VOA新闻杂志2022--达拉斯成为美国南亚人的中心

Dallas Becoming a Center for South Asians in America

Near a large Hindu religious building, the Karya Siddhi Hanuman Temple, a cricket game is in progress.

But 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.

The cricket game and the Hindu temple are not far from Christian¹ churches, cattle ranches³ and the Dallas Cowboys football team.

Over the last 10 years, the Dallas-Fort Worth area has had the highest Asian growth rate of any major U.S. metropolitan⁴ area. A metropolitan area is the urban area of a city and nearby towns or suburbs.

The U.S. Census⁵ 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.

While many Texans still love football, a growing number love cricket.

Kalyan "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."

The 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.

Immigrants from South Asia believe they have found good conditions in Frisco and other Dallas suburbs.

Hindu temples and Islamic centers

Texas-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.

Jayesh Thakker, a temple trustee and joint⁶ treasurer⁷ 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.

"They built it first as an American structure and then they ‘Indianized' it," Thakker said.

Indianize means to make something Indian – design, artwork, and so on.

The Islamic Center of Frisco has grown, too. Its leadership is planning to more than double the size of the 1,672-square-meter mosque⁸ 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.

Azfar 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.

"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.

Pandemic

The pandemic brought another change. Suddenly, people from California or Chicago were able to work remotely and live in different places.

The 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.

"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 mansion⁹ here in Texas. Let's go,'" Saeed said, laughing.

Influence

The influence of South Asian cultures is almost everywhere.

The 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.

Sometimes Indian politics appear in the Dallas suburbs. A number of people recently joined protests outside Frisco's City Hall in support of Christians¹⁰ in India who claim a Frisco-based group supports Hindu nationalists threatening their churches.

However, 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.

Laxmi 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.

Words in This Story

cricket – 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

ranch² – n. a large farm especially in the U.S. where animals (such as cattle, horses, and sheep) are raised

suburb – n. a town or other area where people live in houses near a larger city

remotely –adv. to use online computers to work from a place other than an office

mansion –n. : a large and impressive house

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

3 ranches   

大农场， （兼种果树，养鸡等的）大牧场( ranch的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They hauled feedlot manure from the ranches to fertilize their fields. 他们从牧场的饲养场拖走肥料去肥田。
• Many abandoned ranches are purchased or leased by other poultrymen. 许多被放弃的牧场会由其他家禽监主收买或租用。

4 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

5 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

6 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

7 treasurer   

n.司库，财务主管

参考例句：

• Mr. Smith was succeeded by Mrs.Jones as treasurer.琼斯夫人继史密斯先生任会计。
• The treasurer was arrested for trying to manipulate the company's financial records.财务主管由于试图窜改公司财政帐目而被拘留。

8 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

9 mansion   

n.大厦，大楼；宅第

参考例句：

• The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
• The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。

10 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。