Laughter Yoga ( Hasyayoga ) is a global laughter exercise program which emphasizes three elements: laughter & playfulness, yogic breath-work, and mindfulness meditation.
95-551: Mira Nair (born 15 October 1957) is an Indian-American filmmaker based in New York City . Her production company, Mirabai Films , specializes in films for international audiences on Indian society, whether in the economic, social or cultural spheres. Among her best known films are Mississippi Masala , The Namesake , the Golden Lion –winning Monsoon Wedding , and Salaam Bombay! , which received nominations for
190-671: A Little India have emerged in the New York City Metropolitan Area. Other metropolitan areas with large Indian American populations include Atlanta , Austin , Baltimore–Washington , Boston , Chicago , Dallas–Ft. Worth , Detroit , Houston , Los Angeles , Philadelphia , Phoenix , Raleigh , San Francisco–San Jose–Oakland , and Seattle . The three oldest Indian American communities going back to around 1910 are in lesser populated agricultural areas in California including Stockton and Yuba City in
285-662: A Walt Disney Pictures production, starred Lupita Nyong'o and David Oyelowo and was based on the story of Ugandan chess prodigy Phiona Mutesi . Nair's short films include A Fork, a Spoon and a Knight, inspired by the Nelson Mandela quote, ″Difficulties break some men but make others.″ She contributed to 11'09"01 September 11 (2002) in which 11 filmmakers reacted to the events of 11 September 2001. Other titles include How Can It Be? (2008), Migration (2008), New York, I Love You (2009) and her collaboration with, among others, Emir Kusturica and Guillermo Arriaga on
380-645: A "Hindu" menace. Although labeled Hindu, the majority of Indians were Sikh. In the early 20th century, a range of state and federal laws restricted Indian immigration and the rights of Indian immigrants in the U.S. Throughout the 1910s, American nativist organizations campaigned to end immigration from India, culminating in the passage of the Asiatic Barred Zone Act in 1917. In 1913, the Alien Land Act of California prevented non-citizens from owning land. However, Asian immigrants got around
475-596: A 2,221.5% increase over that period. Affluent professionals and senior citizens , a temperate climate with numerous greenbelts , charitable benefactors to COVID relief efforts in India in official coordination with Monroe Township, Hindu mandirs , Indian food trucks and language classes, and Bollywood actors with second homes all play into the growth of the Indian population in the township, as well as its relative proximity to top-ranked Princeton University . By 2022,
570-438: A 2019 survey, it was found that households headed by an Indian immigrant had a median income of $ 132,000, compared to $ 64,000 and $ 66,000 for all immigrant and U.S.-born households, respectively. Indian immigrants were also much less likely to be in poverty (5%) than immigrants overall (14%) or the U.S. born (12%). According to 2023 US Census data, the median Indian American household income is now $ 157,005. Indian Americans had
665-403: A Boylston Prize for her performance of Jocasta 's speech from Seneca 's Oedipus . Nair commented on film-making in a 2004 interview with FF2 Media's Jan Huttner: It’s all in how I do it. Keeping the buns on the seats is very important to me. It requires that ineffable thing called rhythm and balance in movie-making. Foils have to be created, counter-weights. From the intimacy, let’s say, of
760-496: A Native American tribe in Virginia. The present-day Nansemond people trace their lineage to this intermarriage. In 1850, the federal census of St. Johns County, Florida , listed a 40-year-old draftsman named John Dick, whose birthplace was listed as " Hindostan ", living in city of St. Augustine . His race is listed as white, suggesting he was of British descent. By 1900, there were more than 2,000 Indian Sikhs living in
855-408: A bachelor's degree and 40% had obtained a postgraduate degree, whereas of all Americans, 19% had obtained a bachelor's degree and 11% had obtained a postgraduate degree. The median household income for Indian immigrants in 2019 was much higher than that of the overall foreign- and native-born populations. Indians overall have much higher incomes than the total foreign and native-born populations. In
950-730: A carpet-cleaner business owner (Washington) who falls in love with the daughter (Choudhury) of one of his Indian clients. The film revealed the evident prejudice in African-American and Indian communities. Like Salaam Bombay! , the film was well received by critics, earned a standing ovation at the Sundance Film Festival in 1992, and won three awards at the Venice Film Festival . Nair went on to direct four more films before she produced one of her most notable films, Monsoon Wedding . Released in 2001,
1045-501: A collaboration with Nair's Maisha Film Lab, and offers opportunities for international students to work together and share their interests in film-making. In July 2020, journalist Ellen Barry announced that her Pulitzer Prize -nominated story "The Jungle Prince of Delhi" about the " royal family of Oudh ", published in The New York Times , would be adapted into a web series for Amazon Studios by Nair. In March 2021 it
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#17327871222681140-404: A convent, following which she left to attend Loreto Convent, Tara Hall, Shimla , an Irish-Catholic missionary school, where she developed an infatuation with English literature. Following Tara Hall, Nair went on to study at Miranda House at Delhi University , where she majored in sociology. In order to gain the best education available, Nair applied for transfer to Western schools and, at 19, she
1235-415: A customer who regularly visited a local strip club while his wife stayed at home. Nair raised roughly $ 130,000 for the project. The 59-minute film was shot over a span of two months. It was criticized by Nair's family. Her fourth and last documentary, made for Canadian television , explored how amniocentesis was being used to determine the sex of fetuses. Released in 1987, Children of a Desired Sex exposed
1330-571: A film, she has the cast and crew start the day with a yoga session. In July 2013, Nair declined an invitation to the Haifa International Film Festival as a "guest of honor" to protest Israel's policies toward Palestine . In postings on her Twitter account, Nair stated "I will go to Israel when the walls come down. I will go to Israel when occupation is gone...I will go to Israel when the state does not privilege one religion over another. I will go to Israel when Apartheid
1425-503: A group in California that campaigned for Indian independence , facilitated illegal crossing of the Mexican border, using funds from this migration "as a means to bolster the party's finances." The Ghadar Party charged different prices for entering the U.S. depending on whether Punjabi immigrants were willing to shave off their beard and cut their hair. It is estimated that between 1920 and 1935, about 1,800 to 2,000 Indian immigrants entered
1520-474: A group of workers in an electrical products factory in Mumbai who took time off to laugh during their coffee break. In 1983 with her friend, Sooni Taraporevala , Nair co-wrote Salaam Bombay! . Using her documentary film-making and acting experience, Nair sought out real "street children" to more authentically portray the lives of children who survived in the streets and were deprived of a true childhood. Though
1615-782: A holiday there; while in Jersey City, the four schools with major Asian Indian populations mark the holiday by inviting parents to the school buildings for festivities. Mahatma Gandhi Elementary School is located in Passaic, New Jersey . Efforts are also progressing toward making Diwali and Eid official holidays at all 24 school districts in Middlesex County. At least 12 school districts on Long Island closed for Diwali in 2022, and over 20 in New Jersey. In March 2015, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio officially declared
1710-424: A love scene to the visceral, jugular quality of war. That shift is something in the editing, how one cuts from the intimate to the epic that keeps you there waiting. The energy propels you. Nair said to Image Journal in 2017 that she chose directing over any other art form because it was collaborative. "That’s why I am neither a photographer nor writer," she said. "I like to work with people, and my strength, if any,
1805-519: A new group of Indian immigrants from the state of Gujarat opened several small hotels. In 1955, 14 of 21 hotels enterprises in San Francisco were operated by Gujarati Hindus. By the 1980s, Indians owned around 15,000 motels, about 28% of all hotels and motels in the U.S. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 dramatically opened entry to the U.S. to immigrants other than traditional Northern European groups, which would significantly alter
1900-467: A number of non-Punjabi converts to Sikhism. Sikh men are typically identifiable by their unshorn beards and turbans (head coverings), articles of their faith. Many organisations like World Sikh Organisation (WSO), Sikh Riders of America, SikhNet, Sikh Coalition, SALDEF, United Sikhs , National Sikh Campaign continue to educate people about Sikhism. There are many " Gurudwaras " Sikh temples present in all states of USA. Adherents of Jainism first arrived in
1995-483: A sample of the best and brightest people in India emigrate to the United States in order to seek better financial opportunities. Indians form the second largest group of physicians after non-Hispanic Caucasian Americans (3.9%) as of the 1990 survey, and the share of Indian physicians rose to approximately 6% in 2005. According to Pew Research in 2015, of Indian Americans aged 25 and older, 72% had obtained
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#17327871222682090-463: A series of ‘laughter exercises’ that combine gentle improvisational movements and playful visualization techniques. Laughter exercises are interspersed with breathing exercises. A 2018 review concludes that group interventions based on laughter Yoga improved depressive symptoms over the short term, but there is no good quality evidence to assess that laughter yoga is more effective than other group-based intervention. A 2019 review and meta-analysis in
2185-546: Is a fifty-two-minute film that followed an Indian newspaper dealer living in the subways of New York, while his pregnant wife waited for him to return home. This film was recognized as a Best Documentary winner at the American Film Festival and New York's Global Village Film Festival. Her third documentary, India Cabaret , released in 1984, revealed the exploitation of female strippers in Bombay , and followed
2280-687: Is also recognized by Monroe Township, New Jersey . Efforts have been undertaken in Millburn , Monroe Township, West Windsor-Plainsboro , Bernards Township , and North Brunswick, New Jersey , Long Island , as well as in New York City (ultimately successfully), among other school districts in the metropolitan region, to make Diwali a holiday on the school calendar. According to the Star-Ledger , Edison, New Jersey councilman Sudhanshu Prasad has noted parents' engagement in making Deepavali
2375-422: Is found in 120+ countries. There are thousands of Laughter Yoga clubs worldwide, in-person and virtual. Practitioners choose to laugh for their health. Laughter Yoga is performed without any humorous reason to laugh, with one practitioner observing that "the body does not know that we’re faking it." Breathing exercises are used to connect to the diaphragm and to prepare the lungs for laughter. What follows are
2470-548: Is over. I will go to Israel, soon. I stand w/ Palestine for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) & the larger Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Mov’t." Nair was subsequently praised by PACBI, which stated that her decision to boycott Israel "helps to highlight the struggle against colonialism and apartheid." She subsequently tweeted "I will go to Israel, soon." Documentary films TV movies Feature films Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in
2565-477: Is that. Working with life." At the start of her film-making career, Nair primarily made documentaries in which she explored Indian cultural tradition. For her film thesis at Harvard between 1978 and 1979, Nair produced a black-and-white film titled Jama Masjid Street Journal . In the eighteen-minute film, Nair explored the streets of Old Delhi and had casual conversations with Indian locals. In 1982, she made her second documentary titled So Far from India , which
2660-593: The 2010 United States census , the Asian Indian population in the United States increased from almost 1,678,765 in 2000 (0.6% of U.S. population) to 2,843,391 in 2010 (0.9% of U.S. population), a growth rate of 69.37% , one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the United States. The New York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area , consisting of New York City , Long Island , and adjacent areas within New York , as well as nearby areas within
2755-920: The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language . Mira Nair was born on 15 October 1957 in Rourkela , Orissa , India, and grew up with her two older brothers and parents in Bhubaneswar . Her father, Amrit Lal Nair, was an officer of the Indian Administrative Service and her mother, Parveen Nayyar, is a social worker who often focused on children. She lived in Bhubaneswar until age 18, and attended
2850-632: The Central Valley , as well as in the Imperial Valley . These were all primarily Sikh settlements. Asian Indian population in Combined Statistical Areas of the United States of America as per Census 2020 The following table shows the number of people in each state who identified as "Hindu" in the 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940 censuses, as well as the number of people identifying as "Asian Indian" in each state from
2945-726: The Dharmic holy day Deepavali (Diwali) as a holiday on school district calendars in the New York City metropolitan area . New York City announced in October 2022 that Diwali would be an official school holiday commencing in 2023. Passaic, New Jersey established Diwali as a school holiday in 2005. South Brunswick, New Jersey in 2010 became the first of the many school districts with large Indian student populations in Middlesex County in New Jersey to add Diwali to
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3040-588: The Muslim holy days Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha holidays on the school calendar. School districts in Paterson and South Brunswick, New Jersey observe Ramadan . Like the terms "Asian American" or " South Asian American ", the term "Indian American" is also an umbrella label applying to a variety of views, values, lifestyles, and appearances. Although Asian Indian Americans retain a high ethnic identity, they are known to assimilate into American culture while at
3135-605: The New York City Metropolitan Area to and from Delhi and Mumbai . In May 2019, Delta Air Lines announced non-stop flight service between New York JFK and Mumbai, to begin December 22, 2019. And in November 2021, American Airlines began non-stop flight service between New York JFK and Delhi with IndiGo Air codesharing on this flight. At least 24 Indian American enclaves characterized as
3230-554: The South , though initially facing racism, effectively circumvented any such discrimination via wearing a turban . Indians started moving up the social ladder by getting higher education. For example, in 1910, Dhan Gopal Mukerji went to UC Berkeley when he was 20 years old. He was an author of many children's books and won the Newbery Medal in 1928 for his book Gay-Neck: The Story of a Pigeon . However, he committed suicide at
3325-489: The United States or migrants of other types. The terms Asian Indian and East Indian are used to avoid confusion with Native Americans in the United States , who are also referred to as "Indians" or "American Indians". With a population of more than 5.1 million, Indian Americans make up approximately 1.47% of the U.S. population and are the largest group of South Asian Americans , the largest Asian-alone group, and
3420-652: The University of California, Berkeley in 1912, became the science editor of the San Francisco Examiner and was the first Indian American to win the Pulitzer Prize for journalism. After World War II , U.S. policy re-opened the door to Indian immigration, although slowly at first. The Luce–Celler Act of 1946 permitted a quota of 100 Indians per year to immigrate to the U.S. It also allowed Indian immigrants to naturalize and become citizens of
3515-449: The 15th century. Qualifying terms such as " American Indian " and "East Indian" were and still are commonly used in order to avoid ambiguity. The U.S. government has since coined the term "Native American" in reference to the indigenous people of the United States, but terms such as "American Indian" remain among indigenous as well as non-indigenous populations. Since the 1980s, Indian Americans have been categorized as "Asian Indian" (within
3610-786: The 17th century, members of the East India Company would bring Indian servants to the American colonies . There were also some East Indian slaves in the United States during the American colonial era. In particular, court records from the 1700s indicate a number of "East Indians" were held as slaves in Maryland and Delaware. Upon freedom, they are said to have blended into the free African American population , considered " mulattoes ". Three brothers from "modern day India or Pakistan" received their freedom in 1710 and married into
3705-505: The 1980 census onwards. Between the 1910 and 1940 censuses, " Hindu " was a census category for race, a term which is now associated with religion but then referred to South Asians in general. At the time, the South Asian American population was 85% Sikh, 12% Muslim, and 3% Hindu, but all were nevertheless referred to as Hindus. Midcentury liberalization of immigration law has led to more diverse migration from India, and
3800-663: The 1990–1999 period. At 16.4% of the Asian population, Indian Americans make up the third largest Asian-American ethnic group, following Chinese Americans and Filipino Americans . A joint Duke University-UC Berkeley study revealed that Indian immigrants have founded more engineering and technology companies from 1995 to 2005 than immigrants from the United Kingdom, China, Taiwan, and Japan combined. The percentage of Silicon Valley startups founded by Indian immigrants has increased from 7% in 1999 to 15.5% in 2006, as reported in
3895-653: The 1999 study by AnnaLee Saxenian and her updated work in 2006 in collaboration with Vivek Wadhwa . Indian Americans have risen to top positions at many major companies (e.g., IBM, PepsiCo, MasterCard, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Cisco, Oracle, Adobe, Softbank, Cognizant, Sun Microsystems.) A 2014 study indicates that 23% of Indian business school graduates take a job in the United States. Indian Americans continually outpace every other ethnic group socioeconomically per U.S. census statistics. Thomas Friedman of The New York Times , in his 2005 book The World Is Flat , explains this trend in terms of brain drain , whereby
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3990-703: The American Hindu population was around 2.2 million. Hindus form the plurality religious group among the Indian American community. Many organizations such as ISKCON , Swaminarayan Sampradaya , BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha , Chinmaya Mission , and Swadhyay Pariwar are well-established in the U.S. and Hindu Americans have formed the Hindu American Foundation which represents American Hindus and aim to educate people about Hinduism . Swami Vivekananda brought Hinduism to
4085-702: The English Language Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film Short films TV series She was awarded the India Abroad Person of the Year-2007. In 2012 she was awarded India's third highest civilian award the Padma Bhushan by President of India, Pratibha Patil . Indian-American Indian Americans are people with ancestry from India who are citizens or permanent residents of
4180-537: The Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations of North America (FIACONA) to represent a network of Indian Christian organizations in the U.S. FIACONA estimates the Indian American Christian population to be 1,050,000. The Syro-Malabar Church, an Eastern Catholic Church, native to India since the 1st century, established St. Thomas Syro-Malabar diocese of Chicago was established in
4275-656: The Indian population surpassed one-third of Monroe Township's population, and the nickname Edison -South had developed, in reference to the Little India stature of both Middlesex County, New Jersey townships . In 2014, 12,350 Indians legally immigrated to the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA core based statistical area; As of February 2022, Indian airline carrier Air India as well as United States airline carrier United Airlines were offering direct flights from
4370-555: The Jain community in United States does not find sectarian differences—both Digambara and Śvētāmbara share a common roof. Hasan Minhaj , Fareed Zakaria , Aziz Ansari , and Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan are few well-known Indian American Muslims. Indian Muslim Americans also congregate with other American Muslims , including those from Pakistan , Bangladesh , Nepal , Sri Lanka , Bhutan , and Myanmar when there are events particularly related to their faith and religious believes as
4465-666: The State of New Jersey legally designated October of every year to be Hindu Heritage Month. From the time of their arrival to the U.S. in the late 1800s, Sikh women and men have been making notable contributions to American society. In 2007, there were estimated to be between 250,000 and 500,000 Sikhs living in the United States, with largest populations living on the East and West Coasts, together with smaller additional populations in Detroit , Chicago , and Austin . The United States also has
4560-527: The U.S. illegally. By 1920, the population of Americans of Indian descent was approximately 6,400. In 1923, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind that Indians were ineligible for citizenship because they were not "free white persons." The court also argued that the "great body of our people" would reject assimilation with Indians. Furthermore,
4655-638: The U.S., effectively reversing the Supreme Court's 1923 ruling in United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind . The Naturalization Act of 1952, also known as the McCarran-Walter Act , repealed the Barred Zone Act of 1917, but limited immigration from the former Barred Zone to a total of 2,000 per year. In 1910, 95% of all Indian Americans lived on the western coast of the United States. In 1920, that proportion decreased to 75%; by 1940, it
4750-646: The United States in the 20th century. Jain immigration became more significant in the second half of the 20th century. The U.S. has since become the epicenter of the Jain diaspora. Jains in America are also one of the highest-earning socio-economic adherents of any religion in the United States. The Federation of Jain Associations in North America is an umbrella organization of local American and Canadian Jain congregations. Unlike India and United Kingdom,
4845-459: The United States, primarily in California . At least one scholar has set the level lower, finding a total of 716 Indian immigrants to the U.S. between 1820 and 1900. Emigration from India was driven by difficulties facing Indian farmers, including the challenges posed by the colonial land tenure system for small landowners, and by drought and food shortages, which worsened in the 1890s. At
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#17327871222684940-432: The United States. The website USIndian.org has collected a comprehensive list of all the traditional St. Thomas Christian Churches in the U.S. There are also Catholic Indians hailing originally from Goa , Karnataka and Kerala, who attend the same services as other American Catholics , but may celebrate the feast of Saint Francis Xavier as a special event of their identity. The Indian Christian Americans have formed
5035-622: The United States. According to 2023 Pew Research Center research, 48% consider themselves Hindu, 15% as Christian (7% Catholic, 4% Evangelical Protestant, 4% Nonevangelical Protestant), 18% as unaffiliated , 8% as Muslims, 8% as Sikh, and 3% as a member of another religion. The first religious center of an Indian religion to be established in the U.S. was a Sikh Gurudwara in Stockton, California in 1912. Today there are many Sikh Gurudwaras, Hindu temples, Muslim mosques, Christian churches, and Buddhist and Jain temples in all 50 states. As of 2008,
5130-653: The West at the 1893 Parliament of the World's Religions . The Vedanta Society has been important in subsequent Parliaments. In September 2021, the State of New Jersey aligned with the World Hindu Council to declare October as Hindu Heritage Month. Today, many Hindu temples , most of them built by Indian Americans, have emerged in different cities and towns in the United States. More than 18 million Americans are now practicing some form of Yoga . Kriya Yoga
5225-462: The aborting of female fetuses due to society's favoring male offspring. In 2001, with The Laughing Club of India, she explored laughter based on yoga . Founder Dr. Madan Kararia spoke of the club's history and the growth of laughing clubs across the country, and subsequently the world. The documentary included testimonials from members of the laughter clubs who described how the practice had improved or changed their lives. Its featured segments included
5320-424: The academic reception of Nair's adaptation of The Reluctant Fundamentalist , The Journal of Commonwealth Literature questions "how the ambivalence and provocativeness of the 'source' text translates into the film adaptation, and the extent to which the film format makes the narrative more palatable and appealing to wider audiences as compared to the novel’s target readership." Nair's 2016 film Queen of Katwe ,
5415-416: The age of 46 while he was suffering from depression. Another student, Yellapragada Subbarow , moved to the U.S. in 1922. He became a biochemist at Harvard University , and he "discovered the function of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) as an energy source in cells, and developed methotrexate for the treatment of cancer." However, being a foreigner, he was refused tenure at Harvard. Gobind Behari Lal , who went to
5510-579: The arrival of people from different cultures, responded to Sikh immigration with racism and violent attacks. The Bellingham riots in Bellingham, Washington on September 5, 1907, epitomized the low tolerance in the U.S. for Indians and Sikhs, who were called " Hindoos " by locals. While anti-Asian racism was embedded in U.S. politics and culture in the early 20th century, Indians were also racialized for their anticolonialism, with U.S. officials, who pushed for Western imperial expansion abroad, casting them as
5605-497: The broader subgroup of Asian American ) by the U.S. Census Bureau . While "East Indian" remains in use, the term "Indian" and " South Asian " is often chosen instead for academic and governmental purposes. Indian Americans are included in the census grouping of South Asian Americans , which includes Bangladeshi Americans , Bhutanese Americans , Indo-Caribbean Americans , Maldivian Americans , Nepalese Americans , Pakistani Americans , and Sri Lankan Americans . Beginning in
5700-597: The compilation feature Words with Gods . A longtime activist, Nair set up an annual film-makers' laboratory, Maisha Film Lab in Kampala, Uganda. Since 2005, young directors in East Africa have been trained at this non-profit facility with the belief that " If we don't tell our stories, no one else will ". Maisha is currently building a school with Architect Raul Pantaleo, winner of Aga Khan Award for Architecture, and his company Studio Tamassociati. In 1998, she used
5795-456: The court ruled that based on popular understanding of race, the term "white person" referred to people of northern or western European ancestry rather than "Caucasians" in the most technical sense. Over fifty Indians had their citizenship revoked after this decision, but Sakharam Ganesh Pandit fought against denaturalization . He was a lawyer and married to a white American, and he regained his citizenship in 1927. However, no other naturalization
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#17327871222685890-670: The demographic mix in the U.S. Not all Indian Americans came directly from India; some moved to the U.S. via Indian communities in other countries , including the United Kingdom , Canada , South Africa , the former British colonies of East Africa , (namely Kenya , Tanzania , and Uganda , Mauritius ), the Asia-Pacific region ( Malaysia , Singapore , Australia , and Fiji ), and the Caribbean ( Guyana , Trinidad and Tobago , Suriname , and Jamaica ). From 1965 until
5985-633: The establishment of the Vedanta Society . Escaping from racist attacks in Canada, Sikhs migrated to Pacific Coast U.S. states in the 1900s to work in the lumber mills of Bellingham and Everett, Washington . Sikh workers were later concentrated on the railroads and began migrating to California; around 2,000 Indians were employed by the major rail lines such as Southern Pacific Railroad and Western Pacific Railroad between 1907 and 1908. Some white Americans, resentful of economic competition and
6080-615: The film Mississippi Masala . Like his wife, Mamdani teaches at Columbia University . Their son, Zohran Mamdani , was born in Uganda in 1991. In 2020, Zohran won a seat representing Astoria, Queens in the New York State Assembly after defeating incumbent Assemblymember Aravella Simotas in the Democratic primary election earlier in the year. Nair has been an enthusiastic yoga practitioner for decades; when making
6175-520: The film did not do well at the box office, it won 23 international awards, including the Camera D’or and Prix du Public at the Cannes Film Festival in 1988. Salaam Bombay! was nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film in 1989. Nair and Taraporevala continued to challenge audiences with the 1991 film Mississippi Masala , which told the story of Ugandan-born Indians displaced in Mississippi . The film, featuring Denzel Washington , Roshan Seth , and Sarita Choudhury , centers on
6270-511: The film told the story of a Punjabi Indian wedding, written by Sabrina Dhawan . Employing a small crew and casting some of Nair's acquaintances and relatives, the film grossed over $ 30 million worldwide. The film was awarded the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival , making Nair the first female recipient of the award. Nair then directed the Golden Globe-winning Hysterical Blindness (2002), followed by making William Makepeace Thackeray 's epic Vanity Fair (2004). In 2007, Nair
6365-431: The first Indian American senator in the history of the United States. In 2021, she became the first Indian American vice president. She was elected vice president as the running mate of President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election . This was a major milestone in Indian American history, and in addition to Harris, another 20 Indian Americans were nominated to key positions in the administration. According to
6460-409: The first known Indian to gain naturalized U.S. citizenship. As a Parsi , he was considered a "pure member of the Persian sect" and therefore a "free white person." In 1910, judge Emile Henry Lacombe of the Southern District of New York gave Balsara citizenship on the hope that the United States attorney would indeed challenge his decision and appeal it to create "an authoritative interpretation" of
6555-484: The first laughter social club at a local park. To keep the laughter flowing (after they ran out of jokes), Dr. Kataria created the 40 Foundation exercises, which are based on everyday situations, rather than on jokes or comedy. Kataria wrote about his experience in his 2002 book Laugh For No Reason. Additional scientific data and updated information can be found in Dr. Kataria's 2021 book, Laughter Yoga: Daily Laughter Practices for Health and Happiness. Laughter yoga
6650-438: The large number of migrations to the U.S. primarily from the states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu in South India. There are sizable populations of people from the states of Punjab , Andhra Pradesh , Maharashtra , Telangana , Gujarat , West Bengal , Karnataka , Kerala , and Tamil Nadu in the United States. Indians comprise over 80% of all H-1B visas . Indian Americans have risen to become
6745-435: The largest Indian American population of any individual city in North America, estimated at 246,454 as of 2017. Monroe Township , Middlesex County , in central New Jersey , ranked the safest small city in the United States, has displayed one of the fastest growth rates of its Indian population in the Western Hemisphere , increasing from 256 (0.9%) as of the 2000 Census to an estimated 5,943 (13.6%) as of 2017, representing
6840-530: The law can natives of British India be regarded as white persons." After the Immigration Act of 1917 , Indian immigration into the U.S. decreased. Illegal entry through the Mexican border became the way of entering the country for Punjabi immigrants. California's Imperial Valley had a large population of Punjabis who assisted these immigrants and provided support. Immigrants were able to blend in with this relatively homogenous population. The Ghadar Party ,
6935-479: The law. The U.S. attorney adhered to Lacombe's wishes and took the matter to the Circuit Court of Appeals in 1910. The Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that Parsis are classified as white. On the same grounds, another federal court decision granted citizenship to A. K. Mozumdar . These decisions contrasted with the 1907 declaration by U.S. Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte : "...under no construction of
7030-476: The mid-1990s, long-term immigration from India averaged about 40,000 people per year. From 1995 onward, the flow of Indian immigration increased significantly, reaching a high of about 90,000 immigrants in the year 2000. The beginning of the 21st century marked a significant wave in the migration trend from India to the United States. The emergence of Information Technology industry in Indian cities as Bangalore , Chennai , Pune , Mumbai , and Hyderabad led to
7125-690: The profits from Salaam Bombay! to create the Salaam Baalak Trust which works with street children in India. A musical adaptation of Monsoon Wedding , directed by Nair, premiered at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre , running from 5 May to 16 July 2017. As of 2015, she lives in New York City, where she is an adjunct professor in the Film Division of the School of Arts for Columbia University . The university has
7220-587: The proportion of Sikhs amongst Indian Americans has fallen to 8%. In recent years, especially following the 1990 inception of the H-1B visa program and the dot-com boom , there has been a shift in the Indian American population from being dominated by immigrants from Gujarat and Punjab to being increasingly represented more broadly, including by immigrants from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana , Tamil Nadu , as well as immigrants from Kerala , Karnataka , and Maharashtra . Between 2010 and 2021, Telugu rose from being
7315-543: The richest ethnicity in America, with an average household income of $ 126,891, almost twice the U.S. average of $ 65,316. Since 2000, a large number of students have started migrating to the United States to pursue higher education. A variety of estimates state that over 500,000 Indian American students attend higher-education institutions in any given year. As per Institute of International Education (IIE) 'Opendoors' report, 202,014 new students from India enrolled in U.S. education institutions. In 2017, Kamala Harris became
7410-1141: The same can be applied for any other religious community, but there are prominent organizations such as the Indian Muslim Council – USA . New Jersey and New York contain notable numbers of mosques utilized by Muslims of Indian origin. There are many Indian Christian churches across the US, including India Pentecostal Church of God , Assemblies of God in India , Church of God (Full Gospel) in India , Church of South India , Church of North India , Christhava Tamil Koil, The Pentecostal Mission , Sharon Pentecostal Church, Independent Non Denominational Churches like Heavenly Feast, Plymouth Brethren . Saint Thomas Christians ( Syro-Malabar Church , Syro-Malankara Catholic Church , Chaldean Syrian Church , Kanna Church, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church , Jacobite Syrian Christian Church , CSI Syrian Christians , Mar Thoma Syrian Church , Pentecostal Syrian Christians and St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India ) from Kerala have established their own places of worship across
7505-487: The same time keeping the culture of their ancestors. Laughter yoga Laughter Yoga was introduced in Mumbai, India in 1995 by family physician Madan Kataria and his wife Madhuri. Dr. Kataria modernized some of the work of earlier laughter pioneers, who taught very similar concepts starting in the 1960s, in a more structured and a unique manner. Dr. Kataria, his wife Madhuri and three of their best friends started
7600-595: The same time, Canadian steamship companies, acting on behalf of Pacific coast employers, recruited Sikh farmers with economic opportunities in British Columbia . The presence of Indians in the U.S. also helped develop interest in Eastern religions in the U.S. and would result in its influence on American philosophies such as transcendentalism . Swami Vivekananda arriving in Chicago at the World's Fair led to
7695-474: The same. From the 1990 census to the 2000 census, the Asian Indian population increased by 105.87%. Meanwhile, the U.S. population increased by only 7.6%. In 2000, the Indian-born population in the U.S. was 1.007 million. In 2006, of the 1,266,264 legal immigrants to the United States, 58,072 were from India. Between 2000 and 2006, 421,006 Indian immigrants were admitted to the U.S., up from 352,278 during
7790-679: The school calendar. Glen Rock, New Jersey in February 2015 became the first municipality in Bergen County , with its own burgeoning Indian population post-2010, to recognize Diwali as an annual school holiday, while thousands in Bergen County celebrated the first U.S. county -wide Diwali Mela festival under a unified sponsorship banner in 2016, while Fair Lawn in Bergen County has celebrated an internationally prominent annual Holi celebration since 2022. Diwali/Deepavali
7885-595: The second highest Per Capita Incomes among Asian Americans of $ 72,389 which was second only to Taiwanese Americans. 75.1% of Indian Americans worked in Management, business, science, and arts occupations, this is compared to only 43.2% for the total population. Religious Makeup of Indian Americans (2018) Communities of Hindus , Christians , Muslims , Sikhs , irreligious people , and smaller numbers of Jains , Buddhists , Zoroastrians , and Indian Jews , have established their religious (or irreligious) beliefs in
7980-455: The second-largest group of Asian Americans after Chinese Americans . Indian Americans have the highest median household income and the second highest per capita income (after Taiwanese Americans ) among other Asian ethnic groups working in the United States. In the Americas , the term "Indians" had historically been used to describe indigenous people since European colonization in
8075-473: The sixth most spoken South Asian language to being the third most spoken, while Punjabi fell from being the fourth most spoken South Asian language in the United States to become the seventh most spoken. There are significant differences between these groups in terms of socioeconomic factors like education, geographic location, and income; in 2021, 81% of Americans speaking Telugu at home spoke English very well while only 59% of Americans speaking Punjabi at home did
8170-409: The states of New Jersey (extending to Trenton ), Connecticut (extending to Bridgeport ), and including Pike County, Pennsylvania , was home to an estimated 711,174 uniracial Indian Americans as of the 2017 American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau , comprising by far the largest Indian American population of any metropolitan area in the U.S. New York City itself also contains by far
8265-403: The system by having Anglo friends or their own U.S. born children legally own the land that they worked on. In some states, anti-miscegenation laws made it illegal for Indian men to marry white women. However, it was legal for "brown" races to mix. Many Indian men, especially Punjabi men, married Hispanic women, and Punjabi-Mexican marriages became a norm in the West. Bhicaji Balsara became
8360-623: The year 2001. St. Thomas day is celebrated in this church on July 3 every year. The large Parsi and Irani community is represented by the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America . Indian Jews are perhaps the smallest organized religious group among Indian Americans, consisting of approximately 350 members in the U.S. They form the Indian Jewish Congregation of USA, with their headquarters in New York City. Momentum has been growing to recognize
8455-741: Was 65%, as more Indian Americans moved to the East Coast. In that year, Indian Americans were registered residents in 43 states. The majority of Indian Americans on the west coast were in rural areas, but on the east coast they became residents of urban areas. In the 1940s, the prices of the land increased, and the Bracero program brought thousands of Mexican guest workers to work on farms, which helped shift second-generation Indian American farmers into "commercial, nonagricultural occupations, from running small shops and grocery stores, to operating taxi services and becoming engineers." In Stockton and Sacramento,
8550-657: Was also honored with the Pride of India award at the Bollywood Movie Awards . This was followed by the Amelia Earhart biopic Amelia (2009), starring Hilary Swank and Richard Gere . In 2012, Nair directed The Reluctant Fundamentalist , a thriller based on the best-selling novel by Mohsin Hamid. It opened the 2012 Venice Film Festival to critical acclaim and was released worldwide in early 2013. For
8645-579: Was announced Nair would direct a ten episode TV series for Disney+ reimagining the National Treasure series with a new cast. In 1977, Nair met her first husband, Mitch Epstein , when taking photography classes at Harvard University. They divorced by 1987, and in 1988 Nair met her second husband, the Indo-Ugandan political scientist Mahmood Mamdani , while in Uganda doing research for
8740-591: Was asked to direct Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix , but turned it down to work on The Namesake . Based on the book by Pulitzer Prize -winner Jhumpa Lahiri , Sooni Taraporevala's screenplay follows the son of Indian immigrants who wants to fit in with New York City society, but struggles to get away from his family's traditional ways. The film was presented with the Dartmouth Film Award and
8835-672: Was introduced to America by Paramahansa Yogananda . A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada initiated the popular ISKCON , also known as the Hare Krishna movement, while preaching Bhakti yoga . The Sai Baba mandir with the tallest indoor statue in the Western Hemisphere opened in Monroe Township , Middlesex County, New Jersey as the Om Sri Sai Balaji Temple in 2024. On October 30, 2024,
8930-407: Was offered a full scholarship to Cambridge University , but ultimately turned it down and instead accepted a full scholarship to Harvard University . Before she became a filmmaker, Nair was originally interested in acting, and at one point she performed plays written by Badal Sarkar , a Bengali performer . While she studied at Harvard University, Nair became involved in the theater program and won
9025-422: Was permitted after the ruling, which led to about 3,000 Indians leaving the U.S. between 1920 and 1940. Many other Indians had no means of returning to India. In 1927, Sri Lankan lecturer Chandra Dharma Sena Gooneratne , then frequently erroneously referred to as Indian, delivered several lectures across the country pertaining chiefly to indology —often advocating for Indian independence within them. While in
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