A South Asian American temperament evocative of late 20^th century values emerges in this brief listing—reflective, ambivalent, yet unrestrained and expressive.  The films reveal an urgent need to create emotional space out of a wide range of cultural experiences.  The books favor historical research and contemporary literary expression.  While most of these authors and creators are based in North America, their sense of self and community is often set—if not pitted—against the backdrop of global South Asian migration.  The legacy of migration, with its psychological dislocation over generations, and the nature of cultural assimilation appear in varying guises—festive, humorous, introspective, and analytical—throughout this list.

What follows is a mixture of English-language books, periodicals, and films which represent some aspects of the South Asian presence in the United States over the past century.  All print titles will be available through the services of public or academic libraries.  The websites are available through an Internet connection.  Many of these films are available for rental or purchase through the distributor listed in the entry.

Books

Barrier, N. Gerald & Verne Dusenbery, eds. 1989. The Sikh Diaspora: Migration and the Experience Beyond Punjab. Columbia, MO: South Asia Books.

Chandrasekhar, S., ed. 1982. From India to America. LaJolla, CA: Population Review Publications.

Clarke, Colin G., Ceri Peach, & Steven Vertovec, eds. 1990. South Asians Overseas: Migration and Ethnicity. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Das, Rajani Kanta. 1923. Hindustani Workers on the Pacific Coast. Berlin: W.de Gruyter and Co.

Dasgupta, Shamita Das, ed. 1998. A Patchwork Shawl: Chronicles of South Asian Women in America. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Elkhanialy, Hekmat & Ralph W. Nicholas. 1976. Immigrants from the India Subcontinent in the USA. Chicago: India League of America.

Jain, Usha R. 1989. The Gujaratis of San Francisco. New York: AMS.

Jensen, Joan M. 1988. Passage from India: Asian Indian Immigrants in North America. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Khalidi, Omar, ed. 1991. Indian Muslims in North America. Watertown, MA: South Asia Press.

Kumar, Bhuvanendra. 1996. Jainism in America. Mississauga, ON: Jain Humanities Press.

Kurian, George & Ram P. Srivastava. 1983. Overseas Indians: A Study in Adaptation. New Delhi: Vikas.

Las Brack, Bruce. 1988. The Sikhs of Northern California, 1904-1975. New York: AMS Press.

Leonard, Karen. Immigrant Punjabi Men and Their Spouses: Supplement to Making Ethnic Choices: California's Punjabi Mexican Americans. 1992. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

____. Making Ethnic Choices: California's Punjabi Mexican Americans. 1992. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

____. 1997. The South Asian Americans. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.

Lessinger, Johanna. 1995. From the Ganges to the Hudson: Indian Immigrants in New York City. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Maira, Sunaina & Rajni Srikanth, eds. 1996. Contours of the Heart: South Asians Map North America. New York: Asian American Writers' Workshop.

McClain, Charles J., ed. 1994. Asian Indians, Filipinos, other Asian Communities, and the Law. New York: Garland Pub.

Neusner, Jacob, ed. 1994. World Religions in America. Louisville: Westminster/ John Knox Press. Includes chapters on Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam.

Ratti, Rakesh, ed. 1993. A Lotus of Another Color: An Unfolding of the South Asian Gay and Lesbian Experience. Boston: Alyson Publications.

Rustomji-Kerns, Roshni, ed. Living in America: Poetry and Fiction by South Asian American Writers.  Boulder: Westview Press.

Saund, Dalip Singh. 1960. Congressman from India. New York: Dutton. Autobiography of the only South Asian American to serve in Congress.

Singh, Jane, coordinating ed. 1988. South Asians in North America: An Annotated and Selected Bibliography. Berkeley, CA: Center for South and Southeast Asia Studies, University of California, Berkeley.

van der Veer, Peter, ed. 1995. Nation and Migration: The Politics of Space in the South Asian Diaspora.  Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Waugh, Earle H., ed. 1983. The Muslim Community in North America. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press.

____. 1991. Muslim Families in North America. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press.

Williams, Raymond Brady. 1988. Religions of Immigrants from India and Pakistan: New Threads in the American Tapestry. New York: Columbia University Press.

Women of South Asian Descent Collective. 1993. Our Feet Walk the Sky: Women of the South Asian Diaspora. San Francisco: Aunt Lute Press.

Films

Ancestors in the Americas: Coolies, Sailors, Settlers. Produced by Loni Ding.  64 minutes.  Center for Educational Telecommunications. 1996.  Videocassette. Part of the series, Asian American history, this film presents Asian settlement of the Western Hemisphere.

The Bhangra Wrap. Directed by Nandini Sikand. 20 minutes. National Asian American Television Association. 1994. Videocassette. Rap, hip-hop, and bhangra fuse in New York City and Canada.

Bittersweet. Directed by Sanjeev Chatterjee and edited by Chet Kaplan. 42 minutes. Cinema Guild. 1994. Videocassette. Interviews and fictional conversations of Indians and Indian Americans.

Corner Store Blues. Directed by Hiroo Tanaoka. 48 minutes. Third World Newsreel. 1993. Videocassette. Feature film about a newsvendor-turned-street musician in New York.

Desi Remix Chicago-style. Directed by Balvinder Dhenjan. 46 minutes. Third World Newsreel. 1996. Videocassette. Punjabi bands in Chicago and London.

Do You Take This Man? Pakistani Arranged Marriages. Directed by Elise Fried. 22 minutes. 1989. Videocassette. Three Pakistani American women on marriage and relationships in Los Angeles.

Junky Punky Girlz. Directed by Nisha Ganatra. 12 minutes. Asian CineVision. 1997. Videocassette. Indian American wants to have her nose pierced in New York's East Village.

Khush Refugees. 32 minutes. National Asian American Telecommunications Association. 1991. Videocassette. Rahul, an immigrant from India, and his partner, Dante, an ex-marine from suburban Ohio, try to make a life in San Francisco.

Knowing Her Place. Directed by Indu Krishnan. 40 minutes. Women Make Movies. 1990. Videocassette. Documentary about Vasu, who has spent most of her life in the United States and been strongly acculturated with traditional Indian values of domesticity.

Leaving Bakul Bagan. Directed by Sandeep Ray. 45 minutes. Third World Newsreel. 1994. Videocassette. Documentary about a woman leaving West Bengal, India for studies in the U.S.

Ma/Baap. Directed by Siraj Jhaveri. 30 minutes. Third World Newsreel. 1994. Videocassette. On having a Muslim father and Hindu mother who don't get along.

Miss India Georgia. Directed by John Godwin and Sharon Grimberg. 56 minutes. Urban Life Productions. 1997. Videocassette. Four contestants in a beauty pageant share their feelings of growing up as first-generation Americans.

The New Puritans: The Sikhs of Yuba City. Produced by Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam. 27 minutes. Modern Educational Video Network. 1985. Videocassette. Intergenerational conflict in families whose ancestors were among the first Punjabis to live in California.

Painted Bride: Henna Art among Pakistani Women in New York City. Produced by Susan Slymovic and Amanda Dargan. 25 minutes. Queens Council on the Arts. 1990. Videocassette.

Roots of Sand. Produced and directed by Jayasri Mazumdar Hart. 57 minutes. National Asian American Telecommunications Association, 1998. Videocassette. Documentary on the Sikh, Moslem and Hindu immigrants who farmed California's desert regions in the early 20^th century.

Taxi-vala/Auto-biography. Produced by Vivek Bald. 48 minutes. Third World Newsreel. 1994. Videocassette. Documentary on Indian and Pakistani taxi drivers in New York City.

Voices of the Morning. Produced by Meena Nanji. 14 minutes. MN Inc. 1993. Videocassette. Inspired by ``The Hidden Face of Eve" by Nawaal El Sadaawi, it explores restrictions placed on some Muslim women.

Periodicals

India Abroad. New York: India Abroad Publications. Began 1970.

India-West. Emeryville, CA: India-West Publications. Began Nov. 1975. Emeryville, Calif.: India-West Publications.

Little India. Reading, PA: Little India Publications. Began 1991. The regions' Indian American monthly covers all aspects of Indian American life.

Masala. Began Oct. 1994 and now exclusively on the website:

Pakistani American Gazette. Norwalk, CA: Amir Shahzad Durrani. Began in 1987.

Pakistani American World. South Pasadena, CA: Farhana Mohamed. Began in 1988.

Websites

University of California, Berkeley. Library. South Asian diaspora. 1998. Visited 19 November 1998.

Website includes bibliographies, brief essays, and a collection of historical and current photographs.

University of California, Davis. General Library. Pioneer Asian Indian immigration to the Pacific Coast. Last revised 14 October 1998. Visited 19 November 1998.

Website covers the migration to the United States and Canada from the Punjab, 1899-1920. Includes information on the journey of the Komagata Maru and contains both historical and current photographs.

South Asian American Literature 

This site contains book news, reviews and a "chai room" discussion

South Asian Journalists Association

"The Indian Emigre" - an India50 Photo Feature

Indolink - "Linking Indians Worldwide"

South Asian Regional Studies at the University of Pennsylvania

About India:

MANAS - About India and its Neighbors

Sikhism Home Page

SAWNET: the South Asian Women's Network

Community Links:

Indian Immigrants in New York City

Compiled by Vaswati R. Sinha, Coordinator for Instruction Outreach, Skillman Library, Lafayette College, c. 1999 The Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies. Produced for the exhibition, ``Live Like the Banyan Tree: Images of the Indian American Experience," February 5- December 31, 1999. Supplemented by Kathryn Wilson, 2003.