Bylines to Bollywood: Connecting with Hindu and Indian-American Communities

More than one billion people around the world come from India, and millions of Indians live abroad. Almost every US city and town includes Indian immigrants and their descendents. Many of these people practice Hinduism. According to the Hindu American Foundation, currently nearly 2 million Hindus live in the US (1.8 million Indian and 200,000 Indo-Caribbean). Additionally, there may be as many as 1 million practicing American Hindus not of Indian origin.

Despite this, Indian Americans are drastically underrepresented in US media, including news media. Also, most Americans know little or nothing about the Hindu faith that helps keep a large part of the diasporic Indian culture connected…

One key point to understand is that Hinduism is technically “henotheistic”—which means “belief in one god without denying the existence of others.” (Otherwise known as having a philosophy of “one god at a time.") This is one reason why tolerance is a key Hindu value. (Remember Gandhi’s “All religions are true.") That can be especially important to keep in mind when seeking comment from members of the Hindu community on stories involving controversy or conflict. 

There’s an extra benefit to connecting with local Hindu and Indian-American communities: Their food and festivals are so fantastic, you’ll want any excuse to cover an event! Diwali, the Hindu “festival of lights,” is an excellent opportunity. It celebrates the triumph of good over evil, and expresses hope for beauty and prosperity in the coming year. This year Diwali falls on Oct. 28, so you have time to prepare. Contact local Hindu mandirs (temples) and ask about planned festivities.

NOTE: This post is part of a special series on how news orgs can connect with communities of difference through communities of faith. See the series intro for links to the rest of this series.

In general, a key feature of the Indian American community is its impressive and still-growing cultural investment in technology. Consequently, connecting with Indian-American and Hindu communities is generally pretty easy. These communities tend to be tech savvy and avid consumers of all kinds of media, from hard news to pop culture. Mobile media is especially popular. For example, Hindu news sites like Sarve Samachar transmit headlines to mobile phones worldwide via text message.

One of the best ways to connect with Indian and Hindu communities is to get to know their media—especially Bollywood films. These are generally very entertaining, full of music and spectacle reminiscent of Silver Screen-era musicals, but with a modern twist. Sites like BollywoodWorld will clue you in to which films are hot new releases or popular classics. Rent a few and treat yourself to some pure entertainment. Come on: 1.6 billion Indians can’t be wrong!