Indian American Association Forms in Lexington

LEXINGTON, Mass. — When Puran Dang, 71, first moved to Lexington from India in the fall of 1970, he encountered a lonely new life in small town America.

He was temporarily separated from his family that was still in India, there was a recession, wintery snow arrived early, and only about three Indian American families lived in Lexington at the time.

"To tell you honestly, I felt miserable," said Dang.

But by the mid-1970s, he said, his outlook brightened. More and more Indian Americans began to immigrate to the Massachusetts town, and a few decades later, a loose network of the new residents began to form.

Today, Lexington’s Indian American population has grown to nearly 700.

Now Dang and a small-but-growing group of Indian Americans are working to further tie the community together with the newly formed Indian Americans of Lexington.

Dubbed IAL for short, the group aims to unite Indian Americans of Lexington and get them more involved in the town’s politics, library and schools.

The group is led by Dang, the chairman, and nine steering committee and advisory committee members.

IAL so far has five committees tasked with organizing social and cultural events; boosting the number of Indian books at the town library; providing resources to community groups; improving relations with the town; and offering support for town volunteer and humanitarian initiatives.

Dang said that for the past several years, a number of Indian Americans "very informally” teamed up for particular activities, such as Diwali [annual Hindu Festival of Light] celebrations or library book drives.

"Early on, it was just scattered," said Dang. “There was no structure and organization.”

But, he said, having the concerted effort of IAL is new for the town, and a boon for Indian Americans living there.

Since the association formed two months ago, it has created its own Web site, www.indianamericansoflexington.org, and it held two events, an India Day independence celebration and a Diwali festival.

Steering committee member Sudha Balasuryan, 41, said she’s already noticed the benefits of IAL.

For the past five years, Balasuryan and her sister, Geeta Kannan, have held annual Diwali parties in Lexington. Attendance, she said, peaked at 225 people last year.

This year, however, after soliciting attendees through IAL, the November 3 Diwali celebration’s attendance nearly doubled to 410 people, and several people had to be turned away at the door.

"The word just quickly spread,” said Balasuryan. "Formalizing the association helped bring the community together."

Nirmala Garimella, another steering committee member, called the turnout “tremendous.”

Garimella, who has been active with library events, helped organize the India Day celebration in September at the Cary Memorial Library.

She said that the group will not only help Indian Americans living in Lexington, but will also work for the town as a whole.

"As Indians, we always get together quite a bit. But that is not our main purpose. It's to help get Indians more involved in the town," said Garimella, 45. "We do want to give back to the Lexington community as a whole. It's been a great town.”

And Dang, who still remembers those cold and lonely days of his arrival to Lexington in 1970, said he wants the group to help welcome Indian newcomers — who make up just two percent of Lexington.

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