Thursday, July 15, 2010

INDIAN DIASPORA AND GUJARATI DIASPORA

The term ‘Diaspora’ is one kind of movement of displaced communities of people who have been dislocated from their mother country and settled in some other country or nation. They were either forced to leave or voluntarily left their homeland or territory and became residents in areas often far removed from the former. In Ancient Greece the term Diaspora was used to refer to citizens of dominant city-state who had immigrated to a conquered land with the purpose of colonization to assimilate the territory into the Empire. The original meaning was cut off from the present meaning when the Old Testament was translated into Greek, and the word Diaspora was used to refer specially to the population of Jews.


Meaning of Diaspora:

The word ‘Diaspora’ comes from the Greek word ‘Diaspeirein’ meaning “to scatter seeds”, indicative of dispersal. The Greek the word “Dia” means “about across” and the word “Speirein” means “to scatter.” The word carried connotation of hostility, upheaval, alienation, loss, exile and return; but words and concepts never remain static, and they evolve in time to acquire expanded meaning in response to historical, cultural and social developments. A key characteristic of diaspora is that a strong sense of connection to a homeland is maintained through cultural practices and ways of life. As Avatar Brah reminds us:

This ‘homeland’ might be imaginary rather than real and its existence need not be tied to any desire to "return" home. The maintenance of these kinds of cultural connections can, in some cases, provokes both nostalgic and separatist tendencies. The focus here is on the place of cooking and eating among the enduring habits, rituals, and everyday practices that are collectively used to sustain a shared sense of diasporic cultural identity, in recognition that culinary culture has an important part to play in diasporic identifications.

Brief history of Diaspora:


The word Diaspora was originally applied to the Jewish people, who were exiled from Israel in 607 B.C. by the Babylonians. However, the term is now also being applied to the people who were settled in their host countries for the purpose of better job opportunities, lifestyle or for seeking more knowledge. In most of the cases, they settled voluntarily in their host countries. Some times, refugees of other origins may be called a Diaspora. In mid 1950s, the term became more widely assimilated into English, with long term expatriates insignificant numbers from the other particular countries or regions also being referred to as Diaspora. In the twenty-first century, Diaspora implies a dislocation from one’s own country to relocation in some other country or nation.

No comments: