In 1987 Rogers invested in Bhandari’s startup Aspen Semiconductor, thus acquiring vital trade secrets, only to oust Bhandari from the management of Aspen and dispossess him of what he had struggled to build. Sonsini had originally represented Bhandari, and had taken a seat on his board of directors, before deferring to his larger client Cypress’ vested interests by voting to remove Bhandari.

After a lengthy legal battle, and attempts to smear Bhandari’s credibility, he was vindicated in 1991 and awarded a settlement in the millions of dollars. Aspen’s products became a key element of Cypress’ product line.

The trying but finally triumphant experience has taken on an almost folkloric appeal in technology entrepreneurship circles. It represents all that is dynamic about not only Silicon Valley, but the American Dream, immigrant entrepreneurs and a system where innovative ideas are allowed to sprout, evolve, compete and generate wealth.

When things are going well in the technology industry, this cycle of innovation and re-invention is looked upon as virtually sacred. The technology entrepreneur is a kind of warrior poet in his garage.

And yet, recently Silicon Valley entrepreneurs have been spoken of more as greedy hype jockeys than as the saviors of American capitalism. Of the hundreds of Indian immigrants that became technology entrepreneurs and made millions in the 1990s, many have seen a huge reversal in fortune, as the economic down cycle has taken hold. TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs), a non profit organization formed by successful Indian entrepreneurs, including Bhandari, to help promote the virtues of entrepreneurship, witnessed some of its members turn into indiscriminate angel investors, blinded by the prospect of an easy dollar, and then burned by the bursting of the bubble.

So what does Bhandari think of all the doom and gloom? Is his vision of the entrepreneurial spirit still intact, and indeed relevant?

“I firmly believe that Silicon Valley is full of new ideas and we will go much faster now than before,” he says. While admitting that market conditions have changed, he firmly maintains, “Don’t be a corporate serf. You are your own king. That has not changed. It’s the American way of doing things.”

Bhandari speaks about these issues with as much zeal as ever. There’s no holding back or urging entrepreneurs to be cautious in the downturn. He has the same passion that brought him through his famous ordeal. He now speaks of having to work even harder to motivate new entrepreneurs. “The fundamentals of ‘go for it’ have not changed,” he says. “Otherwise Silicon Valley would be dead.” It’s an enthusiasm that promises a bright future for Indian technology entrepreneurs.

For Bhandari the immigrant phenomenon will sustain itself, and entrepreneurship will go on. But beyond all of the wealth the Indus community has created, there remain some social goals. “I believe that for the community to be successful it has to be part of society. And it’s important that we mix with the mainstream, otherwise we will be isolated,” he suggests.

It’s a curious issue, since the insular network itself is some of what made the Indian phenomenon what it is — Indians investing in fellow Indians’ companies, mentoring other Indian entrepreneurs, recruiting brilliant Indian engineers for their companies and so on.

Bhandari suggests that it’s an issue he contended with as he helped found TiE. “When we started, our colleagues said we were just building a millionaires club,” he says. “That was not the intent.” But the network grew dramatically and did become somewhat of a formula for easy wealth propagation, with cushy investment opportunities thrown in. But Bhandari maintains that this is something that TiE will have to grow away from.

Bhandari himself instituted the “Angel’s Forum” at TiE and killed it when he realized that mentorship and investment for profit were not compatible. His vision is tied to the universal qualities of entrepreneurship, and he speaks of doing away with isolated vested interests in favor of a united vision for the future of Indians in the United States.

California Governor Gray Davis wanted to raise funds when running for governor and he called Bhandari. After some persuasion, Bhandari met Davis and liked him. The eventual result was an Indo-American fundraiser at Bhandari’s home that raised more than $500,000 for Davis. This is the kind of involvement in society that he is talking about. “Socially we are active only within our own groups,” he says. “Our kids are here, we are here, we cannot isolate ourselves.”

Bhandari fought the early battles. He recalls that Pierre Lamond at Sequoia Capital said he would fund his business plan only if he brought in Craig Barrett from Intel in as a CEO to run the company. We all know where Barrett ended up — and it wasn’t at Aspen. It’s a story many Indian entrepreneurs give, in one form or another — turned down because nobody thought an Indian could be a manager. But those days will soon be over, and a new phase will emerge.

The road for Bhandari was rocky early on. National Semiconductor sued him when he was founding Aspen, saying that he had stolen trade secrets. He responded in a press release: “I left Fairchild to pursue the American dream of entrepreneurial success. It is truly ironic that National now seeks to choke off the very spirit that lead its president to leave Fairchild in the late 60s to pursue his dream. Though the road may be rocky you can believe that I’m not going to turn back no matter how many lawyers National throws at me. Too much is at stake for both myself and the future of Silicon Valley.” It was a poetic response, and it ended the lawsuit.

At the core, this is still what Narpat Bhandari is all about. For him, after 40 years in America, the downturn is no reason to get into a pessimistic mood. Entrepreneurship in its purest form will endure, and it’s time for a new generation of Indian entrepreneurs to have a much broader impact on American society. si