Lovely” - a skin cream that contains lightening agents – has dominated the market.

But interestingly, it is this same influx of worldly images that seems to be giving Indian women a chance to rebel against this archaic stereotype, widening the scope of ideals by making a spectrum of skin colors more acceptable.

Still, many mothers and grandmothers watch this first generation of globalized Indian women with disbelief, hoping that the archaic tips and rituals that brought Indian women their graceful beauty for thousands of years are remembered and recorded somewhere for future generations to rediscover.

Originally published by BeE Woman Magazine, Winter 2007

Akbar Ahmed’s Call for Compassion

How has globalization changed the world in terms of religious tolerance and stereotyping?

Globalization has changed everything. For the first time, everyone is aware of what’s going on in the world. If there’s a death among the Palestinians or a bombing in Calcutta, it’s on the news. It immediately plugs into the debate about identity.
Two, it allows people to go back to the sources. When a woman is being murdered in Pakistan and is told that “This is Islam”, she can go back to the Koran and discover it’s not Islam, it is culture. It could be tribal culture or custom, but it’s not Islam. Three, it moves away your sense of isolation.

As globalization has happened, instead of things becoming more tolerant…

This is the paradox of globalization. In the West and America, globalization is seen as a great benefactor, bringing trade and financial development. In African and Asian societies, globalization is seen as an oil tanker in a small pond. It landed there and everything has been disrupted. Some have benefited, but there are hundreds of millions of people who are stuck in poverty. There are 358 individuals who are worth more than half the world’s population. These imbalances are creating a great deal of turmoil.

The way the media works, it’s generally “if it bleeds, it leads”. The most provocative things are put out there. Does that skew people’s perspectives of the way the world actually looks?

Absolutely, so you see on CNN, Fox News, all the major TV channels, who is invited to talk about Islam? It is not the scholars of Islam. You will get someone who knows nothing about Islam but has an ideological position and will attack Islam. Or, you have Muslims who have rejected Islam, who will reinforce this negative image. The information is ideological, it’s distorted, and a lot of it is superficial.

Why is radicalism developing so much now?

I can describe three basic models of Muslim leadership today: the mystic, the modernist, and the orthodox traditionalist. After 9/11, the mystic has been marginalized. He has no answers when your house is being blown up and your wife is being raped. The mystic simply talks of love and compassion and Rumi and that seems irrelevant. The modernist seems irrelevant because he is talking about the law and writing letters. It is the traditionalist who is saying “Islam is under attack. We are being attacked.”

And that is satisfying for people?

It’s emotionally satisfying; it is giving an answer. The traditionalists respond with anger and emotion, and it is a time of anger and emotion. When Muslims look at the world, they see nothing but turmoil and anarchy. They see Palestine, Kashmir—none of these problems have been solved. Look internal to Islam; most countries are under dictatorships. Muslims are saying. “Where do we stand? We are not getting justice from the world, we are not getting justice from our own leaders, and our most cherished icons are being abused. What is there to live for?” Along comes the traditionalist who says “Okay, here’s your answer. Go to paradise.”

You found that the role models in the Muslim world were Osama bin Laden and Ahamdinejad, and anti-Americanism was rampant. What can Americans do?

The young generation of Americans can change the world. They are bright, open, thirsting to do something. One, they need to understand what’s going on in the Muslim world. 90% of information from the media is so negative; they can’t have a real understanding. They need to read, visit, and talk. Two, they need to create some bridges, with scholars, students. Three, they need to start looking at their own society and asking some hard questions. Where is this country going? Are we compromising the ideals that have created us as the great United States of America, the greatest, free-est, and most wonderful democracy?

Working on a grassroots level, or through policy?

Both. Only when grassroots awareness comes in will policy change. Right now the problem is policy in the US is not being dictated by the people. It is working in isolation, hijacked by the neocons. We will face the consequences of that.

The younger generation must recapture leadership here and on the world stage.

Some people say that Muslims are afraid to speak out.

I am giving you my own example. I have suffered, I have been attacked, and I have been smeared. You have to just stand your ground and fight. There is a great thirst to understand Islam. Muslims have to be involved in the dialogue about and around Islam. That is critical, and that is not happening sufficiently.

How do you get people with very radical viewpoints to change? Can it only be one to one, face to face?

It has to be. If I can convert one key figure, who is an ideologue, who in turn can influence thousands of people, I have achieved. I have done that.. It’s not a battle I’m pessimistic about.

To go back to the three models of Islam, the West has to support the modernist. They need books, computers, and libraries. If you support them, they fight the battle of ideas. The modernist and the mystics are being squeezed out. The pendulum is swinging towards the traditionalist. Do you want that, are you unwittingly helping that, or can your younger generation save the situation?

Are you optimistic about the future?

I am when I think of all the wonderful people who are committed to dialogue and discussion. That gives me hope. The pessimism is, against this, you have a tidal wave of ignorance, prejudice and hatred, on both sides. When hatred and prejudice are out of control, this is the slippery slope which leads to anarchy and chaos for civilization. On the heels of one hatred comes another hatred. When you get all the Muslims and put them in internment camps, who’s next?

The interview has been edited and corrected for grammar.

Originally published on April 4, 2007 by The internationalist, intmag.com.

How it Began: The sounds of 3 continents

The music at Masala Beat Club invokes not only the vindaloos and vibrant colors of Indian, but also hints at the lapping waves of the tropical Caribbean and dark nights in South London clubs.  The beats born on the subcontinent evolved as Indians emigrated over centuries and seas.  The irresistible bhangra music that has been a part of Punjabi harvest celebrations for centuries gained an edge as it was mixed with Western hip-hop.  Many artists mix beloved Indian bollywood beats with Caribbean energy to create songs that appear on top of both Bhangra and Reggae lists.

In the 1800’s, British ruled India began sending droves of Indians to the Caribbean Islands to work on sugar plantations in reluctant indentured servitude. Approximately 800,000 Indians arrived in the British West Indies, which includes Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Guiana, to do the work of recently liberated slaves and quickly became the near majority on many islands.  This transplanted capsule of India continued to create traditional folk music, but it was soon infused with the Caribbean groove that surrounded them.  The dancehalls of Jamaica caribbeanized the music to create a genre called “chutney”.   Many Indians also played a part in creating “ragga” music, which is a hyped-up reggae sounds that often includes Indian beats.

Indians and Caribbean folks were destined to meet yet again.  In 1960, the UK opened its arms to all commonwealth residents, and saw in influx of both Caribbean and Indian immigrants.  Joined by their marginalized state in British society, these two groups met each other again in immigrant, working class neighborhoods in South London and Birmingham.  This is where the musical alchemy really heated up and produced the mishmash of utterly danceable sounds that can now be found all over the world (including India!).

Britain in the 80’s and 90’s saw the birth of “Bhangragga” and the unlikely mixing of Bollywood and techno.  Immigrants from India were not only meeting their Indo-caribbean kin, but also native caribbeans, and Indian artists like Apache Indian and Bally Sagoo let the reggae, soul and funk surrounding them seep into the traditional Bhangra and Bollywood they knew so well.  In 1995, Talvin Singh founded a UK nightclub where DJ’s mixed bhangra, techno, house, drum n bass and tabla beats.  The sound took off, and Singh has become an international superstar and is considered an originator and crucial catalyst for the “Asian Underground” sound.

The sound was a hit.  The US, with a much smaller Indian population, has been slower to embrace it, but DJ’s like Marco and Mogambo are helping to spread the word.  If the crowd at Masala Beat Club is any indication, US taste buds are starting to crave a bit more spice.

Originally published by The Indian American, July-August 2006

Guess who’s the DJ, Pappe?

“It’s the time for disco!” As arms fly, the crowd is emotionally split. About half the packed dance floor is experiencing high nostalgia as they belt out the chorus of this popular Bollywood tune. And the other, non-Indian half? After looking lost for a few seconds, the contagion catches hold, and soon everyone is singing together. Masala Beat Club, a monthly event held in the student and IT dense North Carolina triangle area is arguably the most joyous celebration of Indian music in the South East and has been creating love for the beats of the subcontinent for 3 years. The catch? The ambassadors are American.

DJ Marco and DJ Mogambo (aka Mark Weddington and Tim Meehan) are spinning new and old Indian beats tonight. 70’s Bollywood classics mix with the Asian underground blend of Bhangra, reggae, hip-hop and dancehall that came out of the Post-Colonial Diaspora in the UK. Hypnotizing Bollywood dance scenes are projected on a wall above the dancers. The eclectic dancefloor moves as one – groups of American college students, Indian IT professionals, indie rockers, hippies, and international students break apart and dance together into the night. Indians who grew up watching Bollywood films and mirroring dance moves proudly display their knowledge. And the American newbies dance in familiar ways, but watch and learn and slowly start shaking their hips and throwing their arms in the air in the contagious Bollywood style.

Masala Beat Club has grown organically. Marco is a well known DJ in the area and began playing global soul and funk beats from the 70’s. He mixed in some old style Bollywood and noticed that the crowd went especially wild whenever it came on. As he began getting more and more requests for newer Indian stuff, he began to build his knowledge and is now connected to the global scene of Indian beat lovers. The internationally acclaimed Panjabi Hit Squad, the originators of “urban asian fusion”, guest DJ’ed a recent Masala Beat Club, and gave Marco and Mogambo an amazed shout on BBC radio. “We’ve never seen anything like it.”

DJ Mogambo’s interest in Indian beats came after listening to a Talvin Singh album given to him by an American friend. A busy PhD student in Physics, Tim loved the music, but knew that he needed some kind of obligation to motivate him to spend time learning about it. So, he began to DJ. Mogambo’s interest began with the Asian Underground sound that came out of South London in the 90’s. You can see the excitement and curiousity that has fueled this interest as Mogambo begins to talk about the history of this music and how it has transformed over time. As people and music traveled from India to the Caribbean with colonial indentured servitude, and then to the UK, Mogambo feels that the resulting music has developed a universally appealing beat. The raging crowd at Masala Beat Club clearly agrees.

Marco and Mogambo’s event brings together a surprisingly mixed group. “I mean, just look at this table” Marco notices. We have two turbaned Sikh Bhangra lovers who have grown up in both India and the US, a second generation Bengali (that’s me), an African American, two white Americans and a “fresh of the boat” professional Indian, newly transplanted here as one of the wave of talented IT stock. The event has come to serve two purposes: a) to bring out Indians who grew up with the music and deeply appeal to their nostalgia, and b) to introduce the sound to open-minded Americans and internationals who just want to dance and have a good time. Bhangra and Bollywood mixed with western sounds like hip-hop and dancehall, mixed back in with Indian percussion creates an utterly danceable beat. Marco’s reputation and ability to play at well known clubs and the atmosphere of global appreciation created by the nearby universities has allowed the event to flourish.

Conspicuously missing are second generation Indians. Mogambo has tried to reach out to these groups, but says that they always end up asking for American hip-hop as their comfort sound. They lack the nostalgia draw that brings in newer immigrants, who come to dance because it reminds them of home, and they don’t share the uncomplicated appreciation that many American newcomers feel towards the music. Too many second generation kids are still recovering from the feelings of embarrassment and shame brought on by years of hiding their Indian heritage from their American classmates.

But Masala Beat Club is changing the way Americans feel about India. Gagandeep Bindra is a regular attendee, and values the purity of appreciation that he sees in Marco and Mogambo. Gagan, who was born in India and wears his turban proudly, and feels that Masala Beat Club has “actually brought awareness of South Asia, on a real street level”. They have successfully introduced hundreds of people to the irresistible Indian sounds and made it something accessible and digestible to American tastes.

Many people happen upon Masala Beat Club by chance and get hooked. Mary Lindsley says she walked innocently into a Masala Beat Club night happening at a well known club in Durham, NC just because she felt like dancing. Her life has changed, as she met and started dating sometimes DJ (DJ Turbinador) and regular dancer Montek Singh, and is now a true convert. “I didn’t even know what ‘bollywood’ meant”, she says, but was drawn to the “universal beat”, and comforted by the diverse crowd.

Marco says he is regularly approached by Indians who are amazed that he knows so much. He is going to continue having these extremely successful monthly events and has started playing his appealing mix at weddings, his first for an African-American groom and Malaysian bride who just loved the music. As the night ended on a well-known (to Indians) Bollywood tune, a group of first generation immigrants continued singing, throwing their arms around each other and still dancing to the absent music, overjoyed not only by the beat but also the nostalgia, doubtless recalling their much missed homeland . Marco looks pleased at the success of the event, but maintains a slight distance from the euphoric mix of deep nostalgia and longing that these Indians are experiencing. But he is creating it.

Originally published by The Indian American, July-August 2006

The Power of the Purse

After spending a few decades quietly settling into their new homeland, taking care of their families, nurturing successful businesses and gaining respect in medicine and academia, Indian Americans are now ready and eager to enter a new frontier - politics.

At last, Indians Americans have realized that they no longer need to obediently live by legislation created by seemingly more “american” Americans. They are here, they are American, and they have the power to change the country.

And what is the power? More and more, it is all about money.

This “model minority” has the highest per capita income of any ethnic group in the United States, and has been steadily contributing to local, state and federal campaigns over the past 20 years. Small in number but large in purchasing power, Indian Americans are increasingly realizing that money matters and can move politicians to take care of their interests.

In 2000, politicians around the country took notice as 8 million dollars rolled in from Indian Americans alone. From 1980 to 1995, Indian Americans steadily increased contributions from 0 to about 5 million dollars. The steep 60% increase to 8 million within 5 short years well exceeds the rate of population growth, and politicians everywhere have perked up.

Since 2000, politicos have been courting this powerful minority at every level, and Indians have organized into groups such as the Indian American Political Advocacy Council, the Indo-American Democratic Organization, and the Indian American Republican Council. These groups attempt to integrate Indian Americans into the political system in a variety of ways. They encourage voting, seek to put Indian Americans in the position to run for elected office, cultivate relationships with influential figures, and increasingly, contribute their ample funds to legislators who will support their interests.

So who are Indian Americans contributing to, and why?

Unlike other Asian minorities, Indian Americans have a tendency to contribute more to Democrats than to Republicans. American Politics Research, an academic journal, recently published a study from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne entitled “Subcontinental Divide: Asian Indians and Asian American Politics”. The study attempted to divine trends of Asian Indian activity by looking at contribution data compiled by the Federal Election Commission. They found that Indian Americans were contributing to Democrats 2.5 times more than Republicans at all levels. The disparity has grown to become more Democratic over the past twenty years.

Indian Americans have so far shown the most interest in lower level campaign. They have been contributing more to local and state campaigns than to national ones, and more to congressional races than to presidential. This bottom up interest will likely spread to the upper levels as Indian Americans become more and more involved, and as their connections are elected to higher and higher offices.

What is the most likely indicator that Indian Americans will contribute? Well, it is … being Indian. Indians are extremely loyal to their countrymen, and are very willing to donate money to Indian American candidates whether or not their share political opinions. At this point, Indian Americans are eager to simply get a seat at the political table and will support their fellow immigrants almost regardless of policy and political agenda.

Dino Teppara, Rep. Joe Wilson’s (R-S.C.) Legislative Director, has seen contributions increase significantly in his 4 years on Capitol Hill. Teppara, a second generation Indian American, has been very involved with Republican fundraising and is the spokesperson of the Indian American Republican Council.

Teppara believes that the time has come for real Indian American political participation. “For the past 25 years, the primary focus of first generation Indian Americans was establishing themselves financially for their children.” Indian Americans, Teppara feels, are finally feeling settled. “Being involved politically indicates complete assimilation into American society.”

“We know contributions have gone up a lot since the 2000 election”, Teppara says. In 2004, for the first time, 5 individuals reached the contribution level of Pioneer or Ranger, which means that they were able to individually raise 100,000 to 200,000 dollars from contributors for the Bush-Cheney campaign. As citizens are only able to personally contribute 2,000 dollars, the high numbers illustrate the mass of connections that were built throughout the Indian community by these individuals. One of them was Dr. Raghavendra Vijayanagar, chair of the Indian American Republican Council and known popularly as “Dr. Vijay”.

Republicans weren’t the only ones raising money. South Asians for Kerry hosted the most successful fundraising event of its kind thus far. John Kerry, John Edwards and Hillary Clinton joined 500 Indian Americans and high profile figures like Ismail Merchant for a breakfast in New York City, and together raised 1 million dollars for the campaign. Indian American advocacy groups were able to raise as yet unheard of amounts for the Senator’s presidential campaign.

As Indian Americans have started their tentative first steps towards participation, politicians are in turn reaching out to them in record numbers. AAHOA, the Asian American Hotel Owners Association, has hosted Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich as the keynote speakers at their yearly convention. Ash Patel, secretary of AAHOA, feels that politicians are beginning to notice that though Indians don’t vote in large numbers, they have enough money to really make a difference.

Patel, who arrived in the US in 1984 as a student, is also the chair of both the Government Affairs and Political Action Committees for AAHOA. He has held leadership roles at AAHOA for 3 years and has seen tremendous change even in that time. The Board of AAHOA, which represents the 40% of the lodging industry that is controlled by Indian Americans, has recently been filled with second and third generation Indians who have shifted the focus from financial success to political participation.

“We were working 18 hours a day with our heads in the ground” says Patel. Many new immigrants, Patel says, were focused for too long on simply succeeding in business and taking care of their families. They found they were spending all their energy doing what they needed to do to run their own lives and businesses successfully.

“We have achieved the American Dream, now what is the next frontier?” The next frontier, Patel believes, is political participation.

Too often, Patel has noticed Indian Americans who “don’t want to rock the boat”, and were slightly uncomfortable negotiating the American system. But Patel knows that Asian American hotel owners are inescapably tied to the system they are working in. “If we don’t protect ourselves from legislation, our businesses will be in danger”.

Patel is working hard to drive home the importance of political participation to AAHOA members. AAHOA has organized a PAC, which exists to pool the resources of AAHOA members “to make contribution to candidates… who support the hospitality industry and who recognize and appreciate the contributions of Asian Americans.”

AAHOA members have come together on issues such as increased worker visas, reduced application and visa fees for foreign travelers coming to the US, and improved tourism. Slowly but surely, Indian Americans in the hotel industry are realizing that using their voice to affect legislation has a tangible affect on their lives.

Indian physicians have stepped into the political arena as well. Vijay Koli, President on AAPI (American Association of Physicians from India) has noticed a marked interest in political issues and contribution. “There is much more awareness in the community that nothing can be taken for granted” says Koli. Indian doctors, he says, can no longer simply concentrate on doing their jobs and living their lives. “We need to have sympathetic politicians at the local, state and federal levels.”

On May 3^rd, 2006, AAPI joined AAHOA, IARC, IARD and myriad other Indian advocacy groups to hold their first ever congressional reception to lobby for the passage of the US-India civilian nuclear agreement. 200 Indian community leaders joined Karl Rove and many other top Administrators to impress the importance of this deal to Indian Americans. The group included influential Indians from both sides of the political field and was organized by community activist Swadesh Chatterjee and Nilesh Mehta, president of the Indian American Forum for Political Education. The strong interest on the side of American administrators reflects the new desire to please this valuable group.

Teppara is also keenly aware of the issues that Indian Americans care about and that motivate them to act and donate. When reaching out to first generation Indian Americans, Teppara feels that many are still very loyal to their homeland and are eager to support legislation that is Pro-India. As can be seen by the May 3^rd bipartisan reception, the nuclear deal has increased support among Indians for actions of the Bush administration. News of outsourcing jobs to India, while a divisive issue in the US, tends to rally up support due to the improved Indian economy.

Many Indian Americans are also keenly aware of immigration issues and are increasingly willing to donate money for the cause. Indian Americans, all too familiar with the many hassles associated with immigration, are eager to contribute to legislators who will ease the pain of confusing paperwork and bureaucracy, attorney and visa fees that can reach the tens of thousand of dollars, and the wait that too often stretches from months to years.

Teppara has been able to rile up interest for the Republican Party in recent weeks because of the imminent changes in immigration policy. Many Indian Americans, he feels, are resentful of illegal immigrants who may soon be receiving temporary guest worker permits. He has used this as a rallying point for Indian Americans, noting that they are intimately familiar with the torturous process, but feel that it’s not fair for some immigrants to bypass the system while others must wait.

South Asians for Kerry was able to motivate the democratic side of the Indian American community on many issues as well. A press release put out by SAKI before the election highlights the Democratic history of pro-immigration legislation, international cooperation, and support for civil rights and religious freedom. In the 2004 election, Indian Americans overwhelming preferred Kerry.

Teppara also noted the differences in reaching out to second generation Indian Americans. First generation Indian Americans still feel very tied to India, but their children feel more like Americans. They are less likely to be inspired by strictly Indian issues, and are more likely to be moved to action by issues like the War on Terror or the environment. They are also more directly involved in the political process, working on campaigns and getting jobs in politics. Teppara sees a “trickle down effect” here, as second generation Indians working in politics spark their parent’s interest in the American system, and the parents, who are more settled, find donating to be the easiest and most effective way to contribute.

According to the 2000 US census, the Indian American population has more than doubled since 1990 and is now approaching 2 million. A record number of Indian Americans are running to office in November. If the current trends are any indication, Indian Americans will soon have a real voice in the American democratic process.

Originally published by The Indian American, July-August 2006