Around the world, there are millions of people who are members of the Indian diaspora (thirty-two million people to be exact). This diaspora is spread throughout the world, with different cities and regions acting as “hubs” where Indian communities abroad have developed.
In Metropolitan Detroit and throughout the State of Michigan, one of these hubs has developed as Indian immigrants entered Michigan and left their mark. This mark is visible, through entrepreneurship and the cultural impact of tens of thousands of emigres. Though there is no specific area that has been given the official name “Little India”, a variety of de facto areas have sprouted that serve as centers for the Indian community. These areas, such as Orchard Lake Road in Farmington Hills, Dequindre Road in Sterling Heights, and Ford Road in Garden City, are vibrant hubs for the Indian community.
The history of people of South Asian, and particularly Indian, descent in the State of Michigan begins in 1924. Just under one-hundred years ago, six people (dubbed ‘the original six’) arrived in Michigan as the first emigres of Indian descent. Sarwan Grewal was one of the members of this group, who first immigrated to California from Punjab (enduring over a month of traveling). However, he would soon come to realize the wages offered to himself and other Indian immigrants were too low to survive in California. Consequently, after saving enough money for a car, a group of Indian immigrants embarked on the journey to Detroit before finally settling there.
His grandchildren (the grandchildren of Sarwan Grewal) all went on to be success stories and built their lives in their new homeland. In fact, one of Sarwan Grewal’s grandsons, Gurmale, established Singh Development Company. If you are a resident of the Metropolitan Detroit Area, chances are you have seen the Singh logo or you have run into some of the company’s property developments (thousands of single family homes and hundreds of thousands of square feet of commercial properties, among other things). Gurmale Singh Grewal was also given the distinction of Developer of the Year in 2001.
After the original six arrived in Detroit, a slow trickle of immigration slowly followed until the 1960s, when a tremendous influx of South Asians arrived in Michigan. Among the immigrants, many were engineers, doctors, and entrepreneurs. Engineers found their place in the vast automotive industry spread throughout the state, while persistent entrepreneurship created jobs and enriched numerous local communities.
Many Indian Associations sprang up as well. Websites, particularly miindia.com, have been established throughout the years to ease communication between the different members of the Indian community. One-hundred years after the first Indian immigrants arrived in Michigan, over 125,000 people of Indian descent live in Michigan. This entire community can claim a part in this one-hundred year history, a history that begins with the original six and continues with us, the thousands today.