Pimpri Colony represents an island of Sindhi language and cultural tradition, where about 8,000 refugees live in relative isolation from their surrounding Maharashtrian neighbours. To a Westerner, the existence of such a cultural island might seem to be a cause for alarm; and he would perhaps suggest measures for increasing social interaction between the two communities, such as bringing together leaders and representatives of both sections, or the mutual association of young people's groups or religious associations. Nothing of this sort, apparently, has been done so far at Pimpri or Poona. On the other hand, the present system is perfectly in line with India's traditional solution of social problems-the co-existence of social units which lie side by side, which mutually tolerate and mutually ignore one another. In this system there may be economic interdependence and a certain amount of rather formalized social intercourse, but otherwise the various social islands pursue separate existences. If a campaign were ever undertaken to break down the barriers between Sindhis and Maharashtrians, it would only be logical to include, as corollary objects for attack, the barriers of isolation between castes among the Maharashtrians and regional groups among the Sindhis. This problem, which faces India as a whole, appears in miniature at Pimpri where the General Panchayat is trying to find means of establishing a community esprit de corps. The various regional panchayats still fulfill an important social function, for the regional unit represents a close in-group and it probably provides a much greater feeling of belongingness for its members than the more arbitrary neighborhood grouping. This means that it will take considerable time for wider community ties and responsibilities to become established. It is the opinion of the writer that proponents of the General Panchayat are right in supporting a united organization to represent the camp as a whole and are thoroughly justified in combating the selfseeking motives of politicians who use the regional panchayats as springboards to power and influence. But at the same time it would be unfortunate if the positive social functions of the regional panchayats were to distintegrate. Refugees naturally have a strong need to feel part of an in-group, and among the Sindhis of Pimpri at the present time the region of origin still seems to provide the most important basis for association.