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The (punjabi) Indian population in NWA


KJW

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I haven't been there in years, so they may have expanded, but no, it was smaller than the Rogers store, with a smaller selection. At the time, it was the only store around.

BTW - the Rogers store has Indian movies for rent. Apparently India produces more movies yearly than any other country. Hubby says they're all the same, though. Rich guy, poor girl, ensuing troubles, happy ending - or the other way around (rich girl/poor guy). I don't know - I'm not a big movie person anyway.

In fairness, "bride and prejudice" is definitely not the same as the other Indian movies. I know what he's talking about Bollywood....the movies are generally cheesy and low budget. This movie is not just another Indian movie. Ebert and Roeper gave it two thumbs up (audio review: http://tvplex.go.com/buenavista/ebertandroeper/050131.html).

But I see your point about movies.... Frankly, this movie isn't my type of movie either, but my mom absolutely adores it. I just see that it's very interesting and one of the top movies in its class (musicals).

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I haven't been there in years, so they may have expanded, but no, it was smaller than the Rogers store, with a smaller selection. At the time, it was the only store around.

BTW - the Rogers store has Indian movies for rent. Apparently India produces more movies yearly than any other country. Hubby says they're all the same, though. Rich guy, poor girl, ensuing troubles, happy ending - or the other way around (rich girl/poor guy). I don't know - I'm not a big movie person anyway.

Oh yeah I did forget about Avalon. I hadn't been there in a long time. When I went there several years ago it seemed to me a like a mixture or organic/natural foods and such with some Indian food as well. But I didn't necessarily thought there were a lot of Indian food when I went. But maybe things are different now.

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One of my Indian friends recently told me that NWA has well over 3,000 Indians living in the defined metro. To me, it was kind of suprising.

Northwest Arkansas is a literal melting pot of nationalities. I guess it's due mostly to Wal-Mart being a multi-national corporation. I'd love to see more Chinese and British people here. A new co-worker of mine is Swedish and I also have a co-worker who is British and another is from South Africa.

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One of my Indian friends recently told me that NWA has well over 3,000 Indians living in the defined metro. To me, it was kind of suprising.

Don't forget that many Indians own and operate smaller hotels and gas stations. I know there are many doing the former in NWA. It is a bit surprising to me as well.

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Northwest Arkansas is a literal melting pot of nationalities. I guess it's due mostly to Wal-Mart being a multi-national corporation. I'd love to see more Chinese and British people here. A new co-worker of mine is Swedish and I also have a co-worker who is British and another is from South Africa.

Indeed, I had a Brazilian, a Canadian and a South African as co-workers at my Bentonville job.

As for the 3,000 persons of Indian origin here, I met another gentleman in my subdivision from India yesterday. (We got to talking about the March 12 tornado...it pushed a nearby (truck trailer) container almost into his house. :shok: ) He said he believes that number is about right...but when he and his wife moved to the area in 1998 they were one of about 16 Indian families that he knew here. What a difference eight years makes...

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It will be interesting to see what happens if Wal-Mart ever does get a significant presence in India. Wouldn't surprise me if NWA ended up having the largest percentage of India-expats of anywhere in America between the east and west coasts.

We could see a large population increase. Of course the HQ would be in India for it, but I could see Indian Vendors making a presence in NWA.

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Yeah that's what they all say. :D

Really though can you translate that for me... I can't find one stinking online language translator that does Punjabi.

It means "With God all things are possible".

Taken from a beautiful song titled Dalit Hymn which was written about the struggles of India's lowest class, the Dalit (similar to the untouchables).

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It will be interesting to see what happens if Wal-Mart ever does get a significant presence in India. Wouldn't surprise me if NWA ended up having the largest percentage of India-expats of anywhere in America between the east and west coasts.

I've noticed I haven't heard much about Wal-mart making more of a move into India. I also wondered why not. It may not be quite the same market as China, but it would seem to me to have a lot of great oppotunities as well.

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It will be interesting to see what happens if Wal-Mart ever does get a significant presence in India. Wouldn't surprise me if NWA ended up having the largest percentage of India-expats of anywhere in America between the east and west coasts.

It won't, because it's not a big computer/software region and doesn't have much of a medical/medical research community. Richardson, TX is loaded with Indian businesses because of tech companies there.

Somebody mentioned Wal-Mart in India. I wondered about that as well. I think it would make more sense than any other Asian market for them, certainly more than China. That said, WM may have good reasons. The poverty there is astonishing, the average citizens may not be able to afford it.

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Somebody mentioned Wal-Mart in India. I wondered about that as well. I think it would make more sense than any other Asian market for them, certainly more than China. That said, WM may have good reasons. The poverty there is astonishing, the average citizens may not be able to afford it.

Yeah I wondered about that as well. Whereas China's wages are going up quite a bit. Although I'd still think there would be advantages for Wal-mart in some of India's cities.

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Yeah I wondered about that as well. Whereas China's wages are going up quite a bit. Although I'd still think there would be advantages for Wal-mart in some of India's cities.

Most Indians already speak English and they have a fairly Western-friendly culture.

Still, there are lots of headaches. Because of my job I know a lot of Indians and they tell me stories about the place. You have to constantly bribe officials to get anything done. I can't imagine living in a society like that.

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Most Indians already speak English and they have a fairly Western-friendly culture.

Still, there are lots of headaches. Because of my job I know a lot of Indians and they tell me stories about the place. You have to constantly bribe officials to get anything done. I can't imagine living in a society like that.

Good point. Although maybe Wal-mart also just focuses more on China because it already has ties to the country since it does buy quite a bit of goods from there.

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Good point. Although maybe Wal-mart also just focuses more on China because it already has ties to the country since it does buy quite a bit of goods from there.

True, I guess that make's Wal-Mart's distribution model really easy, huh? I also think a strong central government helps. WM has a good relationship with the government and China's government will prevent corruption, theft, etc better than just about any other.

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True, I guess that make's Wal-Mart's distribution model really easy, huh? I also think a strong central government helps. WM has a good relationship with the government and China's government will prevent corruption, theft, etc better than just about any other.

Yeah you'd think the government will work with Wal-mart closely just because they do buy quite a bit from their country.

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It won't, because it's not a big computer/software region and doesn't have much of a medical/medical research community. Richardson, TX is loaded with Indian businesses because of tech companies there.

Somebody mentioned Wal-Mart in India. I wondered about that as well. I think it would make more sense than any other Asian market for them, certainly more than China. That said, WM may have good reasons. The poverty there is astonishing, the average citizens may not be able to afford it.

Apork,

I said "percentage", not actual population.

Maybe I'm just seeing things cockeyed because I'm living in an area where more and more indian families are moving (and they are indeed programmers).

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Apork,

I said "percentage", not actual population.

Maybe I'm just seeing things cockeyed because I'm living in an area where more and more indian families are moving (and they are indeed programmers).

How many Indian grocers and Indian restaurants are there? That usually is a good indicator of the population. LR has a sizable Indian population which is largely medical but LR also has an impressive software and programming industry for such a small city. There are two Indian restaurants and an Indian grocer. Still, Richardson (pop 90k) must have a dozen restaurants and several groceries.

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There's Star of India Restaurant in Bentonville.

I also think there is an Indian Grocer and Retail store somewhere in the metro. I don't know how many of NWA's 8,362 Asians are Indian, but I would guess atleast 30%.

My husband says Star of India has been closed for some time now. I didn't realize it had folded.

We do have an Indian grocer - sort of. There is a convenience store/Indian grocer on Highway 102 in Rogers - at the Shell station between Dixieland and 13th streets, on the north side of the road. They actually have a really great selection - they carry everything from speciaty rices, spices, fresh and frozen Indian veggies, etc to Indian health and beauty aids, Hindi movies, etc.

Oh, and Fayetteville has Avalon Indian and Nutritional Foods, in Evelyn Hills Shopping Center.

I've been seriously thinking about setting up a booth at a craft fair, with Indian food. My husband is an awesome cook, and I think people would go nuts over the stuff. Tandoori chicken, curry pies, etc are good finger foods. I just may try it when both of my kids are in school full time. Just thinking aloud here. :rolleyes:

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My husband says Star of India has been closed for some time now. I didn't realize it had folded.

We do have an Indian grocer - sort of. There is a convenience store/Indian grocer on Highway 102 in Rogers - at the Shell station between Dixieland and 13th streets, on the north side of the road. They actually have a really great selection - they carry everything from speciaty rices, spices, fresh and frozen Indian veggies, etc to Indian health and beauty aids, Hindi movies, etc.

Oh, and Fayetteville has Avalon Indian and Nutritional Foods, in Evelyn Hills Shopping Center.

I've been seriously thinking about setting up a booth at a craft fair, with Indian food. My husband is an awesome cook, and I think people would go nuts over the stuff. Tandoori chicken, curry pies, etc are good finger foods. I just may try it when both of my kids are in school full time. Just thinking aloud here. :rolleyes:

Do it definately!!

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Most Indians already speak English and they have a fairly Western-friendly culture.

Still, there are lots of headaches. Because of my job I know a lot of Indians and they tell me stories about the place. You have to constantly bribe officials to get anything done. I can't imagine living in a society like that.

The corruption is a huge problem. When we visited India in '95, we had to pay a bribe to get our luggage, because we were carrying electronics. My husband's family (in India) can't move forward with construction on some apartments they'd like to build, because they can't trust the city officials regarding building codes. Apparently, you can be told that your plans are within code before you start building, and then once it's all done, they can (and do) change their story, and levy enormous fines for being out of code. In my in-law's case, the fine they are worried about is seizure of one entire floor of their apartments. So, I can see how Wal-mart might be hesitant to move forward in India.

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