Santa Clara: Baadal at the Googleplex and a Desi Assessor Candidate
Santa Clara's South Asian community is in the news on two distinct fronts: a celebrated Indian restaurant inside the Googleplex is drawing attention for bringing authentic regional cuisine to one of tech's most prominent campuses, and a candidate with alleged Hindu nationalist ties is seeking the Santa Clara County Assessor's office. A Santa Clara resident's intricate paper model of Levi's Stadium, blessed by a Hindu deity, adds a creative Desi twist to Super Bowl LX anticipation.
🍛 Cafe Baadal Brings Biryani and Masala Chai to the Googleplex
Indian Eagle's TravelBeats reported on Cafe Baadal, an Indian restaurant operating within the Googleplex that offers free meals to Google employees, making it one of the most distinctive Desi dining institutions in Silicon Valley. Named Baadal — the Hindi word for cloud, a nod to the tech industry's foundational concept — the restaurant serves an ambitious and varied menu spanning regional Indian cuisines: from morning masala chai and samosas to full lunch and dinner spreads of biryani, dal makhani, butter chicken, and South Indian staples including dosas and sambhar. Located inside Google's campus in Mountain View and Santa Clara, Baadal operates as part of the company's expansive employee dining program, which reflects the significant Indian American presence within Google's workforce and senior leadership. The restaurant is notable because high-quality, regionally diverse Indian cooking at a major corporate cafeteria remains uncommon, and Baadal stands out for the care taken with spice levels, preparation techniques, and menu breadth. For South Asian employees at one of the world's most prominent technology companies, having a full-service Indian restaurant on campus carries both practical convenience and cultural recognition: an acknowledgment of the community's size and contribution to Silicon Valley's tech ecosystem. Indian Eagle noted the restaurant has become a point of pride and conversation among Silicon Valley's large Indian American professional community. [2]
🗳️ Hindu Nationalist Candidate Seeks Santa Clara County Assessor Post
Countercurrents published an in-depth article examining a candidate for Santa Clara County Assessor characterized in the piece as a Hindu nationalist operative. The article scrutinized the candidate's background, alleged organizational affiliations, and public record, raising questions about how ideological commitments might bear on the administration of a county assessor's office responsible for property valuation and taxation across one of the wealthiest and most demographically diverse counties in the United States. Santa Clara County is home to a large and internally varied South Asian community that includes Indian Americans holding widely differing views on Hindu nationalism, making the candidacy a subject of active debate within the diaspora. The county assessor's position is a local civic role, but the article argued that the candidate's alleged ties to Hindu nationalist networks give the story broader significance. The piece drew on the candidate's documented public statements, recorded event appearances, and organizational memberships as the basis for its characterization. Whether readers align with the article's framing or reach different conclusions from the same record, the candidacy is a matter of public significance: the individual is seeking election to a public office in a jurisdiction where a large share of South Asian community members live, work, and own real property. The race is a concrete example of South Asian political participation intersecting with intra-community debate at the level of local government. [3]
🎬 Santa Clara Fan Builds Paper Levi's Stadium With Hindu Deity Blessing
Patch reported on Mangesh Tamhankar, a 25-year Santa Clara resident and dedicated San Francisco 49ers fan, who created an intricate paper model of Levi's Stadium — the home of the 49ers and the designated venue for Super Bowl LX — incorporating a Hindu deity as a blessing for the team and the championship game. Tamhankar and his family have maintained a tradition of constructing elaborate handmade paper models for 25 years, selecting a different theme each year tied to major local or global events. For Super Bowl LX, the family chose Levi's Stadium, located in their own city of Santa Clara, as the subject, and wove the image of a Hindu god into the model as a devotional gesture and a blessing for the 49ers' fortunes during the game. The project illustrates a pattern common across the South Asian diaspora: the interweaving of American popular culture — in this case professional football — with Hindu religious and cultural identity, producing creative expressions of belonging that span both worlds simultaneously. Tamhankar completed the model with hopes that the 49ers organization might display it inside Levi's Stadium, giving the piece a public platform commensurate with the artistry and community spirit behind it. The story, covered by Patch, highlights how individual members of Santa Clara's desi community find inventive ways to honor both their American home and their South Asian heritage. [5]
Sources: [2] indianeagle.com · [3] Countercurrents · [5] Patch