Abstract
The prologue
Migration is a universal phenomenon. It is, at the same time, a highly heterogeneous process. Defined as the movement of people from one geographical location to another, transiently or permanently, it encompasses a myriad of perspectives and occurs for a multitude of reasons (International Organization for Migration, 2020). People migrate for jobs, financial security, career, marriages, as refugees or to escape from religious persecution. Whatever the reason, the constant dynamics of migration has been proposed as an anthropological stabilization for the human race. A significant part of this is also internal migration (within the home country), as many of us are and also forced displacement (due to a natural disaster or civil disturbance). Worldwide, nations have varying rates of internal migration, which decide the population heterogeneity (White & Lindstrom, 2005). India, housing one of the largest and most diverse populations in the world, is the seat of ‘intensive internal migration’. With growing economic development and globalization, the migration profile of the sub-continent has been rapidly evolving over the years. As per the Census 2011, about 307 million persons have been reported as migrants by place of birth. The data on migration by last residence shows the total number of migrants to be around 314 million. Among them 85% are internal migrants, mostly in search of work, business, education and movement at birth (Census of India, 2011). Migration has often been considered to be a major factor in deciding the population dynamics in a given area, apart from mortality and fertility. It is also a socially bidirectional phenomenon, having marked impact on self-esteem, relationships, resilience, and psychosocial well-being (Bhugra, 2004). The various shades of migration have led to marked heterogeneity in the population, diversifying the socio-cultural, socio-economic and religious milieu. Keeping in perspective this ‘constantly migrating India’, we have provided a bird’s eye view into India Moving: A History of Migration authored by Dr Chinmay Tumbe (2018). A different-genre book altogether, it focuses on regional migration systems, involving one of the largest migrations in history. As a starter, according to the foreword by Arvind Subramanian, Chief Economic Advisor, Government of India, the author “skilfully combines economics, history, vignette, anecdote, and the odd literary reference” to portray the “when, how and why” of Indian migration over the millenia.
A look at the author
Dr Chinmay Tumbe is an alumnus of the London School of Economics and Political Science and the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. He has been a faculty member at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Hyderabad and a 2013 Jean Monnet Fellow at the Migration Policy Centre, European University Institute, Florence. This book, which started initially as his doctoral research on migration history, progressed to a decade-long academic and personal adventure, including an elaborate research on the history of migration and also the contemporary migration scenario. Himself a migrant, this aspect lends a personal touch to the book. He is presently a faculty member at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. After publishing widely on migration for a decade and working with several policy groups, India Moving is his first book.
‘India Moving’: turning the pages
India Moving attempts to map various aspects of large migrations in India, ranging from Kashmir to Kerala, from Japan to Jamaica and more, incorporating adventures, indentures and tragedies. As mentioned, ‘every migrant has a personal story’, the book takes us through the processes of internal and external migration as well as the evolution of trade, socio-cultural norms and traditions in various parts of India based on the admixture of the populations. The shaping of Indian’s landscape based on the migrant movement is thus layed out to the readers in tales, puns, anecdotes and “joyful exploration” that generates a lively curiosity.
The author begins aptly, with an interesting quote by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, about India being a geographical, economic and cultural entity separated by diversity, yet connected by invisible threads holding everyone together. And he goes on to challenge the misconception of low spatial mobility in Indian history, and how India has witnessed some of the largest episodes of voluntary and involuntary migration, unaware to most of the population at large. He puts forward questions about our origin: whether our diversity is the result of consecutive migration waves or is a deliberate isolation of diverse groups for long, which have forced to unite of late? In the intriguing introductory chapter titled, ‘Indian Diversity and Global Migration’, the author tries to untangle the diverse stories that thread together the rich cultural and historical heritage of the country. It includes the story of Malik Ambar, an Ethiopian slave in India who later stood against the Mughal Emperor Jahangir to protect the kingdom of Ahmednagar. On another side, in the 19th century, more than half a million Indians joined sugar plantations in Mauritius while male migrants were uniquely involved in the Indian Postal service. The waves of migration are thus shown to be ingrained in imperialism and colonialism, which gradually formed the Indian diversity.
Five chapters follow, and the author then goes on to describe a phenomenon called as ‘The Great Indian Migration Wave’, being a mass migration involving at least 20% of the Indian population and which all of us were, are and will be a part of. The descriptions of the migrant stories of Ratnagiri, Saran, Udupi and Ganjam are a literary treat to the readers; intertwined with humour; and the author cleverly linking its contribution to the country’s economy and current relevance. In Dr Tumbe’s words, ‘the country sustains the world’s largest and longest voluntary migration episode in migration history’. It then touches on effects of migration on foods (ranging from Udupi chain of restaurants to Ratnagiri mangoes), famous Bunts of Bollywood actresses like Aishwarya Rai and Shilpa Shetty, to the Khoja Muslim enterprise and finally moves on to the ‘Merchants and Capital’. Here the impact of migration has been explored in merchant communities with a glimpse at the fascinating world of the Parsis, Chettiars, Punjabis, Marwaris and Gujaratis and the ‘Global Sindhi phenotype’ (known all over for their ‘business-mindedness and conservative nature’). Covering a range of topics, from the opium trade with China to the state-of-the-art steel plant Tata Group, and from Nattukottai Chettiars in the south to the Hiranandani Groups in the north, the author adeptly highlights the migration events with finesse and care. These migrant group’s contributions were not limited only to the culture and economy, but also brought to the fore eminent Indians such as Vallabhai Patel, Bhikaiji Cama, L. K. Advani, Dadabhai Naoroji, J. R. D. Tata and Azim Premji. The Indian dreams now saw opportunities in the growing global economy and started crossing over the tides of Kaalapani. India saw her children fulfilling their dreams in Europe, South East Asia and South Africa. The author recreates the past in front of our eyes aided by the illustrative pictures.
Moving on to the fourth chapter on ‘Diasporas and Dreams’, both from an insider and outsider perspective, the authors’ observations on sub-Indian diasporas are fascinating. He highlights internal displacement as an offshoot of ambitious developmental projects and internal violence, stating ‘more than 40 million people have been displaced within India due to apparent planned development since Independence’. Privileged groups have been described to be traditionally mobile whereas the ‘impoverished groups’ continue to be ‘disempowered due to lack of substantial mobility and absence of informational networks’. Yet, the homeless individuals are considered one of the most widely displaced groups in India, with their numbers rising by the day. Also according to Dr Tumbe, the 10 major Indian languages spoken by over 90% of Indians stand more than double the size of the country’s international diaspora. The ‘migrational networks of priests, warriors and merchants’ over the years have also imposed a ‘stunting’ of the Adivasi and Dalit diasporas (the caste based and ethnic minorities of India). Taking on Ambedkar’s view of localism and ignorance, Dr Tumbe highlights the detrimental effects of caste on migration.
In the next chapter on ‘Partitions and Displacements’, the author speaks about one of the most sensitive yet tragic life-event in the country’s history, the Partition India both on the Western and Eastern Front, with the unleashing of chaos and madness along with the forced displacement being spontaneous, violent and exhausting. In a land accustomed to postponement, this chapter bears witness to the preponement of the formation of a country, and to the cries of millions, one of the most nightmarish calamities, while turning the blood-stained pages of our history. He brings to light the change in trend of the displacements to man-made natural disasters, ethnic conflict and development projects; and how the burden is always mostly borne by the lower caste. The cruel inequalities of humanity divided suddenly by an ‘arbitrary border’ has led to millions being homeless and landless, the unfortunate tales of which are still echoed along the borders. Dr Tumbe aptly stresses on the factors of ‘marginalization, food insecurity, increased morbidity and mortality, loss of common property, and social disarticulation’ that form the basis of resettlement after forced displacement.
In the final chapter, the author gives a three-pronged perspective of migration, based on the ideologies of Ambedkar, Gandhi and Bal Thackeray, with each providing their answers for the common question, of whose living standards are being raised by migration? He also briefly speaks about the unequal trickle of the great migration wave to the lower castes who continue to receive the short end of the bargain. He slowly garners the readers to notion of the battle of the 21st century being cosmopolitanism vs nativism, which has dawned on us and urges us to prepare ourselves for the inevitable. At this point, the Indian paradox of migration is stated by the author where the international refugees have always received a better treatment than the internal migrants which have continuing impact on the migration workforce even today, even though they form the economic backbone of the country.
The reader’s take
Though one of its kind, one of the possible drawbacks is that in places, the book finds itself incapable of handling the tonnes of information and gives way to disorganization and lack of clarity, especially while generating pathways of Indian diversity. At times, the historical references to the Aryan civilization, the Harappan culture and the Vedic culture appear to be somewhat tangential, unable to explain the genesis of India’s diversity based on the proposed theories. Also, though the portrayal of ancient, medieval and modern Indian migrations throughout history are reader’s delight and helps them picturize “India moving”, the grey line between fantasy and pragmatism of migration is often crossed back and forth that leaves us pondering on the ‘darker shades’ of the migrant-stories. Inclusion of the mutual narratives between the local and migrant populations (both acceptance and rejection) might have added value to the rich discussion of acceptance and acculturation. With progressive chapters, the reader is at times left with the feeling that the author might have romanticized the idea of ‘migration’ in the process of authoring, thus contradicting his views on the challenges and tragic connotations of certain migrant groups. A section of the migrant population (workers and manual laborers) struggle with their livelihood each day due to the socio-economic disparities. Even though the author glances at them starting right from the “ancient slaves” to the modern day “coolies and domestic helpers”, the lived experiences of their impoversihment are overshadowed by the ‘literary vigor’ surrounding their adjustments to migrated environments.
The reviewers humbly acknowledge the disclaimer that these views are solely personal as they journeyed the pages. These observations in no way undermine the author’s Herculean effort to incorporate history admixed with pragmatism with implications for the future. Dr Tumbe’s work is a valuable read as it is an eye-opener to the discriminative processes, irrespective of the dazzling and humour-laden stories about Indian migration.
The epilogue
To circle back to the start, ‘A little bit of India moves with every migrant’ as the author points out with ‘each aeroplane and train leaving the cities’. The book points out that not only formal employment but natural disasters, political unrest and poverty can be important driving forces in re-shaping a population. To conclude with a vision of the 21st century, Dr Tumbe predicts a massive North-to-South mass migration in the coming days based on wage and fertility rate differences in these two regions. Anchored on the hallowed philosophy of ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ (A guest is the equivalent of God), this immemorial Indian tradition is immortalized in India Moving through the various dimensions of struggle, obligation, wisdom and personal growth, accommodating and accepting changes as they come. Importantly the emphasis that migration being a contemporary and complex phenomenon is bound to touch all our lives visibly and invisibly; and in an increasingly interconnected world, change is inevitable occurring every moment. This message resonates throughout the book.
Migration affects all of us, in some way or the other, throughout our lives. In that context, this book probably also provides the readers an opportunity for a more humane and collectivist gaze, to re-think migration as ‘growth’ and respect diversity to support the multiple needs of food, shelter, sanitation, health care, education and livelihoods, when populations assimilate. Understanding the origins and diversity as Indians will surely help foster positivism and mutual understanding among both the ‘migrants’ and ‘natives’ alike. Only then, can we live up to the ending yet welcoming note of the author, ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ (the world is one family).
