Welcome to The South Asian . This paper began as possibly a hare brained idea that we need to find a forum for South Asians to talk to each other and to talk about things that we like. After all, we argue not only over political problems, but food, clothes, culture, languages and sports. Surely, we will have enough to speak about. More over, as a community living in the United States, we share a number of concerns racial, economic, political, social and religious. The South Asian aims to present news of people and events in South Asia, and news in the US that we feel is relevant to our communities. It also aims to provide a platform for discussion and analysis of events happening in South Asia. There are conflicts occurring within nations and between nations in South Asia. The paper ambitiously, perhaps hopes that members of these communities, by the virtue of distance to the conflict and the proximity to communities that are part of the conflicts, will build relationships and bridges, creating greater understanding about each other and will one day help resolve these conflicts peacefully. Since the paper aims to involve the South Asian community, the group running the newspapers is an open collective. We welcome all who would like to join us and work within the guidelines of this effort. We also welcome all articles that respect the charter of this paper as spelt out in the mission statement. Our first issue was released on October 15th, 2002. We look forward for your participation to create a South Asian community that is more open to dialogue and a more peaceful South Asia.