San Antonio’s “Little India”

I love stories like this.

On a recent Saturday morning, about two dozen men in team jerseys gathered on grounds in the far North Side with their kits of helmets, bats and protective gear, pumped to play cricket.

The scoreboard went up. Stumps were placed 66 feet apart, defining the wicket. Morning drizzle gave way to sunshine, and the match started, with a jumble of sounds — the crack of leather-covered balls against willow cricket bats and eight Indian dialects as players shouted encouragement to teammates on the pitch.

While the only “hard ball” format in town, which because of the weight of the ball isn’t necessarily for beginners, it wasn’t the only game of cricket played that day in San Antonio.

South Asian immigrants, primarily from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, have been a growing presence here, with many of them taking high-skill positions with economic powerhouses such as Valero Energy Corp., H-E-B and the South Texas Medical Center.

Off the job, they gravitate toward the game most have been playing since preschool.

Some of the players are transitory, in town on one- or two-year work contracts. But many others have brought their wives, are starting families and are pursuing permanent residency or U.S. citizenship.

As a result of the influx, clusters of Indian and Pakistani grocery stores and restaurants — known as “little India” — have sprouted near the headquarters of USAA, a major importer of South Asian information technology workers, and close to the Medical Center, the workplace of scores of Indian-born physicians and medical researchers.

[…]

[Sol Hooda, a real estate agent who was one of the founders of the Alamo City Cricket League] who was born in Bangladesh, estimates between 250 and 400 South Asians lived here when he moved to San Antonio in the early 1990s. Now, he said, the number is in the thousands.

“A lot of people are coming from California, Chicago, New York, Atlanta,” he said. “I have several clients that were (on) temporary visas, but now they’re permanent. So they decided, ‘Hey, let’s buy a home.’ And they make good money, their credit is good, so they can afford to buy.”

Dr. Jayesh Shah, president of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, said there are now as many as 3,000 families of Indian origin in the city and about 300 physicians.

Largely because Shah lives here, the city hosted the association’s 32nd annual convention last week. The gathering of doctors from around the country included appearances by U.S. surgeon general nominee Dr. Vivek Murthy, Miss America Nina Davuluri (the first Indian-American to win the crown) and a live video address from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Part of the event was a celebration of “Mexican-Indian” culture, Shah said, including a tribute to La Meri, a San Antonio dancer who became proficient in Indian dance.

There also was daily yoga, a fashion show and a performance by Bollywood music stars.

It was be a chance to show off San Antonio’s charms to a well-heeled demographic.

“It matches the Indian climate, kind of,” Shah said. “And San Antonio is a nice city. It’s a big city, but it’s small, you know, and everybody’s well connected to each other.”

The Indian population here is small-scale compared with cities such as Houston, New York, Chicago and San Jose, California. But its growth fits in with a wave of immigration that has made Indians the U.S.’s third-largest immigrant group by country of origin, behind Mexico and China.

One in seven patients in America is now seen by Indian-born physician, Shah said.

I worked two summers at USAA while I was in college in the 80s, and I was reasonably familiar with the “Little India” area described above, but suffice it to say it was different back then. Consider this separate but related to the other recent stories about demographic changes in Texas’ cities. The emergence of not one but two cricket leagues is a bonus.

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One Response to San Antonio’s “Little India”

  1. Maria says:

    Thanks, Kuffner. I had no idea. I lived in San Antonio in the early 80’s and the South Asian population really didn’t exist. I learned something today and good to hear that San Antonio is attracting real diversity these days.

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