In the past 30 years, South Asians have thrived in America’s business-oriented landscape — from Wall Street to hospital operating rooms, to Sand Hill Road and everywhere in between. Many have made headlines as self-made millionaires, technology pioneers or acclaimed corporate leaders. Others have built their dreams as cab drivers, or convenience store owners. But as the Indian contribution to the American economy is increasingly recognized, the business and social role that Indians are playing in American society is also rapidly expanding.

“The State of the siliconindian” is an attempt to feel the present and future pulse of Indians working in America — at a time when immigrant Indians, as well as their second-generation kids, look for new incarnations of the American Dream.

The cast of characters in the pages ahead includes veteran and youngster alike, across various walks of the business world. Each is passionate about his or her role and contribution to business and society. Each has different priorities and goals. All are bound together by common origins in South Asia.

Anyone who thinks of South Asians in America as just engineers, doctors, motel owners, or cabbies should meet trendy hotelier and model Vikram Chatwal, Minnesota State Senator Satveer Chaudhary, nanotechnology expert Dr. Meyya Meyyappan, actor/comic Aladdin, or Dipak Jain, Dean of the Kellogg School of Management. As is clear in the pages to follow, the days of pre-set “roles” for Indians in America are rapidly yielding to a new paradigm of achievement and social impact — one which stretches beyond just achieving material prosperity.

And yes we have included engineers, a doctor, and a cab driver, each with their own personal road to fulfillment. An engineer like Sun Microsystems’ K “Katni” Venkatasubramanian, would seem to be part of an “Indian techie” stereotype, but an exploration of his job and personality reveals so much more.

Naturally, we included the veterans — hoping to uncover what figures like legendary entrepreneur Narpat Bhandari, or technology pioneer and venture capitalist Yogen Dalal think about their place in the business world, and the immigrant phenomenon they helped pioneer.

Each individual story (22 in all) opens up like a new chapter in a book — one important piece of a dynamic whole that goes far beyond the pages of this magazine.

This, dear readers, is the state of the siliconindian.

Please provide your valuable feedback at editor@corp.siliconindia.com

Contributors: Vijay Chattha, Tarannum Kamlani, Arundhati Parmar, Art Schram, Yogesh Sharma