THE NEW AMBASSADORS

Government figures say there are 20 million people Indian origin living in 110 million countries. Somehow you don’t need statistics to tell you that. You can find Indians in the most unlikely places.

The migration of Indians has been quiet, gradual but relentless. I like to think of it as a reverse colonization. During the Raj, Indians were sent as indentured labour to Africa, the West Indies, even Fiji. Today, their children are presidents, prime ministers, senators, tycoons and Nobel Prize winners.

Persons of Indians origin (PIOS) are impossible to typecast. Like those at home, they come in all shapes and sizes, fit all descriptions. What links the astronaut on our cover with the Punjabi sheep farmers in New Zealand? What connects whit collar techies in Silicon Valley to the Indians who seem to have a monopoly on 24-hour stores in Britain-or the Patels who so dominate the US motel industry that motels are often referred to as “Potels”? It is the will to succeed. Many migrant communities continue to live on the margins of their host society. Indians are rarely among them. We must introspect as to why these people had to go abroad to be so successful. Obviously the conditions in India were too stifling to allow this energy, enterprise and talent to thrive.

The global Indian, wherever he may live or work, whatever passport he may hold, is forever Indians. As is often said, you can take an Indian out of India but you can’t take India out of an Indian.