The accused, Singh Tejinder, called the victim, Krishnan Jayaraman, a “dirty Hindu”

An Indian-American man has been racially abused by a compatriot in the California who hurled racist slurs that he is a “dirty Hindu” and a “disgusting dog”, days after another hate crime was reported against four women from the community in Texas.

Krishnan Jayaraman was verbally attacked by 37-year-old Singh Tejinder in the Taco Bell at Grimmer Boulevard in Fremont, California on August 21, NBC News reported on August 31.

Mr. Tejinder, of Union City, was charged on August 29 with a hate crime in violation of civil rights, assault and disturbing the peace by offensive language, the Fremont Police Department said.

Mr. Tejinder was listed in charging documents as “Asian/Indian”, the report said.

Mr. Jayaraman recorded the tirade, which lasted over eight minutes, on his phone, capturing the moment Mr. Tejinder told him: “You’re disgusting, dog. You look nasty. Don’t come out in public like this again.” In the foul-mouthed rant, Mr. Tejinder called him a “dirty Hindu”, repeatedly used the N-word, insinuated that Mr. Jayaraman didn’t eat meat and yelled “beef!” in his face. He appeared to spit at Mr. Jayaraman twice in the video.

At one point Mr. Tejinder was seen saying: “…This ain’t India! You…India up, and now you’re…America up,” the report said.

Mr. Jayaraman said he was frightened by the incident and was even more upset to learn later that the perpetrator was also Indian.

“I was scared, to be honest with you. I was infuriated on the one hand, but I was scared that what if this guy becomes too belligerent and then comes after me?” he told NBC Bay Area.

“I’m not here to pick a fight with you,” Mr. Jayaraman said. “What do you want? He said you know you Hindus are a shame, disgusting. Then he spat on me,” KTLA.com website reported.

Mr. Jayaraman says that’s when he and a restaurant employee called Fremont Police. He says the man continued yelling for more than eight minutes.

Jayaraman’s video ended with Fremont Police officers arriving, abc7news.com reported.

The police chief later addressed the community on social media.

Police Chief Sean Washington wrote: “We take hate incidents and hate crimes seriously, and understand the significant impact they have on our community. These incidents are despicable. We are here to protect all community members, regardless of their gender, race, nationality, religion, and other differences.” “We would like to urge the community to be respectful of each other and to immediately report any circumstances such as this that, upon investigation, may rise to the level of a crime. In the event of a hate crime, we will devote all available resources to follow up and investigate. Fremont is one of the nation’s most diverse communities, and we are thankful for the contributions of community members from different cultures and backgrounds,” the statement said.

On August 26, four Indian-American women were racially abused and smacked by a Mexican-American woman in Texas who hurled racist slurs at them that they are “ruining” America and should “go back to India”.

The incident took place in a parking lot in Dallas, Texas. The woman, identified as Esmeralda Upton, has been arrested.

The incident has shocked the Indian-American community across the country.

In a recent election held by the Dallas Museum of Art Board of Trustees, Gowri Natarajan Sharma was appointed Chair, the first person of color accorded that status in the institution’s 119-year history. She was elected unanimously and succeeds outgoing President Catherine Marcus Rose.

A June 26, 2022 press release shows the 2022–2023 Board of Trustees that was approved, includes another Indian-American, Venugopal Menon, as Secretary of the Board.

A total of four new Officers and 12 elected Trustees representing diverse backgrounds, international leadership expertise and distinction in business, technology, building design and creative industries, constitute the new appointees.

“Sharma is the first person of color to be elected President of the DMA’s Board of Trustees, and the 2022–2023 elected officers are the most diverse in the Museum’s history,” the press release said.

A member of the DMA Board of Trustees since 2017 and previously served on the Executive Committee as Vice President, Sharma was co-chair of the Strategic Planning Committee with Tom Lentz and chaired the Learning & Engagement Committee.

She currently serves on the Building & Grounds Committee and is a member of the DMA Acquisition Fund created by the Dallas Art Fair.

A founding board member of UNICEF North Texas and Central Plains Region, Sharma has been an Executive Member of the Orchid Giving Circle at Texas Women’s Foundation (TXWF) and will be on the Executive Board and Programs Committee Chair at TXWF in the coming year.

She is Chair of the Construction Committee and an Executive Committee Member at The Lamplighter School. She currently sits on the Advisory Board of talkStem.

Sharma has a Master’s in Architecture and serves as an architectural advisor for her family’s business interests.

Venugopal Menon, PhD, retired from Texas Instruments in 2019 after a 24-year career as Vice President of Technology. Menon has served in a wide variety of roles on the Board of Trustees since 2009, including as a member of the Budget & Finance Committee and as Treasurer from 2014 to 2015. He currently serves on the Executive and Investment Committees and is Chair of the Marketing Committee. Menon is a member of the Executive Board of the Lyle School of Engineering at SMU. Menon succeeds Peggy Sewell in the role of Secretary.

“At its heart, the DMA is a collage of different cultures, ideas and perspectives,” Sharma is quoted saying in the press release. “The Board of Trustees recognizes their critical role in the stewardship and leadership of the Museum and is committed to working with and amplifying community voices to connect with the diverse area the Museum serves,” Sharma said, adding, “We are proud to have a Board that reflects the values of our region and look forward to welcoming visitors to discover their own inspiration within the walls of the DMA.”

Soprano singer Tiara Abraham began her college career at age 7 in a community college. Last week, the 16-year-old Indian American from Sacramento, California, graduated from UC Davis with her bachelor’s degree in vocal performance.

“This is just one step of my journey,” Abraham told local television KCRA 3 after she received her diploma. “I’ve been able to overcome all that, just proving myself, that I’ve been able to just perform with great technique and here I am.”

As a parting gift to her now alma mater, she sang the National Anthem and “Hail to California” during graduation ceremonies. With a 4.0 average, she is now headed to Indiana University for graduate studies in music.

Tiara, who graduated high school at 13, has been training in Western classical music since she was 7, and released her first album “Winter Nightingale” at age 10. Last April, she wowed a crowd of more than 25,000 when she sang the national anthem at a San Francisco Giants game. She was recognized for her musical talent at the Global Child Prodigies 2020 in New Delhi in January, in which there were 100 child prodigies from 18 countries. She has won the Premio Internazionale Giuseppe Sciacca Musica Award at the Vatican and her voice has led her to perform twice at Carnegie Hall, Musikverein in Vienna, Austria.

But it’s not only singing that Abraham excels in. At age 4, she scored 99 percentile on the test and became a member of Mensa, a prestigious high-IQ society. After her KG, Tiara joined her brother, Tanishq Abraham in the home-schooled tradition when she found school not fun and challenging.
The siblings’ parents — Bijou Abraham, a software engineer and Taji Abraham, a veterinarian and researcher — have encouraged her unusual musical talent, including diction, from an early age.

In 2018, her brother Tanishq became the youngest engineer to graduate from UC Davis at age 15.