PDF: 2962 pages, 5.2 MB - Bay Area Council Economic Institute

A Diverse, Vibrant Community
Through the 1980s most students at the College were non-Indian, but as the size of the Indian
population the U.S. and the Bay Area has swelled, more Indians seeking to stay connected to
their roots have come to study, accounting today for nearly 40% of the student body. Hussain
notes that as the Indian population in the Bay Area has both grown and become economically
successful, a rich Indian cultural scene has developed, with newspapers, visiting artists and 8–10
cultural events happening somewhere every week: “This is a unique place. America has given
space that allows an institution of this magnitude [the College], from a totally alien culture, to
exist. It’s fast becoming clear that America is becoming the place that may house the seeds of
world culture. It allows people to express themselves and flower.”
Hussain himself is a good example. He presents approximately 140 concerts around the world
every year, teaches at Princeton and Stanford and, like Ali Akbar Khan did, he travels to India
every year for the winter concert season. His credits includes scores for feature films including
Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, Merchant Ivory’s Little Buddha, and Bollywood productions.
His 2008 disc with Mickey Hart, Global Drum Project, won the Grammy for Best World Music
and, since 1991, his record label has exposed listeners to Indian music as it would be heard in a
concert setting. In early 2009, Hussain played four concerts to sold-out audiences at Carnegie Hall,
and students travel from around the world to study at his annual summer workshop in Fairfax.
The Bay Area’s cultural ties to India extend from music to film. The Satyajit Ray Film
and Study Collection at the University of California Santa Cruz taps into another
cultural vein—India’s vibrant history of film production. The Center, led by Director
Dilip Basu, has restored endangered film prints by the globally acclaimed director and houses the
world’s most comprehensive collection of materials on Satyajit Ray, including sketchbooks, stills,
posters, books and journals.
The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco also firmly anchors Indian culture in the
Bay Area. Much of the museum’s outstanding South Asian collection—the largest and
strongest west of the Mississippi—was donated by Asian art collector and longtime
29