Synopsis
At some point during the 1990s the Asian Indian population in the United States surpassed the one million mark. Today's Indians in America are a diverse group. They come from every state in India as well as from around the globe: England, Canada, South Africa, Tanzania, Fiji, Guyana, and Trinidad. They also belong to many religious faiths, including Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Jainism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism. Many have high professional skills and are fluent in English and familiar with Western culture. They have settled throughout the United States, largely in metropolitan areas. Namaste America tells this story of Indian immigrants in America, focusing on one of the largest communities, Chicago.
Rangaswamy draws upon the latest census data and extensive fieldwork complemented by her own substantial surveys and interviews. She sets her study firmly within the international context of global emigration from India, which is essential for anyone seeking to understand the Indian experience in the world today. In many ways the anticipation and excitement of that experience is captured in the very word Namaste, the traditional greeting in India. No longer is it solely an Indian word; it is part of the global vocabulary.