The Indo-Italian Saga

By Ravi Daga

Indians preserve their culture and traditions no matter which part of the world they move to. Indians moved to different parts of world and have always mixed well with the different cultures. They maintain their culture, food, traditions & rituals in foreign lands and they also mix up very well with the locals.

Indians are known for the skills they possess and their hard work – all over the world. They contribute hugely to many big economics of the world.

Italy is no exception, there are many Indians living and working here. In search of a better life, many Indians move to Italy every year. For the last 25 years, Indians from Punjab have been settling in Italy’s agricultural heartland to work primarily on farms, dairies and cheese factories.

Today, many of Italian industries trust Indian workers more and they prefer Indians for work, based on their skills, honesty and experience in the fields. Italian dairy and agriculture business owners believe that Indians are the backbone of their businesses and if the Indians go on strike, it would create many difficulties for them to run those businesses.

The Indians, many of whom are Sikhs, first arrived in the area just as a generation of dairy workers was retiring, with no substitutes in sight. Indians filled this empty space and started working in farms and dairies. “Indians saved an economy that would have gone to the dogs because young people didn’t want to work with cows,” Mayor Dalido Malaggi of Pessina Cremonese said. Young Italians don’t want to work in farms as they don’t prefer working with cows and buffalos.

It is estimated that about a third of workers in agriculture farms are Indians. Many of Indians have secured a great life here. Many have bought homes and settled their families here.

Gurduwara Sri Guru Kalgidhar Sahib situated in Cremona is touted as the largest Sikh temple in Continental Europe. Indians, by coming together contributed about 3 million Euros to build the Guruduwara. With these temples Indians preserve their culture even though they are far away from home.

Indians have integrated very well in Italy with locals. Prem Singh, who moved to Italy in 1995 with his family says that “We’ve put down our roots here. It’s our home, just like India”. His children are being raised with both Italian and Indian cultural values. Thus, Indians have not only contributed a lot to Italian economy, but also have integrated very well with local culture, just like they do in other parts of world!

(Ravi Daga lives in Cassino, Italy. He is a student of Economics and Entrepreneurship in university of Cassino and southern lazio, Italy)