though in the 1980s and 1990s, more than half of these immigrants were
joining families already here. Apparently unlike the early migrants into
Britain, these immigrants were quite conscious of their ethnicity, religion,
and caste. The same study cited above, for example, found that 40 percent
of the pre-1980 immigrants claimed to be brahmans and most of the
respondents were more likely to identify themselves by their linguistic/
“ethnic” nature (e.g., Tamil, Guja ̄rati) than by any other designation.^40 At
first these immigrants understood themselves to be temporary residents in
the US and practiced their religious expressions within their homes. But as
they stayed on and their children grew to the age of accountability, many
sought more permanent ways of expressing their Indian–American passage.
Makeshift “cultural centers” became temples, especially for the South
Indians for whom a temple made a town “home.” Moreover, as family and
“ethnic” networks succeeded in bringing more kin into specific cities, the
tendency for these communities to associate by language and/or caste
affiliations increased. The higher the caste and the larger number of mem-
bers of that caste in a given city, the more likely was the tendency to express
those caste and “ethnic” associations. The same study cited above indicated
that Indian immigrants in the US into the 1980s were likely to draw their
best friends from their own language groups.^41 Hence, while Indians in
the US have succeeded remarkably well in the professions and have forged
Indo-American alliances and entered increasingly into the discourse of
American public life, in their private relationships they remain, in significant
measure, Tamil brahmans or Guja ̄rati patels.
One of the most visible ways in which these Indian settlers have expressed
their religious sentiments in the US is in the building of temples which
represent the lineage and taste of its builders. Within these temples, not
only are rituals conducted with various degrees of orthopraxy, but festivals
and holidays representing the appropriate region “back home” are also con-
ducted. Classes in classical dance and/or music are offered to girls in the
effort to train them into representations of Indian or sub-Indian culture.
Languages are taught sporadically, summer camps are held, oratorical con-
tests are conducted – all to increase visibility of the “home” culture to a
second generation. The temple, in short, has increasingly replaced the home
as the sphere where “tradition” is enacted, complete with the compromises
that life in a new society requires.
The story of one community settling into a small American city can
illustrate certain of the patterns to be found in a number of North American
and European cities. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, had attracted many East
European workers into steel mills and other industries in the late 1800s. They
had built churches in which their cultural and ethnic values were enshrined.
By the late 1960s Pittsburgh was losing its steel base and beginning to go
238 India’s Global Reach