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Indian-Americans feel at home, both here and there

George Iype in New Delhi

Fortyeight-year-old Subash Razdan is thrilled. Ever since he took up the initiative of installing the first statue of Mahatma Gandhi at a historic site -- near that of Martin Luther King -- in Atlanta, he has been desirous of visiting India and meeting its members of Parliament.

On Wednesday, Razdan, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Georgetown University, stepped into the Indian Parliament for the first time and heard US President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee addressing the MPs of both houses in the Central Hall.

A Kashmiri now settled in Atlanta, Razdan is one among the 112 Indian-Americans who are accompanying President Clinton on his India trip. "I talked to many Indian MPs on Kashmir because I have lost my state and the pain has been with me for long. I felt relieved after the MPs listened to me patiently," he says.

Like Razdan, many Non-Resident Indians accompanying Clinton are euphoric. Some of them are direct invitees of the White House. Some have come under the aegis of the United States India Business Council. Some are part of the National Federation of Indian-American Associations. Some have come on their own, at their own expense.

But they all call Clinton "our President" and Vajpayee "our Prime Minister." "India and the United States are proud of us Indians who are changing the face of America, from Silicon Valley to Wall Street, the hotel industry to Hollywood," says Atul Panchal, a healthcare professional who heads the International Association for Advancement Inc in New York.

Panchal says it is for the first time that an American President has taken such a large group of immigrants during his foreign visit. "Americans acknowledge the influence and contribution of Indians in their country. America can no longer ignore the enterprising, intelligent and talented Indians who are doing wonders in Silicon Valley, in the fields of science and technology, medicine, investment banking, business management, research and development, hotel industry and Hollywood," he says. "We are here with Clinton because America recognises our contribution."

Antony Taliath, president of the Atlanta-based American Software Consultants Inc and Director of the Gandhi Foundation of the USA, is happy at the manner the NRI entourage has been treated by Clinton and Indian leaders.

"The first thing that the President did upon his arrival at the Maurya Sheraton was to meet us all and thank us for coming with him. It was a great gesture," says Taliath. On Wednesday, American Ambassador in India Richard Celeste hosted a special reception for the Indian-Americans.

According to Bhishma Agnihotri, an active member of the NRI community who is the chancellor of the Southern University Law Centre, the Clinton visit is the finest example of the socio-political power that Indians wield in America.

"Two decades back, Indians in the US were a scattered group of migrants. Now they are a powerful, united group. I can now proudly say that I am a personal acquaintance of President Clinton," says Agnihotri, who is also an activist of the Overseas Friends of the Bharatiya Janata Party. "We all have been trying hard to build a bridge between India and America all these years because we feel strongly about India, our motherland. We are happy that Clinton has finally visited India."

Bhupendra Patel, director of the Department of Medicine at the Western Queens Community Hospital, New York, says the Indian community's fund-raising efforts have won laurels in the US. He is organising a fund-raiser for Hillary Clinton at his home in Long Island later this month. "We are powerful not only in Silicon Valley, but also in US political circles, among the Republicans and Democrats," he says.

"It is nice being here in India with our American friends," feels Parthasarathy Pillai, president of the National Federation of Indian-American Associations. "We now feel at home both in the US and India,"

The Indian-American community leaders have not followed Clinton on his Agra and Jaipur trips. Instead they will fly directly to Hyderabad on Friday and then to Bombay. After that, many of them will rush to their native places to spend a few days with their near and dear ones before returning 'home'. Others will take off to the US without joining the Clinton mission to Islamabad.

CLINTON VISITS INDIA:The complete coverage

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