MSNBC - American Masala

Newseek Represents for Desi Americans

Awesome article in the most recent Newsweek Magazine entitled "American Masala" discussing something that DESIBLOG has been writing about for the past couple of years: the growing influence of South Asian Americans in the States.

The header reads "They've changed the way we eat, dress, work and play. South Asians come here from many places, and they succeed by blending East and West."

Here is a snippet, but make sure to check out the entire article. It is a must read.

"It's the most visible ethnic breakout since Ricky Martin let Americans know that Latinos were living la vida loca. In this case, having money has helped. According to the Census Bureau, the median income in Indian-American families is more than $60,000, compared with the national average of $38,885, and experts estimate that more than half of the 2 million South Asians in this country are college graduates. South Asians are highly visible on all of the nation's most elite campuses and are garnering an impressive share of the top academic prizes. They were critical to the Silicon Valley boom, and now many are resettling in cities like Bangalore as entrepreneurs in the booming outsourcing industry. Parmatma Saran, a sociologist at New York's Baruch College who studies South Asian immigrants, says they succeed because they balance modernity with old-world values. "South Asians are following in the footsteps of Jews," says Saran, who came from India in 1967 at 24. "They're following the Jewish model of penetrating the structural arrangement of society—economics, politics—without losing their cultural identity," he says."

Also in the Newsweek issue, a list of some of the up-and-coming South Asian-Americans. This list is by no means exhaustive, there are only so many names a magazine can print.

posted by sajit @ 4:39 PM