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 LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2016963169 TheprinteditionisnotforsaleinIndia.CustomersfromIndiapleaseordertheprintbookfrom:Rawat Publications, SatyamApartments,Sector3 JainTempleRoad,JawaharNagar,Jaipur302 004.ISBN oftheIndianedition:978-81-316-0790-9 ©TheAuthor(s)2017 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublishers,whetherthewholeorpart of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission orinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilar methodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped. 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Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:152BeachRoad,#21-01/04GatewayEast,Singapore189721,Singapore 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