Houston's Indian immigrants telling their stories

There is a large Indian community in Houston and they have been working on their history, so everyone understands their story. - - Donna Poisl

Effort captures early struggles, contributions to the city

By PURVA PATEL, HOUSTON CHRONICLE

When then-Mayor Bill White announced an oral history project capturing the stories of prominent Houstonians a few years ago, Krishna Vavilala noticed one group missing: Indian immigrants who have shaped the city's demographic landscape in subtle but influential ways.

So Vavilala, also chair of the Foundation for India Studies at the University of Houston, decided to start one himself.

"If someone else won't write our history, we will write it," said Vavilala, a native of India who came to Houston in 1981 after entering the U.S. through New York in 1974.
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