Dallas Becoming a Center for South Asians in America
2022-12-27
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1Near a large Hindu religious building, the Karya Siddhi Hanuman Temple, a cricket game is in progress.
2But the game is not taking place in India, where cricket is very popular.
3Instead, the game is taking place in the American state of Texas.
4The cricket game and the Hindu temple are not far from Christian churches, cattle ranches and the Dallas Cowboys football team.
5Over the last 10 years, the Dallas-Fort Worth area has had the highest Asian growth rate of any major U.S. metropolitan area.
6A metropolitan area is the urban area of a city and nearby towns or suburbs.
7The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that Indians make up more than half the area's Asian population increase.
8The Dallas suburb of Frisco alone has experienced growth similar to that of large American cities such as Seattle and Chicago.
9While many Texans still love football, a growing number love cricket.
10Kalyan "K.J." Jarajapu, a volunteer at the temple who was watching a cricket game, said, "I never imagined that there would be...a cricket world like I saw back home in India here in (metro) Dallas."
11The American Community Survey is a program of the Census Bureau.
12The program shows that the percentage of Asians among foreign-born persons in the U.S. has risen recently.
13It has gone from 30 percent during the 2012-to-2016 period to 31 percent in the 2017-to-2021 period.
14At the same time, the percentage of immigrants from Latin America and Europe has gone down.
15Immigrants from South Asia believe they have found good conditions in Frisco and other Dallas suburbs.
16Texas-based students of Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji came together in 2008 to purchase a four-hectare piece of land in Frisco.
17They built a small Hindu temple there. Within three years, it was hosting hundreds of worshippers.
18Jayesh Thakker, a temple trustee and joint treasurer for the India Association of North Texas, said they raised enough money to build a 3,065-square-meter temple in 2015.
19Nearly 30 workers came on special visas to make sure every detail honored Indian Hindu design traditions.
20"They built it first as an American structure and then they 'Indianized' it," Thakker said.
21Indianize means to make something Indian - design, artwork, and so on.
22The Islamic Center of Frisco has grown, too.
23Its leadership is planning to more than double the size of the 1,672-square-meter mosque by 2024.
24With more than 3,500 people attending prayers and 460 children attending Sunday school, the board moved to acquire more space in 2019.
25Azfar Saeed, the center's president, remembers that nearly 20 years ago only 15 people came to pray in a small space on any given day.
26"At that time, nobody knew Frisco. People were like, 'Where are you going?'" said Saeed, who was born in Pakistan.
27By 2010, "people just started moving...here," he said.
28The pandemic brought another change.
29Suddenly, people from California or Chicago were able to work remotely and live in different places.
30The city of Houston, Texas, has had a large number of incoming Asians in the last 10 years.
31It has the second-highest growth rate after Dallas among major U.S. cities.
32"The moment people went remote it felt like people were like, 'OK, I have a tiny house in California for $800,000 and I can buy a mansion here in Texas. Let's go,'" Saeed said, laughing.
33The influence of South Asian cultures is almost everywhere.
34The movie theater in Frisco shows films in Telegu, Tamil and Hindi.
35At Tikka Taco in Irving, people can get tacos filled with foods such as tandoori chicken, lamb or paneer tikka.
36Sometimes Indian politics appear in the Dallas suburbs.
37A number of people recently joined protests outside Frisco's City Hall in support of Christians in India who claim a Frisco-based group supports Hindu nationalists threatening their churches.
38However, Hanuman Temple now works with the City of Frisco for Holi.
39Holi is a yearly Hindu celebration also known as the Festival of Colors.
40People put colored powders on each other. The temple also organizes food donations, health fairs and other community services.
41Laxmi Tummala is Hanuman temple's secretary.
42Tummala said her group does not want to be apart from the wider community.
43"We don't want to just be here and be isolated," she said.
44I'm Ashley Thompson.
45And I'm John Russell.
1Near a large Hindu religious building, the Karya Siddhi Hanuman Temple, a cricket game is in progress. 2But the game is not taking place in India, where cricket is very popular. Instead, the game is taking place in the American state of Texas. 3The cricket game and the Hindu temple are not far from Christian churches, cattle ranches and the Dallas Cowboys football team. 4Over the last 10 years, the Dallas-Fort Worth area has had the highest Asian growth rate of any major U.S. metropolitan area. A metropolitan area is the urban area of a city and nearby towns or suburbs. 5The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that Indians make up more than half the area's Asian population increase. The Dallas suburb of Frisco alone has experienced growth similar to that of large American cities such as Seattle and Chicago. 6While many Texans still love football, a growing number love cricket. 7Kalyan "K.J." Jarajapu, a volunteer at the temple who was watching a cricket game, said, "I never imagined that there would be...a cricket world like I saw back home in India here in (metro) Dallas." 8The American Community Survey is a program of the Census Bureau. The program shows that the percentage of Asians among foreign-born persons in the U.S. has risen recently. It has gone from 30 percent during the 2012-to-2016 period to 31 percent in the 2017-to-2021 period. At the same time, the percentage of immigrants from Latin America and Europe has gone down. 9Immigrants from South Asia believe they have found good conditions in Frisco and other Dallas suburbs. 10Hindu temples and Islamic centers 11Texas-based students of Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji came together in 2008 to purchase a four-hectare piece of land in Frisco. They built a small Hindu temple there. Within three years, it was hosting hundreds of worshippers. 12Jayesh Thakker, a temple trustee and joint treasurer for the India Association of North Texas, said they raised enough money to build a 3,065-square-meter temple in 2015. Nearly 30 workers came on special visas to make sure every detail honored Indian Hindu design traditions. 13"They built it first as an American structure and then they 'Indianized' it," Thakker said. 14Indianize means to make something Indian - design, artwork, and so on. 15The Islamic Center of Frisco has grown, too. Its leadership is planning to more than double the size of the 1,672-square-meter mosque by 2024. With more than 3,500 people attending prayers and 460 children attending Sunday school, the board moved to acquire more space in 2019. 16Azfar Saeed, the center's president, remembers that nearly 20 years ago only 15 people came to pray in a small space on any given day. 17"At that time, nobody knew Frisco. People were like, 'Where are you going?'" said Saeed, who was born in Pakistan. By 2010, "people just started moving...here," he said. 18Pandemic 19The pandemic brought another change. Suddenly, people from California or Chicago were able to work remotely and live in different places. 20The city of Houston, Texas, has had a large number of incoming Asians in the last 10 years. It has the second-highest growth rate after Dallas among major U.S. cities. 21"The moment people went remote it felt like people were like, 'OK, I have a tiny house in California for $800,000 and I can buy a mansion here in Texas. Let's go,'" Saeed said, laughing. 22Influence 23The influence of South Asian cultures is almost everywhere. 24The movie theater in Frisco shows films in Telegu, Tamil and Hindi. At Tikka Taco in Irving, people can get tacos filled with foods such as tandoori chicken, lamb or paneer tikka. 25Sometimes Indian politics appear in the Dallas suburbs. A number of people recently joined protests outside Frisco's City Hall in support of Christians in India who claim a Frisco-based group supports Hindu nationalists threatening their churches. 26However, Hanuman Temple now works with the City of Frisco for Holi. Holi is a yearly Hindu celebration also known as the Festival of Colors. People put colored powders on each other. The temple also organizes food donations, health fairs and other community services. 27Laxmi Tummala is Hanuman temple's secretary. Tummala said her group does not want to be apart from the wider community. "We don't want to just be here and be isolated," she said. 28I'm Ashley Thompson. 29And I'm John Russell. 30Terry Tang and Mike Schneider reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. 31_____________________________________________________________ 32Words in This Story 33cricket - n. a game played on a large field by two teams who try to score by hitting a small ball with a bat and then running between two sets of wooden sticks 34ranch - n. a large farm especially in the U.S. where animals (such as cattle, horses, and sheep) are raised 35suburb - n. a town or other area where people live in houses near a larger city 36remotely -adv. to use online computers to work from a place other than an office 37mansion -n. : a large and impressive house