00:00New Yorkers are trying to afford roti, clothes and macaan.
00:03Roti, clothes, macaan.
00:05New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani doesn't just quote South Asian ideals.
00:09He builds politics around them.
00:11Hey!
00:12You've never voted for anyone?
00:15Yeah!
00:16And if that's not South Asian enough, his campaigns have all the Bollywood masala one needs.
00:21He campaigns in white kurthas and sneakers.
00:23And when he talks about the election, he does it with lassi logic.
00:27It's not just style, it's a strategy because South Asians are now one of the fastest growing communities in New York.
00:36Nearly half a million people, about 5% of the city's population.
00:40More than 60% live in Queens, in places like Jackson Heights, Elmhurst and Richmond Hill,
00:45where shop signs come in Bangla, Hindi, Urdu and Nepali.
00:48Our Bangla is good, right?
00:50The Indian origin community alone is over 220,000,
00:54with large Bangladeshi and Pakistani populations beside it.
00:57And South Asian voter turnout has jumped by 40% in recent years.
01:01So when Mamdani goes door to door in Astoria, switching between Bangla, Hindi, Urdu and English,
01:07he's not performing diversity, he's meeting people where they already are.
01:11And the community is responding.
01:13And instead of fancy fundraisers, you'll find him at temples, mosques and gurdwaras,
01:21turning cultural gatherings into campaign spaces.
01:24Born in Kampala, raised in Queens, Mamdani's story stretches from Uganda to India to New York.
01:30His mother, filmmaker Meera Nair, brought South Asia to world cinema.
01:34He's now doing the same through politics.
01:36Because Mamdani's campaign isn't just about winning City Hall.
01:39It's about showing that South Asian life is New York life.
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