Ethnicity, Self-Knowledge and Literary Sensitivity: A Sociological Reading of V. S. Naipaul’s First Four Novels

Taking a cue from G. S. Ghurye’s Shakespeare on Conscience and Justice (1965) this lecture in his memory explores the role of ethnicity in shaping the self-knowledge and literary sensitivity of V. S. Naipaul. Naipaul’s life traverses three distinct cultures: the Hindu culture brought by his ancestors who came as indentured migrants to Trinidad, the Creole culture of colonial Trinidad and the emerging modern culture of western civilisation. Much of Naipaul’s self-knowledge involved his engagement with these three cultures and his experience of the interplay between colonialism and ethnicity. In his first four novels— Miguel Street, The Mystic Masseur, The Suffrage of Elvira and A House for Mr Biswas—Naipaul describes the life and times of the descendants of Indian immigrants in colonial Trinidad and the making of a girmitiya diaspora there. The lecture delineates the rare sociological insights into this diaspora provided by these novels.

Dharma in America: A Short History of Hindu-Jain Diaspora by Pankaj Jain

As a scholar of diaspora studies and having read a fair share of literature on diaspora, there is one question that I always ask before starting to read a book on diaspora: why is it important to know about diaspora? A related question is, important to whom? Why do we need to tell stories of those who have left? I determine the eminence of the book based on how far the author has been able to answer the above questions and Dharma in America doesn’t disappoint me. Although every immigrant story is amazing, the Journey of Indians in America is distinctive on many fronts including education, income and entrepreneurship. Once “lost actors” are now “national assets” for both the host country and the homeland. Immigration to the United States from India started in the early 19th century when Indian immigrants began settling in communities along the West Coast. Although they originally arrived in small numbers, new opportunities arose in the middle of the 20th century, and the population grew larger in the following decades. As of 2019, about 2.7 million Indian immigrants resided in the United States (Hanna & Batlova, 2020). Today, Indian immigrants account for approximately 6 per cent of the U.S. foreign-born population, making them the second-largest immigrant group in the country, after Mexicans (Ibid).

Indian Migrants in Brunei: The Role of Social Networks

Indian immigrants have emerged as a dominant community in Brunei nowadays. Since the colonial period, there has been an influx of Indian migrants to Brunei. This research investigates the social networks that Indians used to get to Brunei. Evidently, there has been little research on these group of people in Brunei. This study employs a sample of 17 low, semi, and unskilled Indian migrants chosen on snow-ball basis. Face-to-face interviews were conducted. According to the findings of this study, social networks played a significant role in making the decision to migrate over to Brunei. We found that chain migration mechanism has been active in the India-Brunei migration domain since long. As a risk diversification approach, migration networks act as a web of interpersonal connections that connect migrants, former migrants, and non-migrants in their origin and destination countries via relationships of kinship, friendship, and common community origin.

ISU KETUANAN MELAYU DI MALAYSIA

This article discusses an important political concept in Malaysia, that is the political supremacy of the Malays. The Malays supremacy was resulted from a social contract between the native Malays, on one part, and the Indian and Chinese immigrants, on the other part, during the negotiation concerning the independent of Persekutuan Tanah Melayu before 1957. It was said in the contract the native Malays slackened the prerequisites for the citizenship of the Persekutuan Tanah Melayu for the Chinese and Indian immigrants, while the Chinese and the Indian immigrants admitted a dominant position of the Malays in political administration. However, after the Persekutuan Tanah Melayu changed into Malaysia in 1963, the Chinese and the Indians begin to be disloyal to the social contract. They wanted equal right among all Malaysian citizens. By using archaeological dan ethnohistorical approaches, I will trace the origins of the concept of native supremacy in the Malay Nusantara sosiocultural context. Secondly, I will discuss the challenges facing the concept after Malay Land occupied by the British colonialist, particularly after the 1960es. The concept of “native sovereignity” is called beschikkingsrecht in Dutch language. It was invented by a Dutch expert of customary law, van Vollenhoven, in 1909 (ter Haar 1962). The concept of “native sovereignity” was originally aimed to remind the neighbour villagers or the foreigners when they passed on, or open a rice field, in a new area. They had to ask permission to the master of the land. Therefore, for the sake of harmonious social life, all ethnic groups in todays Malaysia, especially the new immigrants from different cultural background, it is suggested to learn and comprehend basic concepts in traditional native Malays customary law. Keywords: native Malays, ethnicity, native sovereignity, beschikkingsrecht, Will of the Malay Kings.

Perceptions and Practices of General Practitioners towards Oral Cancer and Emerging Risk Factors among Indian Immigrants in Australia: A Qualitative Study

Background: In Australia, Indian immigrants are one of the fastest-growing communities. Since oral cancer is widespread in India, the indulgence of Indians in customs of areca (betel) nut use in Australia may be linked to the recent rise in oral cancer cases. Since GPs (general practitioners) are primary healthcare providers, it is pivotal to ensure the oral cancer awareness of GPs. This study aimed to explore oral cancer risk-related knowledge, beliefs, and clinical practices of GPs in Australia. Methods: Fourteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with GPs practicing across New South Wales and Victoria. Purposive and snowball sampling were used for recruitment. Data were analysed through a directed content analysis approach. Results: All GPs were knowledgeable of major oral cancer causative factors including tobacco and alcohol, but some had limited understanding about the risks associated with areca nut preparations. Positive attitudes were evident, with all participants acknowledging the importance of oral cancer risk assessment. Most GPs recalled not performing oral cancer routine check-ups. Conclusion: GPs presented good oral cancer knowledge except for emerging risk factors such as areca nut use. Varied beliefs and inconsistent clinical practices relating to oral cancer screening is concerning. Accessible oral cancer training around emerging risk factors may benefit GPs.

Indian Diaspora Gastronomy: On the Changing Use of Herbs and Spices Among Southern California's Indian Immigrant Women

Southern California has witnessed a burgeoning Indian immigrant population in recent decades. And among the cultural features that most distinguishes Indians is their cuisine. Their use of herbs and spices in food and medicine, in particular, is tightly bound to language, religion, gender, and overall cultural identity. Identifying how Indian immigrants' culinary choices adapt to southern California's varied and often fast-food based gastronomy, particularly impacts on the inter-generational transmission of traditional culinary knowledge, is important in terms of understanding the role of cultural retention and assimilation, as well as culturally-defined notions of food in physical and psychological well-being. We explored these questions by means of interviews with 31 Indian immigrant women in southern California. Participants were selected by means of snowball sampling. Our working hypothesis was that problems with sourcing and cultural assimilation pressures would have eroded the use of traditional herbs and spices. A total of 66 herbs and spices (and associated seasonings) were reported. Of these, the highest frequency of use was recorded for turmeric (100% of respondents) followed by cilantro, cinnamon, clove, cumin, curry leaves, and ginger (all 97%). The highest Species Medicinal Use Values were recorded, in descending order, for turmeric, ginger, fenugreek seeds, clove, cinnamon, curry leaves, and Tulsi. Contrary to expectations, there was no significant association between years resident in the United States and decreasing use of herbs and spices. Indeed, in some cases the confluence of northern and southern Indian immigrant women with a new identity simply as “Indian” resulted in an increase in the knowledge and use of herbs and spices. Spices are nearly all locally sourced, and where specific herbs are not readily accessible, they are cultivated in homegardens or brought directly from India. Many Indian immigrants are relatively prosperous and able to travel frequently to and from India, thus maintaining close cultural ties with their homeland. Indian immigrant women are fully aware of the health benefits associated with the use of traditional herbs and spices, and all participants reported that Indian food is a healthier choice than American cuisine. Knowledge is passed via vertical transmission, primarily through mothers and grandmothers to daughters. Overall, there is little concern among female Indian immigrants to southern California that knowledge and use of their traditional herbs and spices are in a state of decline.

Transnational Identity in Unaccustomed Earth: A Study of Jhumpa Lahiri’s and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s Short Fictions

This paper intends to examine transnational identity of first- and second-generation Indian diasporic and/or transnational subjects through the portrayal of protagonists in Jhumpa Lahiri’s and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s short fictions: “Unaccustomed Earth” and “Hell-heaven” (2008), “Clothes” and “Silver Pavements and Golden Roofs (1995)”. Theories of transnationalism, identity and transnational identity were used to scrutinise the ways those fictional characters define themselves as well as the ways they negotiate homeland and the ‘unaccustomed earth’. This paper also discovers opportunities, and difficulties faced by first- and second-generation Indian immigrants, and the differences between the impacts of crossing national boundaries towards both communities. This study used textual analysis of selected narratives for an understanding of transnational identity in literature, and how Indian diasporic or transnational subjects made sense of their roots and routes when those fictional characters were trapped in between their Indian roots, and the need to make sense of unaccustomed earth.