Lakshmi Sridharan: “We’ve been successful, but we use that success to give back.”
When Lakshmi Sridharan moved from India to Madison in the late 1960s to attend graduate school at UW-Madison, the local Indian American community looked much different than it does today. There were no Indian restaurants, no colorful Holi celebrations, no theaters showing Bollywood movies. On campus, the community was so small and close-knit that whenever someone’s relative from India would visit, all the Indian students would get together to share news from home and eat traditional foods.
“In those days, it was a dream for all Indians to come to the United States,” says Sridharan, who was the first woman to receive a Ph.D in water chemistry from the university. She remembers the excitement and the pride of being accepted into the university, but also the fear — Would she pass her English test? Could she find vegetarian food? “My first meal at [Memorial] Union was potato chips and milk,” she recalls with a laugh.
Now, nearly 50 years later, Madison is home to a thriving community of Indian Americans — about 4,700 working adults according to a study commissioned by Sridharan and others, but she estimates the actual population is “at least three times that.” As the immigrant group has grown, many of its members have found success in and made significant contributions to Madison.
On May 13, Sridharan and a group of co-organizers are throwing a daylong celebration of the local Indian American community called Namaste Madison, which will be held at Central Library from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sridharan received a grant through the new Library Takeover program, which provides training and resources to help community members organize events.
Beyond Indian cooking demonstrations (and samples!) and a Bollywood dance party, Namaste Madison will also feature panel discussions about the experiences of Indian American immigrants in the United States.
In many ways, Indians are “model immigrants,” uniquely positioned for success in the United States, says Joe Elder, a UW-Madison professor of sociology, languages and cultures of Asia and an expert on India who will deliver a virtual keynote speech on Saturday. “This is a group that came in with an enviable amount of talent,” he adds.
Decades of British colonial rule, while problematic, led to many Indians becoming fluent in English. The Indian culture also places great value on education, which can explain why a high percentage of Indian Americans work in scientific and academic fields.
“Yes, we’ve been successful, but we use that success to give back,” says Anjali Sridharan, Lakshmi’s daughter and a co-organizer of the event. She’s excited to educate the community on the economic impact of Indian American immigrants in Dane County — which is in the hundreds of millions annually, according to the commissioned study — and to highlight the group’s significant volunteerism and civic engagement.
In a time of rising anti-immigrant sentiment and recent high-profile hate crimes targeting Indian Americans, an event celebrating successes and contributions seems timely and important. But Lakshmi has faith that her adopted community will remain the friendly and welcoming place she’s grown to love and call home.
“It’s a bit worrisome and it’s unfortunate,” she says of the recent anti-immigration fervor, “but this country still gives me hope.