varnam

Even though India had issues recognizing Israel, there were no second thoughts about asking Israel for help during the wars with China and Pakistan. Even when the Palestinians had no issues with India recognizing Israel, we chose to be more catholic than the pope. Fortunately people outside the country are establishing close relationship with the Jews and learning quite a bit from them.

Much of that synergy is happening in the Bay Area, where Hindus and Jews have been coming together to network, talk politics, share dance steps and, yes, get married. Hindu and Jewish groups estimate there are about 300,000 Jews and upward of 200,000 Hindus living in the Bay Area. Community leaders acknowledge the two groups have a lot in common: a shared emphasis on family, faith and education; homelands that are young democracies with a history of foreign occupations; and, especially in the Bay Area, high visibility in the tech industry.

But by far, they said, the strongest force behind the friendship has been the growing ties between India and Israel — two countries with a history of hostile relations with their Muslim neighbors.

They've also been willing to rally to one another's side. When protesters disrupted the first-ever Hindu prayer to open the Senate's daily session in July, Jews stood alongside Indians in decrying the incident. And when Bay Area Jews face off against protesters in San Francisco calling for people and businesses to dump their Israeli assets, they're not alone.

"When we stand out there counter-protesting, we found that members of the Hindu-American community always stand shoulder to shoulder with us," said Lisa Cohen, who has taken part in a number of rallies and protests. That friendship, she added, is just going to get stronger. "They have been there with us through thick and thin," she said, "and the more I'm around them, the more I find that we have so much in common." [Jews, Hindus in Bay Area discover common ground]