Even as they look back fondly at the days spent at home, Non- Resident Gujaratis (NRGs) recollect memories of the ‘best days’ of their lives, and tell Ritika Arora what they miss the most about their homeland.
They’re known as the Indian ‘Diaspora’ abroad, and make up such a significant chunk in several foreign lands that they often outnumber the locals. Indeed, Indians settled abroad, or the ‘NRI’s as we like to call them, have dispersed so widely across the world that it would now be difficult to find a corner of the globe that has not witnessed contributions from natives of the Indian subcontinent.
There are statistics to prove this as well. In the year 2002, about 66% of the total migrants to the US were from India, with about 16 percent of the Asian-American community being Indians. According to the Little India magazine, Indians own about 50% of all economy lodges and 35% of all hotels in the US, the combine d value of which comes to be around $ 40 billion . Surveys d one across the US unanimously report that Indians are among the most educated among all ethnic groups, and their growth rate easily surpasses that of American locals.
And among all these Indians that have done the nation proud, perhaps the most stellar example is that of the NRG (Non-Resident Gujarati). From the United States to Germany and France, from South Africa to Tanzania, and from the UK to the Middle East – there must hardly be any corner that the Gujjju bhai has left unexplored, or hasn’t dug his roots into. Besides, the innate warmth and hospitality, every Gujarati has ensured that he should be able to make himself comfortable wherever he has gone.
However, it would be a big mistake to think that NRGs are indifferent to their homeland. On the contrary, it is not uncommon to hear Gujaratis settled abroad talk about the various facets of their life back home that they perpetually miss elsewhere. No matter how comfortable life may be, home will be home, as several NRGs testified. And on being asked what it is that they miss the most about home, they came up with answers ranging from the predictable Undhiyu and Dhokla to Makar Sankranti victory calls and even the art of bargaining!
Aarohi Joshi, a fourteen-year old high school student has been in the United States since she was three. Born to a staunchly Indian couple, Joshi recently lost her father to a freak accident back home. However, that hasn’t shaken her love for her country one bit, and she still looks forward to home-coming just as much as she did as a kid. “I remember how it used to be forbidden to speak any language other than Gujarati at home. I speak five languages, three of them European, but being at home meant that you had to bond in your mother tongue,” quips she.
The fact of being connected with the language is something London-based student Shachi Patel is fiercely proud of too. “We often start speaking in Gujarati outside home as well, much to the astonishment of the locals,” she grins. She says no matter how hard they try, the food never tastes the same. “Maybe it is the lack of pesticide content in the veggies – I don’t know, but it is just not the same thing. But the most unusual aspect of being abroad, according to her, is that they tend to compare everything they do with how it could be done back home! “This ensures that we are perpetually missing being in Gujarat,” says nostalgic Shachi.
Fifty-four year old Amrut Patel was a banker in Ahmedabad till he left for Kenya several years ago, and back now in the city, he is choking onwords, describing his happiness at getting back on home ground. “I love Kenya for the fact that it gave me and my children livelihood for several years, and in that sense, my respect for the place will always be the same. However, all said and done, there is no place like my motherland. This is one place where I need not worry about being a second-class citizen, and I never need to explain or justify my identity. My children are in the US, and contemplating permanently coming back to India once their education is done. Need I say more?” shares Amrut.
It isn’t just the comfort factor. Many NRIs say the frequent opportunities they get of going home ensure a healthy balance, giving them the best of both worlds. Joshi says she is as effortless with the ‘garba’ and the ‘thumka’ as with wearing micro-minis to school, calls herself ‘transformable’. “It’s quite amusing, the blend that we’ve managed to create of Indian (Gujarati) and Western sensibilities. I personally speak with an American twang, but consider myself very lucky to have been born a Gujarati. We may shop at Hollister and go for prom nites, but enjoy nothing quite like flaunting our Indian nose rings! And with all these ‘bal-gokulams’ and ‘shishu-bhartis’ progressing here, there is no dearth of exposure to Indian culture,” she says.
And then, there’s twenty-seven year old Ratna Sheth who has become a much bigger fan of vernacular newspapers since leaving India. “I regularly read Divya Bhaskar, Gujarat Samachar and Desh Gujarat nowadays, to keep up with the changing trends back home.” Her religious inclinations have stayed intact. “I make sure to pray every day, as was the case in Gujarat, and go to the temple every Sunday without fail.” Sunday, she says, is also the day when they savour Gujarati delicacies, including the family’s favourites, the ‘handvo’ and ‘muthiyas’.
The one thing however, that they all testify for, is that home is an oft-repeated word.“We may not get to come back home very often, but whenever we do, it is nothing less than a moment of rejoicing,” adds Shachi. Avani Parmar, pursuing her Masters in Dentistry from the US agrees. “Gujaratis are the most genial of the all ethnic communities I have known here,” she believes. “Undhiyu, jalebi, dances and festivals, celebrations and little triumphs are all firmly ensconced in my memory from the days we spent there. But the best memories that I have are of the good times I’ve spent with my family. No amount of affection or comfort in any other part of the world can make up for that feeling of being with one’s loved ones,” she concludes.
