Those "Other" Indians...

Being of Indian descent it is commonplace to seek and find a person of the same persuasion whenever you come across them, especially when you are in a group of people of different race or culture. It's not to say that you are being racial or trying to prove a point of being different. I really don't know what it is, but like seems to attract alike, although it is true that at times opposites do attract. I think sometimes that this is an innate feature in all races.

As many people think, not all Indians are the same. Yes, ethnically we are different with our language and culture, but there is more to it.

Over time I have come across people of Indian descent (Person of Indian Origin; PIO) who are NOT from the 'mother country'. And I am not talking about people like me, whose parents migrated in to this country. I am referring to those who are of Indian origin, but have had generations of their family well established in the country they have adopted as their homeland. I've met such people like African-Indians (Kenyan, Zimbabweans, Tanzanians), West Indian Indians (some of who tend to have that funky Caribbean accent), Mauritian Indians (from the island of Mauritius), and Brazilian Indians (a guy fittingly named Junior Kumar).

Last year I came upon a Malaysian Indian at a company conference in Miami. We had an outing one night going into the South Beach area on a chartered bus. By chance, this person sat right next to me. He was a Sardar (or Sikh in general terms).

I struck up a conversation with this guy, expecting to find a person with a heavy Indian accent, but I was quite wrong. Which brings me to the point on how it is hypocritical when we complain about stereotypes, but at the same time we make assumptions about certain people. I know, I complain about such issues, but I guess that I myself am guilty of doing such things at times, mentally at least.

Well I asked the guy where he was from, and he told me he was from Malaysia. He continued to tell me that his father was also born in Malaysia.

Never having met a Malaysian Indian before, I asked him about the language he spoke at home and his cultural ways of life. He said that they spoke in Punjabi and Hindi at home, and very much so, was very Indian in his lifestyle.

I asked him if he had any linkages back in India, and sure enough he did as he had some cousins who still were in India, and some who had moved back recently seeking new economic growth in Punjab and New Delhi. He himself visited India, and loved going there, but felt that Malaysia was better for him.

His kids he said, were into Bollywood movies and identified themselves as being Indians rather than Malaysians. He added that many Malaysian Indians were like this, still carrying on their culture and traditions. There were even Indians who had migrated into Malaysia during the late 1800's who were still "Indian", even though being Malaysians for many generations now.

The thing that I noticed about this part of the 'Desi Diaspora' is that even though they had gone through generations within these lands, they still have maintained their identity. Of course there are some who have assimilated into the local population, thus losing their identity in the process, but a majority have remained "loyal" if you could say that. The continuation of traditional and cultural values with some local variance continues, but overall it is very much Indian.

Many cultures in other countries however, have assimilated to the point that they have kept names as the only identifiers to their background. Take for instance the Italian, Irish, and Welsh immigrants into Argentina. Even though they have kept their last names, which signals the origins of that person, they have uniquely become Argentine. It is similar here in the States too, where many people of European descent have assimilated in a similar manner.

Assimilation though, has brought upon different attitudes and adoption of different cultures into the mainstream culture. A lot of words, foods, and traditions have been adopted into American and other societies over time.

For me it makes me think about my future generations living as Indian-Americans. Since we still are the "new" immigrant population in this country, we tend to be linked with the 'mother land' quite strongly. However this bond isn't going to remain so strong with successive generations.

So, will we become like the other immigrant populations who have become just, "Americans" or "Argentines"?

Or will we be like the "Other" Desi diaspora who are Malaysian, African, or Trinidadian, yet still very much Indian at heart?