Dosa Palace, Appakadai, Bangalore Café, Taj Imports, Peacock,
Mayuri, Paradise, Madras Café, 4 different chat houses, India Cash and carry,
Bharat Bazar, Komala Vilas, Bombay Garden, Madras Groceries and the list goes on
and on the both sides of a road in a serpentine length of few miles – all posing
a grand look with their accessorized illuminations trying to grab your
attention in the organized business establishments side by side to Rite Aids, Dollar
Trees and SafeWays.
This is not one of those M G Roads in one of the Indian
metros rather I rediscovered a different El-Camino Real – CA 82, during my
evening stroll yesterday.
We used to live in this place from 2001 to end of 2004 before
we had to leave this the then-adopted- country of ours in just two days’ time due
to a family emergency. During those days
Indians were mainly associated with ever changing information technology industry
and the shopping destinations or eating joints were few and far between for the
techie population. Sunnyvale Hindu Temple off Mathilda Avenue was the only
congregation place with anything to do with religious activities.
Returning after 10 long years to this part of USA, over the
period of last two weeks, I was able to observe how things have changed – some
businesses have gone out of business, some new have come up while some could
wither the storm of economic ups and downs and continue to do the business. New
apartment complex – Tuscany is coming up on Pomeroy and El-Camino in Santa
Clara near the Valero gas station which still sells gas at a less price in
comparison to its peers. What struck me most is the number of Indian businesses
have sprang up and to top it all, the foray is into other main stream
businesses like Auto garage, a big departmental store giving competition to
erstwhile American large scale store format and a new Shiv-Durga Temple of Flora-Vista
and off El Camino.
After stamping their unquestionable dominance in the geek
world, yes, Indian and India has gained prominence in mainstream America, –
starting from politics at the highest levels of Obama administration added with
state and city levels to education, legal, medical and everyday life of American
sitcoms with Indian characters- male and female. The startling fact to notice
is how everyday common people from other countries – Americans, Chinese and
Europeans in this part of the country are thronging these Indian business
establishments – either relishing Indian cuisine in week days and weekends just
like Sushi bars, Chinese or Thai restaurants or shopping in the grocery stores
for fresh vegetables and good quality rice grains.
This is an ethnicity which can’t be ignored anymore in
American lifestyle and my cousin sister’s Ph. D thesis on first generation South
Asian women in American Education system only vindicates this fact.
Landing in this country in the middle of first economic
bubble burst of 2000-2001 and securing a somewhat well paid job, we have had
many sweet memories surrounding this place. While visiting our residences in
Henderson in Sunnyvale and Mary Ave bordering Mountain View, a surge of
emotions those days flew through my veins. Those places have remained the same
except few changes in converting them as gated communities.
My grandmother came to stay with us in first few weeks of our
landing into this country. We did not have a car those days. On the advice of
friends and families, one day, we set out to find a dollar store on VTA route
number 22 with a confidence in mind on our walking capability and ability to
figure it out by asking people. We did not have any experience on everything
large in America and that applies to distances as well. This time also we had a
hearty laugh on that experience – the number of blocks we walked in search of
that and not able to figure it out at the end.
Madras Café has grown in size with roaring business and so
does Shraavana Bhavan. Along with the burgeoning sizes and sprawling interiors
with an India touch, one can easily experience the typical south Indian smell
wafting out from the kitchens in the chilly cool breeze along the footpath of
El Camino.
In those days, you hardly would see anyone walking on the
roads barring a few health conscious folks either running in Sun or cycling in
the evening. I see, now, the numbers of
people at least walking a few blocks have increased slightly which is a good
sign of healthy America if you would ask me.
Sunnyvale Library just beside the police station ,with the
metallic sculpture of the boy with a book in hand, is visited by many more
people these days- needless to say a good chunk is from Asian and Indian
communities. On not a busy day, we used to walk up and down from Henderson to
Mathilda – around 8 blocks to the library just for the heck of walking though
we had a car that time. The mall in Sunnyvale downtown with an Indian theater
has given way to a new establishment housing J C Penny and others. The Hindu temple has a new get-up now with a
proper look of temple from its earlier version of a warehouse.
Though it might sound a little weird, being in the tech
industry, the garage from where Hewlett-Packard Company started or Xerox PARC
laboratory off Page Mill road had special significance to us just like Stanford
would have for anyone. We made it a point to visit these birth places of
Silicon Valley to feel and get soaked in the aura of them.
I took a bus ride to Los Angeles last weekend and it looked
to me water situation has deteriorated on the sides of freeway 101 and 5 –
Golden state highway. Vast patches of
green pastures have turned to un-moistened and unfertile land giving it a look
that someone might have laid a walnut colored mattress for miles after miles.
Amongst all other states and cities of Unites States, the
bay area and El-Camino has a special place in my life and mind. I feel somewhat
comforted when I am here rather elsewhere. As I spent some considerable time in
some other cities as well, it is not about the fact that we stayed here. It is
some other connection somewhere which I still need to figure out.
