April 11, 2018 issue

FEATURE

By Vidur Dindayal (Final of 2 Parts)

What propelled the diaspora to better their fortunes

Despite obstacles – resistance by the authorities to land purchase, poor education and discrimination, the aids to the immigrants' progress were twofold, British legal system and Diaspora culture.
One, the diaspora valued land and property. Although under the colonial regime non interference with white rule held primacy over all else, British rule was notable for robust management, a sturdy legal framework which upheld values of fairplay, and equality under the law. All of these favoured immigrants’ economic progress. Against this backdrop, our ancestors made spectacular progress compared to their contemporaries in India. Three factors stand out – opportunities, absence of caste and becoming Christian.
British Guiana, the new country of our ancestors was under- developed. It was ripe with opportunities where land could be bought, cattle reared or shops opened provided you had the money. Many saved their earnings which they used to free themselves from dependency on the sugar plantation for their livelihood. There were other jobs too, few and far between like interpreters in the courts etc.
Caste had no place in the new country. While it survived within the Hindu community for a time, in the larger world outside of the immigrant community, it was every one for themselves, irrespective of caste while for those of lower caste, it was freedom from the iniquities of caste restrictions. Social and economic mobility was a blessing for many beyond their wildest dreams, compared to if they had remained in India.
In British Guiana, ruled by a Christian colonial power, where top jobs and everything top-of-society were Christian, being Christian had its attractions. It meant joining in with the ruling class, limiting ties with your people who were at best regarded as second class, and having opportunity for jobs and other benefits of the society which only white folk and Christian people would be considered for. At one time, if you were non Christian you would not get a teaching job or a job in the civil service.
The other most significant aid to their progress was their culture. Diaspora culture, irrespective of faith, was a survival kit of values, a modus operandi to deal with any experience good or bad from birth to death. Although ‘disapora culture’ is identified with India, it is truly universal, i.e. the cultural values of the entire human race, values learnt over millennia of experience. These values are not set in stone, they are dynamic. They adapt to situations over time and circumstances, but at the core they remain basic human values.
Diaspora culture includes these key values among others:
Saving. Save for a rainy day. Waste not, want not.
Sacrifice. Parents would sacrifice anything for their children.
Suffering. Pain & pleasure go together.
Contentment. Happy with salt and rice, sleep on the floor,
basic minimum to live on.
Living within one’s means. Don’t spend more than we earn.
Society. Being part of the society, duty to support it and to
receive its support.
Hard work. The fruit of labour is very sweet.
Giving back. Eaten the salt of earth, be grateful, must put
something back into it.
Duty. Duty is superior to feelings. Duty to family and soci
ety.
Joint family. Everyone in the family supporting one another
at work, at play, in grief.
Modesty. Aversion to show.
Simple living, lofty thinking.
Live and let live.
Gratitude. Don’t bite the hand that feeds, respect it. Respect
the Boss.
Respect. For mother earth, land, and cattle.
Most important was their respect for land, Prithvi Mata, the cow - Gow Mata, and beings animate and inanimate – the Sun, Rivers (water), Air, – all gifts from the gods – essential to life.
In 1919, J.A. Luckhoo, wrote this: “To the East Indian the earth is the bountiful mother ever ready to yield her rich stores of treasures to those who approach her in the right spirit…as soon as his term of indenture has expired and he once more breathes the air of freedom, he turns with glad heart to mother earth to wrest some of the treasures from her beneficent keeping”. JA was not exaggerating. To landless labourers from the impoverished villages of the eastern UP, owning a piece of land was magic, a gift from the gods.

What of the future

We are at the cusp of a sea change in what people the world over value in life. Feel-good factor – the sense of well being, self worth, being valued as a person, are worth more than material possessions. We have needs which are met by human values in our culture.
Our immigrant ancestors learnt in their travel across the world to shed the heavy baggage of division and intolerance and embrace the new world secure in their cultural values, their modus vivendi.
This is their legacy to us. We are the cutting edge of social change, open, barrier free, not fearful of better understanding and fellowship across ethnicities, faiths and cultures.
Rabindranath Tagore, the great world poet, novelist, musician, playwright, painter and Nobel Prize winner in Literature for his ‘Gitanjali’, who named Gandhi, ‘Mahatma’ – encapsulates in his celebrated poem, Where The Mind Is Without Fear, what we have learnt from our ancestors who have handed us the torch to keep alight wherever we live, be it Guyana or elsewhere:
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action –
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

The Next Frontier: Quality of living

Knowing about past wrongs is essential fuel to drive us to ensure they are not repeated in the present. We know about the abuses at that time of: class, racism, discrimination, injustice etc. We need not be consumed by knowledge of past ills, but it is useful to weigh up how far we have progressed compared to yesteryear. We have progressed beyond measure but certain problems persist.
The advanced economies – the USA, Canada and UK – where nearly six million of the diaspora have settled, are bastions of liberty, equality, and freedom. Most people the world over would like to live in these countries for all the opportunities they offer, for the higher standards of living and for upholding values of equality and justice under the law. These countries have fought hard to achieve their freedoms and high standards of living. These are priceless.
However not everything is satisfactory in the developed economies. Despite great wealth, there are pockets of poverty, division, and disharmony. There is widespread inequality, in jobs and pay based on gender, race, faith etc. There is anti- social activity and crime, poor healthcare, care of the weak, disabled and the elderly.
These social ills should not be seen as a blot on the historic achievements of the developed societies. They are, as in nature, the result of solving problems. Solve one and a new problem arises. Perhaps developing societies might take note that while economic development must be the primary task, in parallel, there must be measures to address social ills to achieve an all round better quality of living.
I am inspired by the achievements of our ancestors who battled with obstacles which we do not face today, and came out successful in many walks of life.
The culture which assured the diaspora of progress in an old world of inequality, and economic under development, seems even more relevant in today’s world. Perhaps diaspora values can contribute towards addressing the social ills of developed and developing society. We of the diaspora have a duty to contribute towards improving the quality of life where we live.
On the issues of poverty, division, inequality, crime etc., perhaps strengthening the sense of belonging in a community which is a diaspora value of old, can go some way towards providing an answer to these problems. It seems that today, especially in cities, the sense of community is weak. Minding one’s business, being fiercely independent, even anonymity, appear to be the way of city life. These are important, but in the extreme they undermine values of living as a community.
The attributes at best of living as a community are: we know and support one another, togetherness, neighbourliness, it is inclusive. These promote human relationships of mixing, socialising, sharing of good and bad. The inclusive community shields everyone from harm, it looks after those who do wrong, the whole community benefits.
Community life in practice exists in a variety of groups and clubs, be they religious, sport, music, dancing, arts, walking, professional, etc. Their meeting places, be they places of worship or other community venues, are all social centres. Promoting their importance in keeping society together, is vital. A collection of these small communities working in harmony, make for a healthy thriving metropolis. I belong to a number of inter faith groups and I feel these positively bring people together.
In the UK I am always reminded of a strong sense of community. Recently heavy snowfall caused many lorries to be stuck for hours on the highway. People in the neighbourhood came to cheer up the lorry drivers with hot cups of tea. A lorry carrying freshly baked cakes was similarly stuck. The driver phoned his boss, got the OK and shared out the contents of his container to fellow lorry drivers. It was a case of having lots of cake and eating it.
Another diaspora value is service to the community. This is a tenet which many people live by. The uniformed and emergency services do so and so do many people without fanfare. In modern society, we hear about the ‘rat race’ and ‘law of the jungle’. These terms should not apply to us humans. We hear of people being so engrossed in their work, that despite good income, they have little time for family, friends, relations and the community. Yet many see serving others, as an essential part of their life and work.
Dr Martin Boodhoo, a celebrated Guyanese, UN and ILO Consultant, who came from humble beginnings and by dint of hard work became acting Head of the University of Guyana, spoke of the drivers in his life:
"I returned to Guyana to make available my experience and knowledge for the development of my native country. I believe that allegiance and loyalty to one’s native land should… underline the need to make some contribution to the country of one’s birth during the 'prime of life' and as well as in the ‘golden’ years. One of my fundamental convictions is that whenever and wherever possible, occupational commitments should be combined with a measure of community service. This modality of life has given me tremendous satisfaction during my entire career…”
On care of the weak and the elderly, among many values, one for example, joint family living, minus downsides, can benefit young people, and the elderly to live with dignity. As people live longer and the population of elderly people increases, the economics of care is a concern for society. Perhaps the diaspora value of joint family living can assist in addressing this.
In diaspora culture, retired elderly parents have skills and time to give support with grandchildren and the whole family. The elderly are also a resource for service to the larger community. They have a purpose to life. They are needed and engaged, being valued members of the family and arguably the rest of society.
This concept applied to whole societies, being one large family, promotes cohesion and togetherness, the antidote to selfishness, loneliness and anonymity.
We of the disapora are heirs to an ancient civilisation. We are of Bharat, of inclusivity, where many of all faiths and cultures have found refuge, made their home and flourished over millennia. We have a responsibility to our fellows the world over to better our quality of life.
Quality of life should be the new frontier, beyond economic growth, to foster values with the goal of contentment, a sense of well being and harmony with others and the environment. For advanced, mature, civilised society this is the real prize.