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Gandhi Statue, The Ferry Building
Desi immigrants to San Francisco date back to the arrival of Sikh laborers in the 1800s. Desi, a Hindi word meaning 'homeland' generally refers to South Asians from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. The Bay Area's Indian community of 158,000 is second only in size to that of the New York metropolitan area. Their large number was bolstered by Silicon Valley's computer boom during the 80s and 90s which attracted a lot of India tech workers to the area. Today, some South Bay and East Bay towns are as much as 10 per cent Desi. The Bay Area boasts a great number of Desi authors such as novelists Chiti Divakaruni and Khaled Hosseini, and musicians like tabla player Zakir Hussain and sarode master Ali Akbar Khan, once called "the greatest musician in the world" by Yehudi Menuhin.
On a personal note, my friends and family play a game every time we cross the Golden Gate Bridge. The first one to spot a colorful sari on the bridge, wins. Surprisingly, a winner is declared nearly every time.
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3 Comments:
I think Washington, D.C., has the exact same statue of Ghandi. The next time I'm up on Mass Ave, I'll take a picture and we'll compare...
I'd love to see a photo of that! You can e-mail it to ramsey@fogbay.com if you get a chance. Thanks.
I'll try to get out this weekend and snap a picture. My recollection is, it's on Massachusetts Avenue not too far from DuPont Circle and within a mile of the British Embassy and the Naval Observatory (which is where the Vice President's official residence is. Ironic, eh?) Anyway, I'll get back to you...
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