Investing in ones homeland: means to negotiate ones identity and belongingness?
Author Name
Swati Mantri
Author Address
PhD Candidate
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi.
Email:
[email protected]
Keywords
Identity, religion, remittance, community, memory, home, belonging.
Abstract
Drawing on fieldwork data on the Marwari community of Kolkata city, where Marwari associations – both cultural and religious – have active links with the diaspora community in the United States, the paper shows the ways in which such active links between the homeland and host society is maintained by the community, for instance,by ‘importing’priests and cultural artists from Kolkatafor the temples in America. Understanding United States as the leading migrant destination and India- the largest recipient of remittances in the world (World Bank Report, 2016), the paper reflects on the pride the Marwari community of Kolkata experiences in the monetary contributionsby non-resident Marwari Indians from the United States for economic, social and industrial development in India. ‘Hometown as the centre of a network around which personnel, capital, and honour circulate’ (Nakatani, 2013), necessitates understanding the significance of ones connection with, and the meaning of homelandfor the diasporic Marwari community. The paper therefore questions what constitutes home for the younger generation of Marwaris in contrast to that of the older generation, after being settled for generations outside their native country?Establishment of several temples devoted to native gods of Marwari in the United States, in the recent past, suggest the ways in which these institutions constitute crucial sites for renewing and reinforcing ethnic identities, religious practices, and transmitting one’s own culture, values and tradition to the new generations away from homeland.A strong presence of Marwari associations and institutions in the United States signifiesthe attachment to one’s identity especially in a diasporic context. Literature on immigrant communities suggest that an immigrant community choses to identify itself by the community affiliation as the first identifying marker than their being Indian or American. By responding to above questions, the paper would therefore unravel the multiple layers that constructs the diasporic identity of Marwari community in the USA.
Conference
International Conference on "Global Migration: Rethinking Skills, Knowledge and Culture"