Future of Indian Diaspora
The Future of Indians Diaspora
Though Indians lived under conditions of appalling poverty in many places of the world where they were first taken as indentured labor, a number of remarkable transformations were effected over two or three generations. Through sheer perseverance, labor, and thrift, and most significantly by a calculated withdrawal into their culture, in which they found forces of sustenance, these Indians successfully labored to give their children and grand-children better economic futures, and they in time came to capture the trade and commerce of their new homelands. This was just as true in South Africa, Kenya, and Uganda, as it was in Trinidad, Mauritius, and Burma. In Trinidad, though the minuscule population of whites continues today to control the banks and financial services, the Indians dominate in industry and entrepreneurial enterprises. If in Trinidad Indians appear to have done well for themselves within the economic domain, their affluence in such countries as the United States is even more pronounced, as is their presence within the professions. In the southern states, motels are synonymous with Patels, and one is tempted to see in the synchronization of the two words something more than mere coincidence. Taking the country as a whole, though their share of the population in the United States is less than 0.5%, Indians account for well over 5% of the scientists, engineers, and software specialists; and no group, not excepting whites, the Japanese, and Jewish people, has a higher per capita income than Indians.
All, however, is not well with Indians in the diaspora. In many countries, the resident Indian population has acquired something of a reputation for un-national activities, or just as frequently for exploiting the indigenous people, for having cornered the trade and business, and for being possessed of a greedy disposition. The calypsonian Lord Superior voiced these sentiments in Trinidad, when he urged Prime Minister Dr.
Though Indians lived under conditions of appalling poverty in many places of the world where they were first taken as indentured labor, a number of remarkable transformations were effected over two or three generations. Through sheer perseverance, labor, and thrift, and most significantly by a calculated withdrawal into their culture, in which they found forces of sustenance, these Indians successfully labored to give their children and grand-children better economic futures, and they in time came to capture the trade and commerce of their new homelands. This was just as true in South Africa, Kenya, and Uganda, as it was in Trinidad, Mauritius, and Burma. In Trinidad, though the minuscule population of whites continues today to control the banks and financial services, the Indians dominate in industry and entrepreneurial enterprises. If in Trinidad Indians appear to have done well for themselves within the economic domain, their affluence in such countries as the United States is even more pronounced, as is their presence within the professions. In the southern states, motels are synonymous with Patels, and one is tempted to see in the synchronization of the two words something more than mere coincidence. Taking the country as a whole, though their share of the population in the United States is less than 0.5%, Indians account for well over 5% of the scientists, engineers, and software specialists; and no group, not excepting whites, the Japanese, and Jewish people, has a higher per capita income than Indians.
All, however, is not well with Indians in the diaspora. In many countries, the resident Indian population has acquired something of a reputation for un-national activities, or just as frequently for exploiting the indigenous people, for having cornered the trade and business, and for being possessed of a greedy disposition. The calypsonian Lord Superior voiced these sentiments in Trinidad, when he urged Prime Minister Dr.