South Asian Diaspora Narratives: Roots and Routes

191 Pages·2017·1.96 MB·English

by  Amit Sarwal (auth.)

Amit Sarwal
South Asian
Diaspora Narratives
Roots and Routes
South Asian Diaspora Narratives
Amit Sarwal
South Asian Diaspora
Narratives
Roots and Routes
123
Amit Sarwal
SBS HindiRadio, DeakinUniversity
Melbourne, VIC
Australia
ISBN978-981-10-3628-6 ISBN978-981-10-3629-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-3629-3
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For
Reema and Mishank
Acknowledgements
The development and completion of this research would not have been possible
without the financial support of the Australian Government. I would like to thank
the Endeavour Asia Programme (Department of Education, Employment and
WorkplaceRelations) that enabledmetovisit MonashUniversity,Clayton,during
2006–2007. I would like to thank the staff of New South Global International
Projects who managed the Endeavour Asia Programme. My special thanks to
Dr.AndrewHassamandDr.TseenKhooforhostingmeattheNationalCentrefor
Australian Studies and School of Political and Social Inquiry, respectively. I also
thankProf.RaeFrances(DeanofArts,MonashUniversity)andthestaffofSchool
of English, Communication and Performance Studies and Matheson Library
(Monash University).
I am indebted to Dr. Andrew Hassam for encouraging me to apply for the
EndeavourAsiaAward.Hisfriendlyadvice,constructivecriticism,andafirst-hand
introduction to the Australian way of life helped me formulate the theoretical
framework for this study. Without his friendship and initiation, I would not have
made so many Australian friends with such ease!
This book would not have been possible without the institutional support of
Centre for Citizenship and Globalisation (CCG), Deakin University, and feedback
of my fellow researchers: Prof. David Walker, Prof. Fethi Mansouri, Dr. Vince
Marotta, Dr. Yin Paradies, Dr. Danny Ben-Moshe, Dr. Benjamin Isakhan,
Dr. Michele Lobo, Dr. Sally Percival Wood, Dr. Amelia Johns, Dr. Liudmila
Kirpitchenko, Dr. Masa Mikola, Ms. Paula Muraca, and Ms. Cayla Edwards.
I owe wholehearted thanks to Prof. Santosh K. Sareen, Prof. Makarand
Paranjape, Prof. Harish Narang, Prof. G.J.V. Prasad, Prof. Kapil Kapoor,
Prof. Saugata Bhaduri, Dr. Navneet Sethi, Dr. R.K. Verma, Dr. S.N. Sharma,
Dr. Meeta Mathur, Dr. Tasneem Shanaz, Dr. Rita Mehra, Dr. Usha Shourie, and
Dr.UshaSharmafortheirinvaluablesupportandrecognitionofmywork.Igreatly
benefitedfromtheirlectures,discussions,andencouragement.Imustalsothankthe
staff of CES: Rawat ji, Radhe ji, Bhagwati ji, and Karamchand ji for their
administrative help.
vii
viii Acknowledgements
Thanks also to the editors and reviewers of South Asian Diaspora, Lemuria,
Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities, Dialogue, and
Journal of the Department of English (Vidyasagar University). Special thanks to
Prof. David Lowe, Dr. Ajaya Kumar Sahoo, Dr. T.P. Mukhopadhyaya, Dr. Tarun
TapasMukherjee,Dr.IndranilAcharya,Dr.AnidaBasuRoy,andMr.ShalajMittal
(Readworthy Publications), for permitting me to reprint my research papers as
chapters in this book.
It is a pleasure to thank the many people who made this research possible with
their wise advice at various junctures of time: So many people have provided
assistancetomeincountlessbigandsmallwaysatvariousjunctures oftime:Late
Prof.J.V.D’Cruz,LateProf.BruceBennett,Prof.C.T.Indra,Prof.AnisurRahman,
Dr. Eugenie Pinto, Prof. David Lowe, Prof. Hema Sharda, Prof. Yasmine
Gooneratne, Prof. Bill Ashcroft, Prof. Stephen Muecke, Prof. Vijay Mishra,
Prof.BrijV.Lal,Prof.SatendraNandan,Prof.RichardNile,Prof.MarikaVicziany,
Prof.MalatiMathur,Prof.DidierCoste,Prof.PaulSharrad,Prof.DevleenaGhosh,
Prof. Marie de Lepervanche, Prof. John Webb, Prof. Laksiri Jayasuriya,
Dr. Chandani Lokugé, Dr. Lachlan Strahan, Dr. Kama Maclean, Dr. Richard
Hosking, Prof. Ghassan Hage, Dr. Sonia Mycak, Dr. Toni Johnson-Woods,
Dr. Geetha B., Dr. Nathan Hollier, Dr. Margaret Allen, Dr. Suvendrini Perera,
Dr. Lisa French, Dr. Larissa Jane McLean Davies, Dr. Sissy Helff, Dr. Michiel
Baas, Dr. Alice Ingram, Dr. Sharon Rundle, Dr. Bernard Whimpress, Dr. Selvaraj
Velayutham, Dr. Manas Ray, Dr. Pramod Nayar, Dr. Russell Blackford,
Dr. Indranil Acharya, Dr. Nicholas Birns, Dr. Nathanael O’Reilly, Dr. Sophie
Loy-Wislon,Dr.AgnieszkaSobocinska,Dr.VikrantKishore,Dr.JaydeepSarangi,
Dr.GoldieOsuri,Dr.SharonRundle,Dr.Jean-FrançoisVernay,Dr.NalinSharda,
Dr. Mala Pandurang, Dr. Ishmeet Kaur, Dr. Alex Naraniecki, Mr. Sunil Badami,
Ms. Malathy Anandavalli, Mr. Anupam Sharma, Ms. Kumud Mirani, Mr. Chris
Raja,Ms.LilyPetkovska,Mr.ParichayPatra,andmanyotherscholarswithwhom
Ihadthepleasureandhonourofworking.Iamgratefultoeveryoneandespecially
to those whose names are not mentioned here!
ThanksalsotomycolleaguesattheUniversityofDelhi,Dr.VijayLaxmiPandit,
Dr. Jafri S. Abbas, Dr. Vrasha Gupta, Dr. Chander Shekhar Singh, Dr. Bharti
Sharma, Dr. Harish Dahiya, Dr. Saurabh Mishra, Dr. Rajesh Kumar Jha,
Dr.GautamChakrabarti,Dr.SumitaPal,Ms.GorvikaRao,Mr.VedMitraShukla,
Ms. Kanch V. Arora, Ms. Pawan Oberoi, and Mr. Mithuraaj Dhusia.
Personally, I am grateful to Suboohi, Ehsan, Anthea, Fiona, Rakesh, Tupur,
Ashrut,Smriti,Jyothi,PhaniRaj,Alex,Sonja,andallotherfriendswhohavemade
me feel at home in Australia. My thanks and best wishes must also go to my dear
friends from JNU,especiallyGunjeet,Pradip,Aniruddha,Deepa,Swati, Rhythma,
Shantanu, Amrita, Parul, Aditi, Swapnil, Divya, Deepti, Amit Ranjan, Prateek,
Moola Ram, Geetharani, Sami, and Devapriya.
VeryspecialthankstomydearestfriendDr.AneetaRajendranforherguidance
and advice during the various stages of this research.
ManythankstomembersofAustralia-IndiaInterdisciplinaryResearchNetwork
(AIIRN), Indian Association for the Study of Australia (IASA), and Asian
Acknowledgements ix
Australian Studies Research Network (AASRN) for their support and feedback
during various conferences.
Tons ofthanks toMs. Rini Barman (Delhi)for copyediting andfine-tuning this
book.
Tothepublishingteam,whohavehandledtheeditorialandproductionworkon
this volume with professional skill and finesse, a very big thank you!
Mylove andthankstomyparents, parents-in-law, brothers, myentireextended
family(inIndia,UnitedStates,UnitedKingdom,Germany,andNewZealand)and
all my in-laws for their constant care and unconditional love.
Mostimportantly,Iwouldliketoexpressmymostprofoundlove,appreciation,
and thanks to my wife, Reema, for her generous praise, advice, encouragement,
guidance,proofreading,andlove.Iwouldbelostwithouther!Idedicatethisbook
toReema,ourson—Mishank,andthewritersofSouthAsiandiasporainAustralia.
Melbourne 2016 Amit Sarwal
Contents
1 Introduction: Roots and Routes... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .. 1
Locations .... .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .. 3
Defining Racism... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .. 5
Defining Diaspora.. .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .. 21
Defining South Asianness: Social and Theoretical Identities... ..... .. 28
Chapter Divisions.. .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .. 33
2 South Asian Diaspora in Australia: History, Research,
and Literature.... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .. 39
South Asians in Australia: A Brief History.... .... .... .... ..... .. 41
Researches on South Asian Diaspora in Australia... .... .... ..... .. 49
Sociological and Anthropological Research . .... .... .... ..... .. 50
Literary Research .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .. 60
Conclusion ... .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .. 67
3 An Element of Romanticization: Sensory and Spatial
Locations.... .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .. 71
Sensory Versus Spatial Locations... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .. 71
The Element of Romanticization.... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .. 73
Conclusion ... .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .. 79
4 A Journey Through Places: Politics of Spatial Location ... ..... .. 81
Politics of Spatial Location... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .. 81
5 Real, Imagined, and Mythologized: (Re)Presentation
of Lost Home. .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .. 97
6 Acts of Remembering and Forgetting: Reflections
Through Nostalgia .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .. 109
Introduction .. .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .. 109
Acts of Remembering and Forgetting.... .... .... .... .... ..... .. 111
Conclusion ... .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .. 120
xi
xii Contents
7 An Australian Learning Experience: Prejudice, Racism
and Indifference .. .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .. 123
Prejudice, Racism and Indifference.. .... .... .... .... .... ..... .. 124
Conclusion ... .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .. 131
8 Another World, Another Future .. .... .... .... .... .... ..... .. 135
9 Conclusion: Thoda Indian, Thoda Aussie ... .... .... .... ..... .. 147
Bibliography.... .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .. 159
Index.. .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .. 181