Houston’s Indian community honors Kansas hero
Organization gives $100,000 check to ‘our brother’s keeper’
The Houston Indian community came together last weekend to present a $100,000 check to the Kansas man who tried to save two Hindu immigrants from a gunman at a bar outside Kansas City.
Ian Grillot, 24, was hailed as a hero after he intervened Feb. 22 when a Kansas man reportedly shouted “get out of my country” before opening fire at Austins Bar & Grill in Olathe, Kan., killing one man and wounding Grillot and another.
On Saturday, Houstonians heaped praise on the brave construction worker during India House’s annual gala.
“The reason that we decided to honor Ian is the he represents the true America,” gala chair Jiten Agarwal said this week. “Sometimes people forget that there are people like Ian and they are a majority, not the people behind these hate crimes. They are a minority.”
Agarwal connected with Grillot in a mid-March phone call.
“I said that we are having this annual event at India House and we would like to honor him and he accepted,” Agarwal said.
But at the time, Grillot didn’t know there was any money involved. When he showed up for the event — with his arm in a cast — Grillot took the stage for his honors, but broke into tears after learning of the $100,000 gift.
“It was an overwhelming experience,” Agarwal said.
The funding for the donation came from members of the local Indian community, including Charlie Yalamanchili, an India House board member who offered to match every dollar donated.
“He saved a fellow human being; he saved one life but he got hurt,” Yalamanchili said. “Because of that, he is a hero.”
The families of the Indian men hit by the gunfire were supported by their communities, Agarwal said. And an online fundraising campaign for Grillot’s medical expenses brought in more than $400,000. So the Houston-based charity offered its donation to help Grillot buy a house in his hometown.
The award presentation at Saturday’s gala drew a number of well-known local figures and politicians, including Mayor Sylvester Turner, Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, star chef Vikas Khanna, Indian Ambassador to the U.S. Navtej Sarna, U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and more.
Grillot’s quick thinking “demonstrates that one person can make a difference,” Turner said Saturday. “I want to thank Ian for just stepping up, for demonstrating what it means to be our brother’s keeper.”
Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed in the Kansas City altercation, and his friend Alok Madasani, 32, was wounded.