NRG / (NRI) CHAUDHARIES OF BANASKANTHA

Migration from Banaskantha:




The migration from the Banaskantha district began in second half of the 20th century. A number of people belonging to different communities like Patel, Chaudhari, Jain, Prjapati, Gauswami and Bohra migrated from Palanpur, Vadgam, Deesa, Tharad, Dhanera, and Danta. The first phase of migration in Banaskantha is mainly dominated by the Jains as Khubchandbhai Parikh was the first migrant from Banaskantha district for the diamond business. The Jains migrated to Belgium which entirely controls the global polished diamond market in the world. They went to Antwerp in 1970s and 80s where 90 percent of the world’s diamond trade is concentrated. The Jews controlled this diamond trade for the last 500 years. Now the Jains from North Gujarat control 65 percent of this diamond trade of Antwerp undoing the monopoly of the Jews within twenty years. In fact, seven of top ten diamond merchants of Antwerp, are from North Gujarat, breaking the 500-year old monopoly of the Jews.

The Muslim community of Banaskantha mainly from Kanodar village has migrated to all over the world. They flourished mainly in Gulf region, Australia, the USA and the UK. They have occupied positions as teachers and educators in Muslim countries around the world. They are an important component of their host countries providing yeoman service in sectors as diverse as retailing, hospitality industry (Hotels and Motels), Medicine, Engineering and IT industry. Moreover, some Patels have migrated as labourers and professionals in the time of oil and IT boom in the USA, the UK and Gulf region. They are mostly from villages named Gadh, Kumbhasan, Sasam, Bhavisana, Laxmipura, Madana, Madhupura and Ganeshpura, etc. Apart from Patels, Jains and Muslims, some Gauswamis (Bava) and Prajapatis also have migrated to Australia and New Zealand too. Today the migration from Banaskantha to the whole world is wide-ranging simply because students of the district are migrating to new countries like China, Germany and Sweden, with a view to getting higher education.



Chaudhari NRGs of Banaskantha:

Migration is not a new phenomenon for Chaudharies of Banaskantha as many of them have already migrated to Mumbai for the Diamond business. Nevertheless, today, the Chaudharies from various villages of Banaskantha district migrate to the distant countries like the USA, the UK, New Zealand, and Australia and even in Gulf countries. The migration ratio in Chaudhari community of Banaskantha is still very lower in comparison to other communities. Approximately fifty families have migrated from this community in foreign lands. Palanpur and Vadgam regions largely dominate the migration in this community.

From being small motel owners and retail shop owners, they have moved on to big businesses in their host countries. They are mostly students and professionals. They have obtained jobs in medicine, engineering, jewelry designing, nursing, diamond industry, dairy technology and even in modern agriculture. Many of these diasporic Chaudharies have remitted foreign exchange so that educational institutes can be established in their far-flung villages in Banaskantha. They have also generously donated for the temples, religious buildings, etc. They have made their marriages in native and helped others to settle there. They have also formed their groups even at abroad, and arrange their meetings with one another if they have any problem. Few of them also describe their personal experiences: nostalgia and traumatic while living in the host country and while coming to India. Their shopping is equally tedious as they try to pick up as many things as they can start from jaggery to Rin soap, Bata slippers, etc.

Besides shopping, touring and meeting relatives, there is a particular section of NRGs, who come here with a view to getting married. The Green Card holders, the H-1 visa holders, the student visa and F1 visa holders besides a few UK and US citizens come back here for three weeks. First week is for sorting out the matrimonial advertisements. Second week is for a single day meeting with the prospective bride and groom besides the actual wedding. Third week is to enjoy married life and packing up to go back to work in the US or the UK.



Chaudhari NRGs of Banaskantha are social and communicative people with a highly developed political awareness. Those, who leave India’s shores, carry memories of a lively and vibrant democracy, a free and vocal indigenous press and a culture that accommodates a wide variety of opinions. They would be surprised and delighted to see the extent of identification and sympathy for their concerns on a wide variety of issues in the ethnic media of Indian communities around the world.

One important characteristic of the Chaudhari NRG is that they want to retain their connectivity to their motherland like Jains and Patels. It is related to general processes of globalization in the contemporary world. The cheaper and the more efficient modes of communication and transportation technology allowed theses immigrants to maintain relations with their homeland as well as their land of settlement. This is manifest in the desire of them to invest in Gujarat in the field of social sector. The non-resident Chaudharies have been very active in establishing hospitals, schools and colleges in Banaskantha. They have also been at the forefront in getting the latest technological innovations to Banaskantha.



Even in the religious and cultural field, the Chaudhari NRGs have been very active. These include the accented Gujarati speaking Chaudhari NRG girls who keep fast to please ‘Santoshi Ma’ on Fridays and the people who fast on Saturdays to appease Hanumanji and they do not drink beer on these days. This sounds ridiculous to many others but we actually even have special sales for the NRG crowd that swarms Gujarat at this time of the year. In fact, many Chaudhari NRGs living abroad come to India in December to spend the vacation in their villages or places like Goa and the Mount-Abu.



Reasons for Migration:

1. Economic Reasons

Chaudharies of Banaskantha are migrated to almost every corner of the world, whenever they found greener postures. One of the general explanations for their migration is an economic one known as ‘the push-pull theory.’ It refers to adverse economic factors pushing out people from their place of origin and putting them to favorable economic opportunities available elsewhere. The lack of fair opportunities of career cultivation and unemployment is found in some cases. The ambitious are forced to leave their country in search of a better greener posture abroad i.e. Europe, the USA and Australia. Being the members of agriculture families, NRG Chaudharies have left their native place under the compulsion of some natural disaster such as famines, droughts, etc. which creates the problems of economy. So they are migrated to foreign land in search of better life and to get prosperous economy. Traditionally, the sons inherit the property from their fathers. The land is equally divided from one generation to another, which becomes uneconomical as the economy is divided into small amounts. Therefore, the educated people from this community have started to move toward the world to maintain their prestige and dignity.



2. Social Reasons:

Some social reasons like social expenses, ‘sata-system’, etc are also responsible for the migration in Chaudhari community of Banaskantha. This community spends a large amount of money after social events like engagement, marriage, reception, etc. for which they need a lot of money to make it successful. The other issues are that of 'sata-system', as boys do not get suitable girls if they do not have strong background of wealthy family or high status. After migrating to foreign countries, they get a lot of respect by being NRGs in homeland particularly in their own community and village.



3. Due to Global inequality:

Much of this migration flow is driven by the gross inequality in wealth, waves and opportunities between the homeland and host land. The economic benefits for the rich industrial countries are widely recognized and these countries can encourage migration on terms and within limitations that best serve their interests.



Their Social Life:

Individual life of the Chaudhari NRG is lived in relation to many groups that form a set of concerte circles. At the center is ones family, which is surrounded by ever-broadening networks based on kinship, region, and caste and sub castes. Accordingly, a naturalized citizen can sponsor his parents, brother and sister for permanent residence. Their married and unmarried children can also join them. For example during 1970s and 1980s these blood relatives could come to the USA, within a span of two or three years after registration of the sponsorship. The Chaudhari NRG family consists of husband, wife, their two or three children and the parents of either husband or wife. They value their traditional Gujarati family life very highly at there. The father or husband is the head of the family with ultimate authority and responsibility for decision-making in all matters affecting the family and its individual members. They have to do some work to meet with the expenses and to save for future needs. The role of woman is not limited as homemaker that was in motherland. She acts as an earning member of family by doing any job or labor work. In addition, she is treated with greater respect at there than in homeland.

The majority of Chaudhari NRGs are vegetarian. It follows the traditional full meal structure of rice, cooked vegetables, ‘curry’ or 'deal' and 'rote' or 'rotala'. Usually they cook 'roti' or 'rotla' and vegetable for lunch while 'Khichdi' - a mix of rice and 'toor daal', or 'rotla' and milk is the favorite dish for dinner. They also eat Chainees, South-Indian and non-vegetarian food.







Their Economic Life:

Today Chaudhari NRG community is not confined to jobs only but has also entered in shopping and trade. The search for economic placements of the blood relative immigrants’ start from the day he is sponsored. They are professionals like engineers, doctors, pharmacists, technocrats, teachers, etc. Some of them have made their names in various fields. They enjoy respectable positions in several associations run by the host countries. They have established Gujarati and Indian restaurants and Sari-shops at there. Therefore, they have achieved a fair degree of economic security and some have attained high level of prosperity. They are engaged in diverse occupations in the professionals, business management and sales and service sections and relatively little involvement in the labor force or farming. Some of them are small shopkeepers and storeowners, whose businesses play an important role in the home countries’ economic and social life.



Their Connection to Homeland:

Today, with technological advances and the advent of the Internet, access to information on India has been greatly facilitated. No mention of the ethnic media would be complete without a reference to the vast proliferation of websites catering to the needs of this community in many countries. They provide easily accessible and regularly updated information on news about India, cheap airfares and flight schedules to India, tourist information, domestic flight and railway schedules, etc. Like other Gujarati diasporic community, the Chaudhari NRG community of Banaskantha remains attached to Banaskantha through various link ages. These link ages are mainly three types: (1) through written or oral communication, (2) Through personal visits (3) And through investments. Moreover, they are connected to their homeland through forming different networks as under:



Religious Network:

Religion has served as the major symbolic resource in building community and professing ethnic identity. NRGs have retained their religious identity what they carried with them during the time of migration. Their connection with other religious groups has made success in transplanting their religious traditions customs in the world. Ethnicity is the cultural characteristic that connects a particular group of people to each other. Because of transportation of technology and commutation, it is easy for NRGs to know the daily affairs happening at both ends. The best collections of Indian newspapers and magazines, which have circulated among the Indians in foreign, are as such: Business Line- the business newspaper in Australia. Another feature of their religious practice is their faith in religious teachers. During last five decades, it is observed that several spiritual gurus have extended their spiritual teachings across the world through establishment centers are such as Swaminarayan, Satya Sai Baba, Sachidanand Swami, Mahirsi Mahesh Yogi, etc. They attend these religious seminars, discourses, symposia, workshops, and contribute in charitable works. Having faith in particular Hindu sect, they regularly meet for prayer and religious programmes. Most of their homes display pictures of Hindu deities and often worship of their Mother goddess ‘Arbuda’.



Communication Networks:

Information and communication technology plays important role in connecting and bridging the gap between communities staying abroad. It is the most crucial mode of transnational network to promote linkages and sharing information between homeland diasporic communities. The diasporic communities engage in on-line services like the Internet, Usenet, and the World Wide Web to interact or communicate with their friends and relatives world over. For instance, the ethnic Indian radio channels in Australia, which provides information to Indians, are such as SBS radio – Hindi Programmes.



Social Networks:

Advancement in technologies of travel and communication and the process of globalization has made a profound impact on the social relations of Indians in the contemporary world. In past these kinship networks were maintained through sending remittances, letters and occasional home visits whereas today, it is further strengthened with the development of instant communication networks such as cheaper and faster travel, telephone, telegraph and Internet etc.

Family is the main source through which Indians in diaspora maintain their cultural identity through nurturing ideas and values, and, they pass on this to their next generations. They create and recreate the identity through practicing food habits, speaking mother tongues at homes, through marriage patterns, celebrating festivals etc. They maintain their close networks with the homeland through involvement in economic transactions such as sending significant part of their savings back home in the form of remittances in order to invest on real estate, industrial establishment, small business, and educational institutions and to contribute towards welfare activities such as charities, old age homes.



Cultural Networks:

Festivals are cultural symbols of India, which are celebrated among Indians all over the world. It provides Indians platform to bind them together in a tight-knit community. The Chaudhari NRGs of Banaskantha celebrate innumerable national, regional, local and religious festivals. The major festivals celebrated by them are Holi, Diwali, Dashera, Rakshabandhan, Uttarayan, etc. Today due to easy and cheaper communication and travel, they also fly down to homeland to celebrate these festivals with the families back to home. Another significant aspect of cultural assimilation of them is the celebration of ‘Independence Day’ by all of them together. Such Indian cultural events, these cultural events promote the solidarity of the diaspora.



Like the other NRG Communities, Chaudhari NRGs of Banaskantha define themselves partly by their cuisine. They emotionally attach to the Indian foods, cloth, music and language. They wear Gujarati dresses on important occasions and participate in all Indian cultural events. Further, they continue to attach with the homeland through Gujarati restaurant, movie stores, and other such relics in host land. Because of the revolution in the transportation and communication technology, it is now easier for them to know the daily affairs at both sides.