From the infectious rhythm of the bhangra dance and the sizzle of the tandoori platter to landmark achievements in research laboratories and corporate boardrooms, the Asian Indian presence has very quickly become a lively and colorful part of the daily life of the Chicago metropolitan area. Arriving in Chicago in the mid 60s, the first wave of Indians were mostly professionals who intended to return home. But as they stayed on and were joined by others, their population began to reflect the tremendous ethnic, linguistic, and religious diversity of India. Today, Indians are the largest Asian-American immigrant group in the Chicago area. Recognizing that first-hand resources would still be available for compiling their history, the Indo-American Center appealed to Chicago area residents of Indian origin and to their organizations to select photographs and documents from their personal collections to tell the story of the community. This book is a result of their enthusiastic response. Here, then, is a history in the making, -the record, in pictures, of the life of a diverse and vibrant community as told by the people who live it and shape its course.

From the infectious rhythm of the bhangra dance and the sizzle of the tandoori platter to landmark achievements in research laboratories and corporate boardrooms, the Asian Indian presence has very quickly become a lively and colorful part of the daily life of the Chicago metropolitan area. Arriving in Chicago in the mid 60s, the first wave of Indians were mostly professionals who intended to return home. But as they stayed on and were joined by others, their population began to reflect the tremendous ethnic, linguistic, and religious diversity of India. Today, Indians are the largest Asian-American immigrant group in the Chicago area. Recognizing that first-hand resources would still be available for compiling their history, the Indo-American Center appealed to Chicago area residents of Indian origin and to their organizations to select photographs and documents from their personal collections to tell the story of the community. This book is a result of their enthusiastic response. Here, then, is a history in the making, -the record, in pictures, of the life of a diverse and vibrant community as told by the people who live it and shape its course.

Asian Indians figure prominently among the educated, middle class subset of contemporary immigrants. They move quickly into residences, jobs, and lifestyles that provide little opportunity with fellow migrants, yet they continue to see themselves as a distinctive community within contemporary American society. In Life Lines Bacon chronicles the creation of a community--Indian-born parents and their children living in the Chicago metropolitan area--bound by neither geographic proximity, nor institutional ties, and explores the processes through which ethnic identity is transmitted to the next generation. Bacon's study centers upon the engrossing portraits of five immigrant families, each one a complex tapestry woven from the distinctive voices of its family members. Both extensive field work among community organizations and analyses of ethnic media help Bacon expose the complicated interplay between the private social interactions of family life and the stylized rhetoric of "Indianness" that permeates public life. This inventive analysis suggests that the process of assimilation which these families undergo parallels the assimilation process experienced by anyone who conceives of him or herself as a member of a distinctive community in search of a place in American society.

At some point during the 1990s the size of 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. Namast&é America tells this story of Indian immigrants in America, focusing on one of the largest communities, Chicago.