Primarily Sikh men, the number of Indian immigrants finally grew to over 100, an amount that caused great Anti-Asian sentiments and anti-Hindu views. Even though most immigrants were Sikh, Americans tended to call all Indians Hindu, leading to a wave of anti-Hindu movements.

Bagai moved because of her husband, Vaishno Das, who despised the British colonizers in India. She spoke no English, had to care for three small children, and had no support systems in America- at the age of 22, nonetheless. Looking back, it's probably these experiences that later in the 20th century encouraged Bagai to create Indian community through dinners, gatherings, and community events.

The 1917 Hindu Conspiracy Trials were a major court case in San Francisco where Indian activists, with help from Germany, were accused of planning a revolt against British rule in India during World War I. It was one of the biggest trials in U.S. history at the time and showed how global the fight for Indian independence had become.

The 1923 United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind case was a landmark and yet little-known Supreme Court decision that denied Indian immigrants U.S. citizenship by ruling they were not "white" under naturalization laws. This case revoked the citizenship of countless hardworking, sincere Indian immigrants such as Kala Bagai's husband, Vaishno Das, leading to his eventual 1928 suicide.

The Luce-Celler Act of 1946 granted Indian (and Filipino) immigrants the right to naturalize as U.S. citizens after the United States vs. Bhagat Singh Supreme Court case 23 years earlier. The act also set a small annual immigration quota for each group. Although it was a small step towards righting the wrongs and discrimination against Indians, it sparked yet another wave of anti-Indian sentiments. Indian women were already especially out of place in America, and the discrimination was even worse for them.

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 abolished national-origin quotas and prioritized family reunification, which especially benefited women by allowing more immigration through family-based sponsorship. It opened the door to immigrants, especially women, from India.