I am interested to see how SM will do this. I don’t read political blogs often. I try not to be political on my blog but if you read in between the lines you’ll probably figure out which way I tend to lean. Just because I’m not political on my blog doesn’t mean I can’t comment freely on other blogs that have the same leanings that I do but my guess is that SM readers should also leave comments on blogs that don’t lean their way because otherwise it will be kinda like preaching to the choir.

Wow, I can’t even imagine living in the Dakotas. It’s honestly just… beyond my comprehension.

I feel like there are more south Indians sprinkled across the Midwest (especially Minnesota and the Chicago area), compared to the large Punjabi/Gujrati communities that you may find on the coasts.

Unsurprisingly, most of the places with the highest concentrations are found in Jersey, Queens, and Nassau County, as well as parts of California, Chicago suburban area, some Texas suburbs. The only real surprises to me were “Little Flock, AR” (typo?) and Hurstbourne, KY. I know there’s a big desi community in Michigan, + I feel like a LOT of the people I grew up with moved away to Atlanta, so those two don’t surprise me.

And by the way, I’m from Minnesota, and while my parents were one of a handful of Indians here 30 years ago, there are a TON of desis now. We have family friends who have been here for 50 years. It astonishes even me. And there are a surprisingly large number of Indians in Wisconsin, Iowa, even the Dakotas. And, not to mention Chicago, which IMO has the highest concentration of Indians I’ve ever seen (and I lived in California for 5 years).