Role of Women in Preserving Indian Culture and Identity in Diaspora

Abstract

This article focuses on the migration of indentured labor from India to various parts of the world like Guyana, Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, and Fiji. It aims to analyze the role of women in Indian diaspora as preservers of culture and identity. Indian diaspora, comprised of the ethnic groups that have left Indian borders, is having a sizeable number of women in them. Women from various socio-economic groups, castes, faiths, and classes have emigrated from India. The paper tries to analyze how the concepts of culture and identity operate in a diasporic context. Women, who contribute to half of the world population, have been rarely heard or considered in the historical record of literates and intellectuals. Further it intends to explain the significant role played by the women in the nineteenth century which facilitated transformation of many colonies of British and French Empires. The paper presents a theoretical framework in which the existence of women in small numbers facilitated marriages crossing various social barriers like caste, class and religious boundaries. In this regard, the authors suggest, however, indentured labor and specifically women in Indian diaspora acted as a bridge to maintain their links with their culture, traditions, language, religion and their past which they have left behind. They also ensure the preservation of these relations with India by celebrating Indian festivals like Holi for Hindus and Muharram for Muslims, in their traditional ways. It was women in the family, who played an important role in retaining and promoting their language by insisting on using native language for communications within the family. These women who remain integrated to their language and traditions orally played a vital role as carriers of their culture. The paper also discusses the Indian government’s cultural diplomacy, particularly under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, who has travelled to many countries in recent months to spread Indian culture and identity and reinvigorate their connectedness.