Of ladoos, halwa and burfis...

Desis in big cities like NY, New Jersey, Washington DC, Chicago, Houston and LA, are well-organised, writes Lalit K Jha.

in big cities like New York, New Jersey, Washington DC, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles, are well-organised.

Restaurants, offering a variety of desi cuisine; theatres screening Hindi movies and other socio-cultural organisations staging cultural extravaganza are a common feature in these cities.

Certain residential areas and market places give the impression that one was in his own country.

However, Indians in the United States are not present in these cities only — of course a majority of them stay here. Like a Bihari, Punjabi or Marwari in India, Indians are spread in every nook and corner of this country.

Considered to be mostly rural areas by US standards, Dakotas — both North and South — are those parts of the country wherein very few Indians live. However, their numbers are spreading very fast.

Staying thousands of kilometres away from home, these Indians ensure that they meet the other desi families in the area — even if they have to cover a long distance travel at times- for the weekly get-together.

Attired in traditional Indian dress — saree and suit — the host and the guests ensure that the menu is Indian: chhole, rajma, chapatti, tanduri chicken, fish curry and not to miss desert — ladoo, halwa or burfi — to end with.

At one such get-together Sanjay Gupta, an agricultural scientist, brought chaat papris and golgappa — like the one at Chandni Chowk, Dr Archana Varma, a scientist at the University of North Dakota got murhi-ghughani, the traditional besan ki sabzi. One can also enjoy hot sambar by Dipti Thamma in Grand Forks and not to miss, Bhelpuri offered by the young Richa-Kartik couple.

However, the real action begins at the dinning table, when the Indians get nostalgic about their country. The discussion ranges from India's achievement in the field of science and technology, its poverty and illiteracy, Congress politics and the Bharatiya Janata Party, Kashmir and India's foreign policy and its relationship with the US and Pakistan.

And suddenly the discussion shifts to Bollywood as after the dinner people watch a Hindi movie. For instance, last weekend at the Bansal's, a small group of desis watched a Juhie Chawla starred movie on their beautiful home-theatre.

The most significant aspect of their nicely decorated home was the small temple in the basement. "Indians become more religious or sensitive to their culture when they leave their country, they suddenly become more active," conceded Ms Bansal, who regularly organises poojas at this temple, spacious enough to accommodate about 50 people at a time.

Brij Singh, a young Assistant Professor at the University of North Dakota, who stayed at Washington DC for several years before shifting to this Dakota land, says: "This is one positive aspect of staying in small cities. Indians here are more close to each other than in cities like Chicago and (Washington) DC"

He seems to be correct. Even though, Indians here are a divided lot and could be seen pulling each other at times, but when it comes to crisis, all come to each others rescue as one family.

For instance, Jack Wadhawan, a realtor, hired a lawyer at his own expense to fight case of a young college graduate — of course an Indian — who had hit a car in an accident. "If I had not done it, the career of the student, who had no money, would have been destroyed otherwise and would have been left with no other choice but to go back".

May be we could talk about Jack's personality sometime later.