Brokers monitor price movements at the Bombay Stock Exchange in Mumbai on Nov. 4. As Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry conceded defeat, technology stocks, especially of companies with sizeable outsourcing operations, staged a smart rally. (Photo: AFP)

In journalism, grand assertions are generally avoided. But it would be fairly safe to say that never before –– yes, never before –– has an American election evoked as much interest in India as the one just past. Apart from the fact that the unilateralism on display in the U.S.-led war against terrorism evoked considerable passion in the subcontinent, the threat held out by Democratic challenger John Kerry of withdrawing the tax sops offered to American companies that outsource work abroad was, in popular perception, something that could “directly impact” the lives of the thousands of youth employed in India’s multibillion-dollar business process outsourcing (BPO) industry.

To put it quite simply, there has been no precedent of such a “hot button” American election issue so directly affecting a segment of Indian society.

Both issues were hotly debated. On outsourcing itself, acres of editorial space were consumed, petitions were written and delegations were despatched to persuade the Americans against targeting the industry, widely perceived as a boom segment that would, in no small measure, drive Indian economic growth in the near future. And as election day approached, there were reports from BPO hubs such as Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Gurgaon of groups of usually apolitical youngsters –– who dominate the sunrise sector –– tensely following the fortunes of two candidates in a faraway country across the globe.

Because of the intense focus in India on the war on terrorism and outsourcing –– both in the media and outside –– many missed another trend that held promise –– that of the large number of Indian Americans who had decided not only to run for various offices, but came out insupport of a variety of candidates across the political spectrum, held fund-raisers and even campaigned actively.

As it turned out, those who missed the trend did so at their own peril. As many as eight of the estimated 28 Indian Americans who ran various national, state and local races across the U.S. won the elections. If, for the community, that was the icing on the cake, the cherry on top was the victory of Louisiana Republican Piyush “Bobby” Jindal in his race to enter the U.S. Congress –– becoming, in the process, only the second Indian American to be elected to the House of Representatives since Dilip Singh Saund won from California way back in 1956.

It was a huge moment. And it may, in fact, be viewed in future as the moment that marked the political coming of age of the Indian American community.

As a community, the Indian Americans, though numbering close to 1.8 million and boasting of an average annual income that is significantly higher than the American national average, had so far not emerged as a “voting bloc” which could use its numbers and money to influence policy that impacted them. They were, in this respect, quite unlike the Jewish community, which used its considerable wealth to influence policy that mattered to the community.

But that has been slowly changing over the years, thanks to the efforts of several community organizations –– for instance, the Indian American Center for Political Awareness (IACPA) –– that have been working to create political awareness among Indian Americans and urging them to actively participate in the political processes in the U.S.

The community has responded positively to such activism. There are, today, significant pressure groups such as the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) and the Association of American Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), who wield considerable political clout and are in a position to lobby their interests on the Hill. Again, it was perhaps because of such activism that the community rallied behind Indian American candidates, contributing, by some accounts, a not-so-insignificant amount of the $2 million that Jindal managed to raise in his campaign for Congress. As the most high-profile Indian American in the fray, Jindal also attracted volunteers from the community outside Louisiana.

Jindal’s victory –– as also those of Swati Dandekar to the Iowa House and Nikki Randhawa-Haley to the South Carolina House –– will surely give the Indian-American community the confidence that they can not only merely participate in elections –– as a few have been doing over the years, but with only stray success –– but also win and make a difference.

To end with another grand assertion: Evidence of the community’s political coming of age will present itself in a big way in elections in the coming years. It’s a safe bet to predict that more and more community candidates will now run for offices. And many more of them will win.