North Fulton cities are becoming increasingly more diverse, opening up opportunities for friendships among people of various races, religions and cultures.
Perhaps it’s human nature to stay in groups of like-minded people, but my life’s been enriched making different new friends. Just last month I met the lovely Suma Kumar of Milton at a school event.
During the conversation, she mentioned that her daughter was in a Bollywood recital. I knew Indian Bollywood dance was energetic and expressive, colorful and vibrant. I told her I wanted to learn more, so she invited me along.
She also kindly asked me to lunch at Sri Krishna Vilas in Alpharetta, an authentic Indian restaurant, to share more about Indian customs. She patiently explained the ingredients in each spicy, sweet and savory dish. Some were familiar, others pleasantly new. We talked about spiritual customs while sampling selections.
As a practicing Catholic eagerly anticipating Easter, I could relate to Suma’s explanation of the Indian holiday of Diwali, a Hindu celebration of light overcoming darkness. She explained that many Indian-American children attend balvihar, a religious school held on Sundays where children socialize while learning beliefs. It was fascinating to compare our religious traditions.
While we talked, I couldn’t help but notice an important cricket match during the 2015 Sri Lanka World Cup showing on the restaurant’s television. Played by Indian men on weekend mornings around Alpharetta, this globally popular bat and ball sport is very different from baseball, but engenders as much fanatical emotion.
It occurred to me that sport – like food, dance, cinema and art – are vehicles for bridging traditions, allowing Americans of all decent to weave their colorful customs into the American fabric. Just look at yoga – Americans love it, but it’s rooted in ancient Indian spiritual practices.
Suma then talked about a recent trip to India. She described a democracy of a billion people struggling to reconcile old and new. The economy is growing, but millions remain in poverty with stark class divisions. Some immigrants come here on H-1B visas to find work in American high tech companies, research shows. Others have been here for decades.
Indeed, statistics from the 2010 U.S. Census show a doubling of Georgia’s Indian immigrants, with nearly 97,000 from 46,000 in 2000. I found no current numbers for Indian-Americans in North Fulton, but both Suma and I have noticed an increased number of families – perhaps relocating south from states with surging Indian-American populations, including New York and New Jersey.
Suma, like other parents born in India but adjusted to America, straddle two cultures - rearing their modern American kids with grounding them in Indian traditions. I’m glad of the opportunity to better understand her perspective.
For news and events in the Indian-American community, Suma suggests the publication Khabar, at www.khabar.com.
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