Pat Pattabhiraman and his wife Latha Sambamurti moved to Redmond almost 10 years ago from Vancouver, British Columbia.

He was hired by a small local technology company and back then, the area’s Indian landscape was a lot different: There were only a few Indian restaurants and grocery stores and even fewer cultural events and entertainment opportunities.

In 2011, things have changed.

Pattabhiraman, an arts commissioner for the City of Redmond, said nowadays, Redmond and the surrounding Eastside has an array of Indian restaurants to dine in, various grocery stores to shop at and enough entertainment to attend on a regular basis. For example, he said Regal Bella Bottega 11 Cinema in Redmond occasionally rents out a theater to screen Indian films and Totem Lake Cinemas in Kirkland exclusively shows Indian films and even shows films that are being simultaneously released in India.

Next weekend, the city will play host to Ananda Mela, a cultural festival featuring Indian food and entertainment.

Aside from the job opportunity, Pattabhiraman and his wife chose to move to Redmond in the early 2000s because they knew there was already an established, small-but-growing Indian population in the area thanks to tech giants like Microsoft Corp. and Nintendo as well as smaller companies.

During this time, there was also a shift within the Indian population from renting to buying when it came to housing — a sign of settling down. With this shift in the local Indian population, comprised of both expatriates and Indian Americans from around the country, the community took notice. Services and programs offered began addressing the needs of this growing population.

COMMUNITY RESPONSE

One of those programs is the Redmond Senior Center‘s (RSC) Indian lunch program held every second Thursday of the month.

Although it is held at the RSC, Bellevue-based India Association of Western Washington (IAWW) organizes the lunch, which has been at the center since 2001.

Pran Wahi, a board member for IAWW, said they had a difficult time finding a location to hold this lunch, which is a forum for Indians and non-Indians alike to gather and discuss various topics — both cultural and general interest. IAWW contacted different organizations in the Pugest Sound area to team up with, but most were hesitant. With their difficulty in finding a location to hold the lunches, Wahi said IAWW is very grateful to the City of Redmond and RSC.

“They agreed to give us a chance,” he said.

The lunch began in one of the RSC’s classrooms with about 20 to 30 people in attendance. The program has since moved to the center’s multipurpose room, the only room big enough to hold the monthly crowd of 80 to 100. Wahi said people come from all over, not just Redmond.

“I think it’s been amazing to see it grow,” said Ken Wong, City of Redmond’s teen and 50+ programs administrator.

Wong, who has been with the city for more than six years, said another addition to Redmond’s recreation programs has been a Bollywood class given at the Old Redmond Schoolhouse Community Center. In this class, students mostly learn about the dance styles associated with India’s version of Hollywood. Wong said since the class has only been around for about half a year, they haven’t really been able to measure how it has been doing.

CELEBRATING DIVERSITY

Furthermore, the City of Redmond has added Ananda Mela, the Joyful Festival of India, to its list of annual events. In its second year, the free festival is open to the public and will be July 29-31 at City Hall, 15670 NE 85th St. Ananda Mela will feature different styles of Indian food from various regions of India, two performance stages as well as a third open mic stage for impromptu karaoke and other performances by attendees.

Ananda Mela is organized by the Vedic Cultural Center (VCC) in Sammamish, whose mission is to provide experiences that preserve and promote arts, cuisine, literature, languages and more derived from the Vedas — ancient Indian scriptures.

Ramesh Yerramsetti, a volunteer with the VCC, said the event’s entertainment will include performances by traditional and non-traditional artists from the Northwest and beyond.

“Our goal was to do something out of the ordinary,” he said.

Yerramsetti added that this conscious decision to book a variety of entertainment is one way the VCC is working toward making Ananda Mela an all-inclusive event for Indians and non-Indians and bringing Indian culture into the mainstream.

Pattabhiraman, whose wife is the artistic director for Ananda Mela, said last year about 20,000 people attended the festival and they expect the same amount this year.

WARM WELCOME

As S. Somasegar sees it, Indians and South Asians have already become part of the mainstream on the Eastside. The senior vice president of the developer division at Microsoft, lived in Redmond for about 10 years when he began at the company in 1989 and now lives in Bellevue.

Somasegar said when he arrived in Redmond, he would often be the only Indian person at work meetings, at the grocery store and dry cleaners.

“It used to be a joyful occasion to meet another Indian in the company or in a store. That has changed considerably over the years,” he said. “…Today, I can’t go down a corridor in Microsoft without seeing one or more Indian employees. I can’t go to a supermarket without seeing one or more Indian people in almost every aisle.”

Somasegar said seeing the community support and embrace the Indian and South Asian community has been heartening.

“I love the fact that so many people are curious to learn more about South Asian culture through these festivals and events (like Ananda Mela),” he said.

In addition to curiosity about their culture, Pattabhiraman, said one of the reasons Indians have thrived in Redmond is because the community is very welcoming and accepting. He added that the city is also very forward thinking and is willing to take the initiative to try something new such as Ananda Mela, which could be beneficial for the city as well as the region.

“It is great that the City of Redmond has seized the opportunity to do something that no other city has done,” Pattabhiraman said.