Two Indias

The 24-year-old man didn’t have a home.

So he came up with a bold plan: Go to the nicest neighborhood in Grand Rapids, Michigan, knock on the doors of 10 mansions and ask if he could move in.

HYDERABAD, INDIA – The road to Hyderabad winds through a landscape of ancient boulders – some three or four stories high. The earth-colored stones fill wide gaps between the sleek, high-rise towers that push the city’s skyline and suburbs to new limits.

HYDERABAD, INDIA – If you ask engineering students in India about their career paths, the conversation often leads to America and if they’d like to go there.

“Obviously,” is a typical response.

HYDERABAD, INDIA – Decades ago, when immigrants moved to Seattle from India, they asked each other: “Why would you ever leave the U.S.?”

But now, a growing number of Indians are doing just that. And they’re doing it largely so the families they start here can bond with their homeland.

REDMOND, WASHINGTON -- Two young Indian co-workers face off across the table at a café on Microsoft’s main campus. The challenge? Who can eat the most panipuri: bite-sized Indian street food made up of a fried shell stuffed with spicy potatoes.

BANGALORE, INDIA – Three generations live under the same roof in this bustling home: two rambunctious kids, their weary parents and an 80-year-old grandfather.

The grandfather, Raj Krishnamurthy, is an eager host, and keeps offering me Indian snacks as we talk on the couch. He serves up a homemade yogurt drink specially made today for a Hindu holiday. Then he leans closer, as if to tell a secret.

REDMOND, WASHINGTON – Long before Microsoft set up its headquarters here, and before the 520 highway extended this far, the RajGuru family moved to this Seattle suburb they knew almost nothing about. The year was 1969.

Liz Jones traveled to Hyderabad, India this summer to report on its deepening connection with the Seattle area. She tells Bill Radke what she found and what we'll hear in her upcoming six-part series, "Two Indias, Near and Far." Get the story behind the photo at our Facebook page.