Indian Success, Made in America

October 8, 2009

Diwali is almost here -- how are you set for diyas?

It’s a question certain to produce puzzled looks. But a growing number of Americans have an answer.

Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights. (It’s also celebrated by Buddhists, Sikhs, and Jains.) The Times of India explains that while the holiday is linked to several mythological tales, in the modern era, it is more “a reaffirmation of hope, a renewed commitment to friendship and goodwill, and a religiously sanctioned celebration of the simple -- and some not so simple -- joys of life.” Rituals abound during the five-day event, including the lighting of diyas, which are small, earthenware lamps.

“Holly Jolly Diwali” probably won’t become a staple in the U.S. anytime soon. Indians didn’t start arriving in big numbers until the 1960s, when immigration laws were liberalized. And their share of the population has yet to reach 1 percent.

But the influence and success of Indian Americans cannot be ignored. The statistics are stunning. A December 2005 report by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) found that at 76.6 percent, the portion of America’s India-born adult residents who have earned at least an undergraduate degree was triple the rate for all immigrants, and more than double the rate for natives. Students of Indian descent monotonously mop the floor with their opponents in academic competitions -- in May, Kansan Kavya Shivashankar won the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The American Enterprise Institute’s Jason Richwine reports that “Indian-Americans are 3 percent of the nation’s engineers, 7 percent of its IT workers and 8 percent of its physicians and surgeons. The overrepresentation of Indians in these fields is striking -- in practical terms, your doctor is nine times more likely to be an Indian-American than is a random passerby on the street.”

The CIS analysis reported that a mere 6.1 percent of Indian immigrants lived in poverty, half the share of all citizens born in America. India-origin residents are less likely to be on the dole -- whether it’s WIC, Medicaid, food stamps, subsidized housing, or the EITC -- than natives and every immigrant group but Italians. (Dominican, Mexican, Russian, Honduran, and Guatemalan immigrants were the worst welfare cases.)

A 2004 analysis by the U.S. Census Bureau found that median income for Asian households was more than $9,000 higher than the nation as a whole. But when separated by country, Indian households surpassed the national figure by more than $20,000, and very nearly beat the high mark set by the Japanese.

Where are America’s Indians? Illinois, Texas, Florida, and Georgia have communities, but most are concentrated in the Northeast and on the West Coast. Growth is rapid -- the 2000 census revealed that 444,566 lived in the Tri-State Region, an increase of more than 52 percent since 1990.

The near-doubling of Connecticut’s Indian cohort in the 1990s helped stem the loss of residents fleeing out-of-control government and a dismal economy. The state’s first Hindu temple, in Middletown, was consecrated in 1999. Indians here don’t lack for civic, cultural, and professional entities. Connecticut has its own chapter of the Stamford-based Global Organization of People of Indian Origin, as well as the Association of Indians in Connecticut, the India Association of Greater Hartford, Stratford’s Hindu Cultural Center of Connecticut, and the Connecticut Association of Physicians of Indian Origin.

With high incomes and a surging population, it’s no wonder that some of the Nutmeg State’s most predatory pols have begun to court Indians. Democrats Eddie Perez, Dannel Malloy, and Kevin Sullivan -- remember him? -- have cozied up.

But it would be a mistake to assume that Indians are eager to fall in lockstep with other minority groups that have capitulated to the left. As assimilation continues, and political involvement increases, expect many to lean rightward. (Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, the son of immigrants, is a Republican.) Indians, who place enormous value on family ties, are natural allies for social conservatives who seek to build coalitions with non-Christians. (And yes, such activists do exist.) With entrepreneurial activity (hospitality, retail) comprising so much of their incomes, Indians offer a receptive audience for proposals to cut taxes and slash wasteful spending. After all, it’s working spectacularly well in the Old Country.

On the third day of Diwali, some believe that Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, bestows her blessings on homes festooned with diyas.

The goddess has been awfully busy in America. In an amazingly short time, Indian immigrants and their progeny have greatly enriched themselves, and thus, the nation. We’re lucky to have them.

D. Dowd Muska is a writer, commentator and lecturer. His website is www.dowdmuska.com.

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