New magazine, for the old and new generations

Here is a magazine for the changing Asian Indian population. The Bridge is a confluence where the immigrant and the U.S.-born generations meet. About one-fourth of the 1 million Asian Indian population in the United States is U.S.-born. The Bridge tries to cater to Asian Indian immigrants who came to the United States immediately after the 1960s, when the U.S. immigration policy was liberalized, and those who were born in this country.

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While their parents have established themselves in careers, many of the children who are now in college or in jobs seek their roots. As the article "Faith: The Second Generation" shows, these young men and women are rediscovering their heritage, their religion, their Indiannness. They straddle two worlds. They need a bridge. This is their magazine.
Their parents also straddle two worlds, but in a different way. They have made the transition from India to America; they now need to make America their home. Making America home is not so easy as it may seem. "We need to think like an American" seems to be the axiom Asian Indian politicians wish to drive home in "Proud, Political and American," an article that explores our participation in American politics. Politics is deeply personal as is religion. To be part of America, it's necessary to be part of its political scene, our politicians say. The Bridge will examine issues that bind Asian Indians and America.
At a time when ethnicity is resurfacing in America, when ethnic minorities no longer line the periphery of society, but seem to be moving toward the center, The Bridge will bring to you America in a new light. Asian Indian culture picks up elements of America in much the same way as America imbues the ingredients of its melting pot, or ‚ as some would prefer to say ‚ of its salad bowl.
Food can be literally a mixture, sometimes a blend, at other times just tossed salad of greens, reds and yellows. In this premier issue of The Bridge is spread iridescent food ‚ food that combines the best of both worlds. Isn't the best of both worlds what we want?
Try veggie burgers spiced with garam masala or palak paneer poured on cappellini. You will love both.
You will love The Bridge. It's different from other Asian Indian magazines. There are few, if any, magazines for our ethnic group that span the breadth of the country. The regional ones mostly contain a mixture of news from India and Asian Indian entertainment events in the United States. The Bridge will bring you articles to think about. It will bring you issues that touch our lives in America, that touch our children's lives and that will touch the life of the "third generation," to use the phrase of an Asian Indian politician, quoted in the article on politics.
The present and the immigrant generations today find themselves in a changing culture. The essay in the Opinion section examines our content on the World Wide Web, which carries a stamp of our culture. The Bridge seeks to highlight the changing metaphors in our life and enrich it. Enjoy. And, please, do write your candid opinions.

Angshuman Das
Editor

The print version of this magazine was a prototype prepared in partial fulfillment of a master's degree project in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications, University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C. If you wish to get a copy of the prototype, please e-mail the editor, or call (803)256-0581, with your mailing address and a check for $4.95 drawn in favor of Angshuman Das.

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