| Dull New Year By Lavina Melwani
This
New Year is a bummer.
The
mysterious package on a handcart sat abandoned amidst
the swirling crowds in New York’s Penn Station. My heart
skipped a beat and several passers-by stopped, looking
at it uneasily. Then a woman stepped out from the rest
room, matter-of-factly pushed her handcart along and
moved on. We all sighed in relief, caught each other’s
eye and laughed nervously.
As we move into a brand new year in the shadow of September
11, the world is indeed a different place, where fear
stalks us like a shadow. It’s a world where even a mundane
act like opening a letter can be hazardous to your health.
White powders can kill, loved ones who leave home in
the morning may not return and tall buildings can crumble
into fine dust.
The events made Diwali, usually so vibrant and joyful,
a muted affair as Indian Americans celebrated the festival
in a low-key manner. All the big Diwali events were
canceled, including the huge Diwali Mela at New York’s
South Street Seaport, which is organized anually by
the Association of Indians in America (AIA).
Christmas too has been a damp squib for the merchants
and businesses as people rethink and re-evaluate their
priorities. The New Year’s Eve party, a big-ticket item
and a must for many people, likewise seem to have few
takers this year.
Indeed, it’s hard to believe that just a year ago we
were a dizzy, delirious lot trumpeting the dawn of the
new millennium, drunk on champagne, easy money and dotcom
dreams. We had left the 1990’s behind and were stepping
into a brave new century, a whole new millennium. Hardly
a year into this wondrous era, and reality seems to
have caught up with us. We have entered the third millennium
through what Kofi Annan termed “a gate of fire” and
as he observed, “Today’s real borders are not between
nations, but between powerful and powerless, free and
fettered, privileged and humiliated.”
A display of Indian clothes are New
York’s Bloomingdale signaled the arrival of Indians
in popular culture.
The ghosts of cold war endgames have re-emerged in this
spanking new century, reaping a bitter harvest. September
11 has affected not only the economy of New York but
has had a domino effect across the United States and
the world. As we stand poised at the brink of 2002,
one wonders — can we ever regain our old carefree footing?
Are all the doom and gloom predictions just a fabrication
of the media or has the world indeed changed? After
all, in the past few months with the fall of the towers,
we have encountered a new economic and social landscape
where jobs have been cut in every industry and racial
discrimination is on the rise for those with a brown
skin and a foreign sounding name.
While 9/11 may be a constant refrain, some experts believe
that the damage had begun long before that. Urvashi
Kaul is an economic analyst at New York City Economic
Development Corporation, the city’s primary vehicle
for economic development services, through initiatives
such as affordable financing, tax exemptions and low-cost
energy programs. “The U.S. and New York City economies
have had a weak year, with the last four months being
disastrous,” she says. “The recession had already begun
in March, but by late summer some signs emerged that
a recovery might be imminent. However the economic impact
of the September 11 attacks undid Washington’s work
toward a recovery.”
An Indian child joins a vigil for victims of 9/11.
The total impact on the City economy is estimated to
be about $100 billion through the end of 2002, according
to the NYC Comptroller, with the final numbers dependent
on such factors as business-location. The country is
in recession and the U.S. unemployment is at 5.7 percent.
Indians have been affected in many sectors, from the
service industries to the IT businesses. Kaul points
out that the hi-tech companies, especially Internet
based business and other software development/support
companies, were suffering even before Sept. 11. The
event made it worse, not only directly, but also indirectly
since other companies have less capital to spend on
software development.
In 2002, says Kaul, New York City’s economy is expected
to show recovery, largely driven by government and insurance
spending on the clean up and stabilization of the World
Trade Center, and compensation to families of the victims
of the attack and to affected businesses. The prospects,
however, do not look very rosy for the future.
“Companies are downsizing and for contract employees,
contracts are drying up,” she observes. “South Asians
in travel and tourism are adversely affected too, and
restaurants, hotels and corner stores have lesser business.
I know of more than a few south Asian restaurant and
deli owners who are close to folding their business
in downtown New York. On a positive note, South Asians
in other professions, such as medicine and law have
not faced any major adversity due to the economic downturn.”
Dr Samin Sharma’s angiogenesis gene therapy is a
rage in the medical world.
Economics aside, South Asians, including Indians, are
also suffering from the bias attacks and discrimination
that have been unleashed by 9/11. The color brown is
certainly not the color du jour and as the writer Shashi
Tharoor noted in an article in Newsweek International,
“Despite calls for tolerance from President George W.
Bush on down, the American public appears to have developed
a sudden taste for racial profiling. The old sin of
‘driving while black’ has given way to ‘flying while
brown.’”
Each new day has brought chilling stories of mosques,
gurudwaras and temples vandalized, Sikhs and other South
Asians being physically attacked, verbally abused and
intimidated. One of the latest victims is Surinder Singh
Sidhu of Northridge, Los Angeles who was beaten by two
men in his liquor shop. Wearing a star-spangled turban
did not make him any more American in the eyes of his
attackers.
Being brown — the color of the terrorists — can also
endanger the constitutional rights of immigrants for
the Bush Administration has introduced sweeping new
rules of arrest, surveillance and internment. Already
about 650 immigrants from the Middle East and South
Asia are under detention for immigration violations,
and civil liberties seem to be under threat.
Indian retail businesses are beginning to feel the
pinch of the economic downturn.
Kumar Barve, a leader in Maryland’s state legislature
and the longest serving elected official of Indian origin,
is running for an open seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
He is upbeat about the future of Indians in America:
“I really don’t think there’s going to be any negative
affect on the South Asian community. If there was, a
person like Upendra Chivukula would not have won an
election in November 2001. I think this war is going
to wind down at the end of the year and unless there
is another terrorist attack which might change things,
I don’t really anticipate 9/11 having that much of an
effect politically, as far as South Asians are concerned.”
He feels it’s important for Indians to become more politically
involved so that they are seen as Americans and a part
of the larger community, as well as to have a voice
in the corridors of power. “Everyone who isn’t a citizen
needs to become a citizen. More Indian Americans need
to vote, form opinions and become more involved in their
local school boards and town councils. We don’t do ourselves
any good by associating only with Indians. Too many
Indians are only in Indian organizations and not enough
are involved in the local chamber of commerce or the
library association. “
Indeed, Indian Americans may be going into 2002 with
a clearer focus of their hyphenated identities. Madhulika
Khandelwal, of the Asian American Studies Faculty at
University of Massachusetts, Boston, and the author
of a book on Indian immigrants to be published in 2002
by Cornell University Press, says, “I do think that
Sept 11th will be remembered by the Indian community
in the U.S. as one of those defining moments which they
shared with other Americans, and that in itself will
have a huge impact on their identities and lives in
America. It has sharpened the ongoing process of identity
formation for many immigrant families.”
Funeral services for Kalyan Sarkar, a victim of the
World Trade Center attack.
Sudha Acharya, director of South Asian Council for Social
Services (SACSS), which serves the needs of immigrant
communities in New York, observes, “Instead of the agony
of deciding between two countries, people seem to align
themselves more to the United States. The vulnerability
of the giant somehow seems to have brought a certain
allegiance.”
Khandelwal points out that the visibility of South Asia
and South Asians in the mainstream has increased tremendously
in the past few months, as the terrorist attacks and
war have turned the spotlight on that part of the world:
“The question of ‘Who is an American?’ and what determines
‘American’ identity is being asked with a new urgency
and within an altered context. It is already clear that
the nation-based identities of India and Pakistan will
collude with the pan-South Asian American identities.
All this means a sharpening of generational and political
differences within the Indian/South Asian communities.”
Sunaina Maira, professor of English at the University
of Massachusetts, Amherst, has seen a mixed reaction
amongst immigrants. “Initially I thought there might
be an opportunity for Indian immigrants to think about
their position in the U.S,” she says. “In spite of the
brutal tragedy, I was thinking may be some good will
come out of it, maybe we will actually start thinking
of ourselves as people of color, and reach out to other
people of color who’ve been experiencing this for so
many generations. Words like ‘sand niggers’ are being
used so that in a way we are experiencing what it’s
like to be African-American almost, where in walking
down the street you could get beat up at any time.”
Muslims trade greetings at Ramazan. Many Americans
are not very hospitable to the religion at the moment.
However, at a town meeting organized by a South Asian
organization, she heard from an Indian who was living
comfortably in the suburbs and felt that the racial
profiling did not affect him or his way of life. She
recalls, “Everyone was in a climate of fear because
this was around the time the Sikh man had been murdered
in Arizona, and some people in Boston had almost been
run over. It was interesting that this man really wanted
to believe that nothing would happen to him because
he was Indian.” In the coming year, Indian Americans
will indeed have to assess their place in American society
and take a stand on bias attacks. As Acharya, who deals
with many cases of bias at SASS, says, “I would like
to believe that this is a short-term problem but I don’t
see how it can subside soon. Prejudices run deep. The
attacks may take a more subtle form but it will be some
time before it stops all together.”
The reality is that attackers do not stop to check your
impressive address in the suburbs or the great schools
your kids are attending — they see a brown man on the
subway and that’s enough reason for them to attack.
As America continues its fight against terrorism, indiscriminate
racial attacks and profiling may become more common
in the name of homeland security, and many activist
groups are working to address the loss of civil liberties.
The usually festive, party mood is gone this year
and DJs report that New York Eve parties were down considerably
this year.
According to New York lawyer Cyrus Mehta, who is chair
of the Committee on Immigration and Nationality Law
of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York,
“A lot of South Asians seem to be more anxious and are
taking decisions that they may have not taken earlier.
I do see a spike in applications for US citizenship.
Fortunately, the INS continues to adjudicate and approve
visa petitions.”
Asked if it’s going to be a different world out there
in 2002, Mehta points out that a lot of people are being
asked to produce documents verifying their status, particularly
at domestic airports: “I have heard of some people on
H-1B visas who have been asked this question, and when
they did not have proof, they were threatened with deportation.”
He adds that there is a little known provision in the
immigration law that requires non-citizens to carry
documents verifying their status at all times. Failure
to abide by this provision is a misdemeanor, but it
need not lead to deportation. If an H-1B worker does
not have a job, the INS could consider this person to
be out of status, resulting in deportation proceedings.
What does the future hold for Indian professionals who
were riding high in the finance and hi-tech industries?
Not too much if the financial news in the papers is
anything to go by: According to The New York Times,
this year’s bonuses on Wall Street have plunged by 30
percent, affecting not only the rich but in a ripple
effect almost every worker from taxi drivers to busboys
and travel agents: “Everyone who has benefited from
the flood of Wall Street profits washing through the
city may now be hurt by the turning tide.”
With the job market so tight, the coming year does not
look bright, especially for the H-1B people, with many
having lost their jobs and their status. “I think people
want to give it a good shot before they throw in the
towel and return to India,” says Mehta. “Many have been
successful in finding a new employer to transfer their
H-1B status or change to a visa such as a student visa.
It is not a good idea to remain in limbo for too long,
once you have lost your job.”
Lady Liberty is not as welcoming to immigrants any
more.
Lady Liberty may have welcomed the wretched, huddled
masses at another time, but illegal immigrants — always
vulnerable — are now more so. Says Mehta, “People who
are out of status should not be flying, even within
the US, as there is a greater risk of being caught.
In fact, the names of all those who have already been
ordered deported will be entered in a national crime
database.” Bracing for tough times ahead, many Asian
activist and advocacy groups are banding together to
challenge the new rules that may be infringing on the
constitutional rights of people.
“A national economic recovery is now widely looked for
in the second half of 2002,” says Kaul. “In 2002, by
mid-year the U.S. economy is expected to start bouncing
back. As quarterly profit margins rise from the poor
2001 numbers, the job-market outlook should also improve.
The impact of the interest rate cuts together with the
expected economic stimulus package will be felt towards
the end of first quarter of 2002.”
Barve recently attended a briefing by economists and
says, “It’s really too soon to make a prediction. The
feeling is that the economy is going to improve, but
there is concern about a double dip recession.” The
coming year will certainly be one of continued belt-tightening
as Indians, along with the rest of America, maneuver
their way through layoffs and a tight economy. Apart
from economists, a desi deejay may be an accurate barometer
to gage the social and economic climate for 2002: for
years Indian Americans, young and old, have always been
big on parties to welcome in the New Year, taking over
Indian restaurants with booze, Moglai food and bhangra
music. Magic Mike, who is the king of the party circuit,
finds that there are far fewer parties in Manhattan,
while New Jersey and Long Island have picked up. He
says, “Corporate parties were totally dead this winter.
Usually we do 50-60 parties in the season, but this
year we did just 15.”
Interestingly enough, what have become big are wedding
parties. Says Mike, “I believe it has something to do
with people making more of a commitment to emotional
ties. After what happened, guys are giving up the ring!
Weddings are constantly going on but after September
11, it’s even more — it’s as if people really want to
get married!” He says the bookings for summer weddings
have gone up tremendously.
Indians que up with other New Yorkers at a job fair
in the aftermath of 9/11.
The further away from Manhattan one is, the more people
seem to be getting back to normal. Parties, especially
wedding parties, are on in a big way in other parts
and Mike has traveled in the last few weeks to Florida
and Texas and as far as Hong Kong and Spain for huge
Indian weddings with over 800 guests. Family ties seem
to be especially important and 2002 will see many more
family celebrations.
Even as people bond more, they are also turning more
spiritual and visiting the temples much more. Dr. Uma
Mysorekar, President of the Hindu Temple Society, which
is located in Flushing, saw a big surge during Diwali.
She adds, “At times such as this the only support you
have is from the Divine and when people pray collectively
there is an outburst of energy that gives them the strength
to face the future.”
Indeed, short of divine intervention, it’s hard to peer
into the mists of 2002 but Indian-Americans — like New
York City — are a hardy lot. Immigrants and their children
have resilience coursing through their veins and one
likes to think that be it the recession or racial attacks,
with the courage and perseverance of the first generation,
and the activism and confidence of the second, they
will prevail — and America will be the better for it.
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