Chicago Indians back bhangra-loving Obama

HONORARY INDIAN: Barack Obama developed a taste for Indian flavours and music in Chicago.

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Chicago: Across the United States, Senator Barack Obama is competing with Senator Hillary Clinton for support from the Indian community in the Democratic primaries.

But Indian Americans in Chicago know some things about their fellow resident that many others don't – Barack Obama's fondness for Indian food and bhangra – and can't wait to send him to the White House.

Chicago's Little India is where Senator Barack Obama developed a taste for Indian flavours and music and now the community can return the favour by voting for him.

“He came in with knowledge of who we are, and I thought even his understanding of how to pronounce India and Pakistan; and he knew what bhangra was,” says Obama’s campaign’s volunteer policy consultant, Kant Desai.

Obama has connected well with the Indian community for at his campaign headquarters for volunteers, a group of Indian-Americans worked the phones all day - just ahead of Super Tuesday.

“I think immigration is a very important issue for this community and he (Obama) is for comprehensive immigration reform but also for fair immigration rules,” explains a member of South Asians for Obama, Priya Bhatia.

The excitement is high over the possibility that the city’s Indian community could soon have a friend in the White House.

“We're so close to having a President who we really know well, and we can influence, and we have access to. So for us it's really exciting,” enthuses a member of the Indo-American Democratic Association, Ann Kalayil. Kalayil has known Obama as a colleague at the University of Chicago and even as an Illinois state senator.

Chicago is the home base of Senator Barack Obama, and the Indian community here is determined to play its part in making sure that he sweeps his home state.