Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
High-tech couple Kamil and Talat Hasan carry on a century-old family tradition with gift for chair in classical Indian music
Balancing Scales
Immigrant couple sees music and art as a way to say thanks for their own success
By Steve Scott
Here in the valley where technology is king, people struggle with how to balance high-tech, high-stress occupations with some degree of culture and recreation. One Saratoga couple, in addition to their high-tech vocations, endeavors to carry on a century-old family tradition of love for and patronage of the arts.They are Kamil and Talat Hasan, and their gift of $350,000 has established the Hasan Endowed Chair in Classical Indian Music at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
"We hope this endowment will do two things," Talat Hasan says. "First, that it will plant seeds for a center for Indian cultural studies, supporting not just music, but dance, drama and the visual arts. And second, that it will make these arts more widely available to future generations of students, including Indian American students."
The endowment is the Hasan's second gift to UC-Santa Cruz. They also contributed to the $250,000 Ali Akbar Khan Endowment for Classical Indian Music that was established last year and led to the presence on campus of Ali Akbar Khan, considered one of the world's greatest living musicians. The Khan Endowment has special significance for Talat, who as a young girl, heard stories of Khan's father, the legendary sarod master Ustad Alauddin Khan, who, along with many other famous artists, performed often in her grandfather's palace where he was a resident musician.
According to Edward Houghton, dean of the arts at UC-Santa Cruz and a professor of music, "South Asia studies at UCSC really gains momentum with the establishment of the Hasan Endowed Chair. In response to the gift, Houghton announced that he is committing funding in the arts division that will support courses in the arts of India, and that will also lead to a full-time teaching position in Indian classical music.
The position comes in addition to the activities that the new endowed chair will support. Initially the position will be filled by distinguished visiting faculty members and is expected to be in place by fall 2001.
In light of the generous gifts of the Hasans, it might be suspected that the donors are musicians (they're not), or perhaps have some personal history with the university (they don't).
Kamil explains, "For technologists, highly technical people with high stress jobs, this would provide an opportunity for recreation and balance in their lives."
His wife adds, "The reason behind this endowment ... is that we feel we've really gained a lot from this country as immigrants. You know, we each came to this country with 20 bucks in our pockets, literally."
In those days India had something of a foreign exchange shortage, and Indian citizens who left the country were only allowed to take $20 with them. But for the Hasans, it wasn't as bad as it sounds.
While it's true that when Kamil came to the United States in 1969, he had less than $20 in his pocket, his first stop was the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he had a full scholarship waiting. He had completed his undergraduate work at Aligarh Muslim University in India, followed by a master's degree in engineering from MIT and a doctorate in engineering from UC-Berkeley. He has since taught at the Indian Institute of Technology and at Stanford. He is also a recipient of a John F. Lincoln Award for outstanding achievement in engineering design for developing a concept for earthquake-resistant high-rise buildings.
He is now a general partner in the San Jose-based venture company HiTek Venture Partners and, along with his wife, is an active "angel investor," providing start-up companies with funding before they are deemed worthy of help from larger venture capitalists.
Talat joined her husband in the United States in 1977, also armed with $20. She also had an undergraduate degree from Aligarh, where her father had been a professor, and a master's degree in physics from Oxford University.
Now she is president and CEO of Sensys Instruments, a Santa Clara-based maker of products for the semiconductor industry, a company she founded. She has served as vice president of business development at Tencor Instruments, and was co-founder of Prometrix Corporation. She has also worked as a scientist, conducting research in semiconductor characterization and process control for Signetics Corporation/Philips Research Laboratories in Sunnyvale.
"So we came with an education, of course, and $20, and we've managed to succeed," Talat continued. "Certainly we've worked hard for it ... but we feel the environment here has been tremendous; the society has been very welcoming and we've been accepted from day one. It's just been a tremendous experience for us to have our businesses grow. So anything we do is just a small way for us to give something back to this society."
The Hasans believe that their enjoyment of Indian culture may be even greater for having moved away from India and to the Bay Area. "The wonderful thing about this country is that you have the opportunity to enjoy the culture of Western music, dance and theater, as well as [Eastern]. It's so multicultural, particularly in the Bay Area. I think that has made us enjoy and appreciate our Indian culture more than we might have, even if we lived in India." Their home certainly reflects their appreciation both for the traditional art of India, but also for Western artists.
Talat says that she and her husband believe that it's important "that the culture of the [Indian] community be perpetuated."
And they didn't have to move to the United States to develop that view. The fact is, the Hasans have a family tradition to uphold.
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Saratogans Kamil and Talat Hasan have endowed a chair in classical Indian music to UC-Santa Cruz.
Long before Talat was a physicist, she was great-granddaughter to Nawab Hamid Ali Khan. "Nawab" is the Muslim equivalent of "Maharaja." It means he ruled in the state of Rampur, India, and he was a ruler well-known for his love and patronage of the arts. Her grandfather, Nawab Raza Ali Khan, was also Nawab of Rampur until 1949, when the states of India relinquished their sovereignty in favor of unification.
"But he continued that Nawab lifestyle until he died in 1966," Talat recalls.
She remembers many performances by Ali Akbar Khan, among many other master artists, in her grandfather's palace, where she spent many vacations when she was growing up. Her father, Nurul Hasan, a professor at Aligarh, also carried on the tradition rich with patronage for the arts, serving as Minister of Education, Social Welfare and Culture in the cabinet of Prime Minister Indira Ghandi.
"Her father was in charge of all cultural activity in India, including music and dance, everything," Kamil says.
"He did a lot to promote the arts," Talat adds. "I come from a family where there is a very, very strong tradition in Indian classical music. I've been listening to it all my life, from my earliest memories. A lot of the artists, when they hear my last name immediately ask, 'Are you Professor Hasan's daughter?' " Hasan is Talat's maiden name, as well as her married name.
"When we got married [in India in 1977], the wedding ceremony went on for a week or so, and every evening there would be a famous artist giving a concert at her house," Kamil remembers.
"We appreciate the heritage, the tradition," he continued. "Indian classical music is a remarkable art form. It stands out from popular music because it not only pleases the mind and senses, it goes much deeper. It's important for us to do our part to keep this tradition flourishing."
The Hasans have lived in their Saratoga home off Parker Ranch Road since 1994. Before that, they had lived in Cupertino since 1979. He plays golf and is a member at the Saratoga Country Club, and while she says she does not have a lot of time for recreational activities, she says she enjoys her computer and reading, and they travel quite a bit.
"Every opportunity we get we travel--Europe, Hawaii, the Philippines, Disneyland, India each year. But there is still a lot to see. We still want to go to Africa, South America and China," Talat says.
They also spend a lot of time with their two daughters: Minal, 18, and Saima, 15. Minal began classes at University of Southern California this fall, where she is active in journalism and various community service activities. Saima attends the Castilleja School, a private school for girls, where she is active in volleyball, speech, drama and dance. The Hasans have also been contributors to the Castilleja School.
The UC-Santa Cruz endowment was funded by the Hasan Family Foundation, created by the couple in 1995 for the purpose of subsidizing charitable and educational activities. The couple demurs from listing all the contributions they make through the Foundation.
"We try to do as much as we can," Talat said. The Hasans will continue to garner support for an Indian cultural studies center at UC-Santa Cruz, which is about to have a larger presence here in the valley with the opening of a campus in the Silicon Valley.
"We think UCSC is the right place to establish this endowment, both because of its proximity to Silicon Valley, which is the location of a large Indian American community, and because of the commitment of Chancellor Greenwood and Dean Edward Houghton to create a major program in classical Indian Arts and South Asia studies," said Kamil.
Of Chancellor M.R.C. Greenwood, the Hasans say they are extremely impressed with the great interest she has shown in Indian music, culture and studies.
"She's a remarkable woman ... and a scientist of very high ranking," Talat says.
The next endeavor for the Hasans is the creation of the Nurul Hasan Education Foundation in India, named for Talat's father. Part of the funding for this Foundation will come from the Hasan Family Foundation, and part will come from sources in India. It will be for the purpose of providing educational opportunities for underprivileged in India.
"One goal is to help kids who are really, really bright, who have tremendous aptitude, but just don't have the money to pursue full education," Talat said.
The other goal, according to Talat, is to provide basic computer training to people with lesser aptitude, enabling them to improve their earning potential and the standard of living for them and their communities, and thereby providing a source of trained labor for companies in the I.T. industry.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
