Associated Press - November 9, 2009 7:45 AM ET
To a 12-year-old Utah girl -- piercing her nose was a way to connect with her roots in India.
To Suzannah Pabla's school, it was a dress-code violation. The girl was briefly suspended last month from her public school in Bountiful, Utah, for violating a body-piercing ban.
School officials - who noted that nose piercing is an Indian cultural choice, not a religious requirement - compromised and said she could wear a clear, unobtrusive stud in her nose.
The Census Bureau estimates about 2.6 million people of Indian ancestry live in the U.S., including immigrants and natives.
Abhi Tripathi is a California-born aerospace engineer working in Houston. He co-founder an Indian blog.
Tripathi says he gets fewer questions than he used to and feels like the general level of knowledge of Indian culture has started to gradually rise.
On the Net:
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