An estimated 150,000 people of Indian origin live in the Bay Area. But unlike other ethnic groups in the country that have established centers to cater to their specific social, cultural and political demands, there has been no all-encompassing umbrella organization to represent and provide for the Indian community. Most of the organizations that exist in the Indo-American circles today are focus groups for entrepreneurs and technologists or very specific groups targeting people from various parts of India who speak distinctly different languages.

India Community Center is the first organization to establish centers for the Bay Area's Indian population.

In fact the center is consciously modeled along the lines of Jewish community centers that have a major presence across the nation. "You can find Jewish community centers anywhere in the country, and it is this infrastructure that has helped them become a stronger community with huge clout in the American political scene," says Sheena Vaidhyanathan, the center's trustee and chairwoman of art programs. And it is for this reason India Community Center has Nate Levin, executive director of the Jewish Community Center in San Francisco, on its board of directors.

"One of the reasons we chose Sunnyvale is because it has close to 11 percent Indian population and also the city was very welcoming to us," says Radhika Mathur, marketing manager of the center. And the city's support for the organization was much in evidence when on the day of inauguration, along with some 750 people, Sunnyvale's political and business leaders came out in full force. Addressing the gathering, Mayor John Howe said, "The Indian community is well loved and respected in Sunnyvale and we are very happy to have you here."

Former Mayor Julia Miller showed up in style. She was dressed in a traditional Indian costume called a salwar kameez—a long, flowing black-and-gold top worn with loose pants and a scarf around her neck, finished off with authentic Indian jewelry. And former Mayor Fowler flashed his India Community Center membership card for everybody to see.

Also present at the ceremony were Suzi Blackman, president and CEO of the Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce, Arley Marley, chairman of the Chamber's board, Laura Babcock, chairwoman of the planning commission, and Amy Chan, Sunnyvale's interim city manager. The Chamber used the opportunity to welcome more Indian businesses to the city. "What you bring in is important, not just from the cultural standpoint, but also from the business point of view," said Marley.

The people behind India Community Center are some of the leading technologists, visionaries and venture capitalists in the valley. Talat Hasan, chairwoman and trustee of the center, is also the chairwoman and CEO of Sensys Instruments, a company she founded in 1996 to market products for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. Brothers Anil and Gautham Godhwani, co-founders and trustees of the center, also co-founded AtWeb, a company that developed software tools to help small businesses with website maintenance. Kanwal Rekhi, another center trustee, is on the board of several high-tech companies. And Sheena Vaidhyanathan co-founded two successful Internet companies.

Monthly membership cost at the center varies between $8 a month for seniors to $40 for an entire family. Apart from yoga, aerobics and traditional Indian music and dance, the center will offer classes in violin, keyboard and classical Indian instruments like the tabla (percussion) and sitar (string). This summer the centers will organize various camps for children between ages 6 and 17, including a Gandhi Camp that is designed to teach teamwork and leadership skills.

Members at the center will have access to the Internet. They will be able to rent movies for free and book rooms for parties and events. "A person can become a member for a day and use certain facilities like table tennis or other games. They can come in and buy a pass for that day. It is that flexible," says Vaidhyanathan.

A popular dance program called "Bollywood Dance" is available for adults and children. The program is all about film fun. Bollywood is the Indian version of Hollywood. All movies produced in Bollywood have song and dance sequences. At the community center, members will be taught various dance moves and can learn to shimmy and shake to the latest hit numbers from Mumbai (formerly Bombay).

ICC Sunnyvale is located at 285 N. Wolfe Road, Suite 102. For more information about ICC and membership rates, visit http://www.indiacc.org or call 408.245.2737.