Issues of identity in the Indian Diaspora: A transnational perspective

Abstract

India is unique for the magnitude of her diversities in terms of languages and regions, religions and sects, castes and subcastes, rural and urban, food and style of dress, which are also reflected by her diasporic communities. There are diasporic communities formed on the basis of linguistic or regional identities such as Punjabis, Gujaratis, Sindhis, Tamils, Malayalees and Telugus. Global organizations such as Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO), World Telugu Federation (WTF), and World Punjabi Organization (WPO), have recently emerged to preserve and promote the identities and cultures of Indians, uniting transnationally India and the global Indian diaspora. The past decade has witnessed a phenomenal dynamism among the diasporic communities, made possible by the recent advancement in technologies of travel, transport, and communications. Not only did these developments bring the diasporic communities and their motherland closer but they also facilitated in bringing together the members of their community dispersed around the world. The present article examines this emerging trend with the illustration of one of the important regional Indian diasporic communities, the Gujarati Diaspora. Gujaratis, the people from the central western parts of India, are one of the early Indian communities who have ventured out to different parts of the world for multiple reasons. Today, as one of the prominent Indian diasporic communities in the world, Gujaratis are successful not only in business, which is their first love, but also in professional fields such as technology, science, medicine, and business management. © Koninklijke Brill NV 2006.