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Despite clashes overseas, a group of Silicon Valley Pakistanis and Indians will put aside their geopolitical differences and break bread together — for the first time locally in an official manner — to celebrate the end of a monthlong Muslim fast.
The gala affair on Sunday evening, actually two weeks after a holiday called "Eid al-Fitr," will be held at the India Community Center in Milpitas. It will boast music, magic, South Asian fare, a fashion show and prizes handed out for children who fasted for the first time during the month of Ramadan.
Children from both communities practiced at a dress rehearsal Thursday evening for the show, modeling brightly colored traditional clothing from their parents' homelands.

Farrukh Shah Khan, originally from Islamabad, Pakistan, admits the event is unusual and even a bit controversial.

Some Pakistanis told him they're not coming. They're simply not comfortable dining with Indians — mistakenly generalizing that all Indians are Hindus who hate them — on the visitor's turf. But wanting to calm this angst is a large part of why he helped organize the event. He and others have been fanning out to soothe nerves, dispel myths and drum up ticket sales.

The ice breaker for some of the cynics, he said, was when Indian community members said they'd provide the space at their center, called ICC, and offered that the Pakistanis could pick the entertainment. In this case, it's Munni
Begum, a Pakistani-born classical singer who lives in Chicago.

"They said you can bring your Pakistani food and singers,'' he said. "And despite our initial reservations, we think it will be great.''

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In modern times, the warfare between the two countries can be traced to 1947, when the British empire dismantled India. The state of Kashmir was given to the government of India, where the majority of residents are Hindu, although the majority of Kashmir is Muslim.

Despite political differences, Indians and Pakistanis share many of the same cultural and religious values. India also has a large Muslim population, like Pakistan. And both share similar cuisine and musical tastes.
The similarities were exactly what Talat Hasan, chair of the ICC's board of directors, was thinking about when she broached the idea of the joint Eid celebration to Khan and his colleagues at the Pakistani American Culture Center in San Jose.

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"Our mission is to unite, serve and celebrate,'' said Hasan, a Muslim from India. "We want to bring together different communities. This is part of the process.''
Hasan said most Bay Area emigrees live far away from their homelands and overseas clashes, and simply want to live as "Americans."


She said ICC has forged relationships with other minority groups, pointing to the center's strong relationship with the Chinese community.


"India and China may have their problems. Fine.'' Hasan said. "But we share a love of table tennis.'' ICC boasts the largest table training center in the United States and on any given day, a host of players .


The idea for the Eid event came to Hasan and her team this summer as they were brainstorming ways to increase membership at their 50,000-square-foot community and fitness center — the first Indian center of its kind in North America, and one the much-smaller Pakistani community is trying to emulate. Hasan noted that already, many Ethiopians and Filipinos rent wedding space at the center, and that ICC leaders are always looking to rent space to and gain membership from different ethnic groups, too.


If this year's Eid celebration goes well with the Pakistanis, she said, then next year, maybe the invitations will go out to the Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan communities, too.

The 500 seats for the event are nearly sold out.
"People just seem to be loving this,'' Hasan said. "We share so much. People are saying, Gee, why not? It's about time.''