All week long NBC 5 is taking a look at the Different Shades of Texas and how race and diversity affect our community. We continue the series by focusing on Collin County, where Asian Indians are the fastest-growing demographic.
Just six months after the Mohnot family moved to Plano they say it already feels like a home away from home.
"Because there are so many people just like you," Sapana Mohnot said.
Sapana and Abhishek Mohnot were born and raised in India, and they immigrated to California 10 years ago.
Good schools for their two sons and a job at one of the country's top accounting firms is what attracted them to Texas.
"There's a lot of investment coming into Texas. The economy is going up, really, at a really good pace," Abhishek Mohnot said.
Personally, professionally and spiritually, the Indian community is finding a home in Collin County, where they now make up 14 percent of the population.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
This week, thousands packed into the Hanuman Temple in Frisco for a worship service called Puja.
The temple opened last year and is now a beacon for Hindu followers in Frisco.
"So we have at least 15, 16 neighborhoods actually came up around this temple, and all these neighborhoods, close to 80 percent of them are from India," said Praka Sarao, with the Karya Siddhi Hanuman Temple.
Grocery stores catering to the Indian community are popping up on street corners, and so are boutiques and restaurants.
It all makes for smooth transitions for families like the Mohnots – growing roots in a community where they plan to live for years to come.
Copyright, 2013, Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia (Dustin A. Cable, creator)
Map data by OpenStreetMap, under CC-BY-SA. Image Copyright, 2013, Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia (Dustin A. Cable, creator)
