Indian Muslims in the U.S. are secular, progressive and successful, but rarely does one see anything written on them either in India or the U.S. The reason may be simple enough, they mix well and contribute to the India-US relations in their own way. They also participate in philanthropic activity locally and for India. About 8 to 10 per cent of all Indians in the U.S. could be Muslims either in professional fields like doctors or in business and enjoy higher incomes than the mainstream American people.
The older generations of Indian immigrants have worked hard to consolidate their financial security and the younger ones are taking plunge into newer areas like music, media, literature and entertainment to name a few areas. Salman Rushdie, Zakir Hussain and Madhur Jafri belong to the former and Aziz Ishmael Ansari, Aasif Mandvi and Fareed Zakaria all of whom have done India proud due to their achievements represent younger generation.
Aziz is now in the news because of his new book “Modern Romance: An Investigation”. It has created a buzz since it tries to prescribe rules for dating. Dave Roggers, author of “Your Fathers” says, “ ‘Modern Romance’ is just like Aziz Ansari himself — charming, thoughtful, reasonable, and able to distil the madness of the world into something both sane and wildly funny.” Jonathan Safran another well known author too has commented out the new book , “This book was torture. Not a page passed without an unwanted eruption of giggles or insight. Aziz is funny as hell, and smart as shit.”
Ansari began his career performing standup comedy in New York City during the summer of 2000 while attending New York University. In 2007, he created and starred in the critically acclaimed MTV sketch comedy show Human Giant, which ran for two seasons. This led to acting roles in feature films, including “Funny People”, “I Love You, Man”, “Observe and Report”, and “30 Minutes or Less”.
Laughing might be very easy but to make people laugh and that too from different cultural milieu is a serious job. Aziz's achievement needs to be celebrated. He is an icon in the U.S. and has broken the glass ceiling for Indian Americans.
Another name that is prominent is Aasif Hakim Mandviwala, known popularly as Aasif Mandvi. He is an Indian-American actor and comedian. In the U.S. The Daily Shows on TV are a rage and following is in millions. Even the President of the U.S. appears in these shows to increase visibility. Asif began appearing as an occasional contributing correspondent on The Daily Show from August 9, 2006. In March 2007, he was promoted to a regular correspondent, first Indian to achieve the feet. He is the lead actor in “Halal In The Family” and “The Brink”.
Fareed Rafiq Zakaria who was born in India, is a global celebrity. He is the host of CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS and writes a weekly column for The Washington Post. He has been a columnist for Newsweek, editor of Newsweek International, and an editor-at-large of Time. He is the author of five books, three of them international bestsellers, and the co-editor of one.
It is true that Indian Muslim community is not as visible and sometimes remains insulated owing to developments in India or elsewhere that are related to religious matters. But there is little doubt that they are promoting pluralism, tolerance and human rights and are working towards interfaith and inter-community understanding.
