Dear Readers,
The last couple of weeks have been an experience. In widening our almost non-existential social circle, my husband and I were introduced to the lovely Sureshbhai Patel and his wife Bhavnaben, by CB Patel. After going back and forth on e-mail for a couple of days, the gentleman called us one day and the first place he took us, was the Sanatan Mandir in Markham. It is tradition, Sureshbhai said. Every guest he receives is taken to the temple first, and them home for his trademark Gujarati hospitality. The temple is a sight in its own, with all Hindu Gods settled in one big pooja room. Within days of our acquaintance with Sureshbhai, he connected us with a couple of other people from the community and our hearts were full with the kind of treatment we received from all of them.
In my humble observation, people settled abroad for over a decade or more, are more inclined to socialise with their community members, than those who are still trying to find their ground. Sureshbhai and Bhavnaben's disposition towards us not only came from the fact that we are affiliated with CB, but it came from the values they brought with them. As stereotypical as it may seem, meeting someone from the same community in a foreign land, is a unique feeling in its own. Their victories become your victories, their problems become your problems, their story is now your story.
The first documented immigrants from the Indian subcontinent were of the Sikh community. They arrived in Vancouver in 1904, a time when Canadian immigration policies were in a dramatic contrast to that of the present. Several white Canadians were opposed to non-white immigration. In 1907, 10,000 people in Vancouver protested Indian immigration. They rioted across Vancouver's Chinatown, intimidating people and destroying property. The year after that, the federal government came up with two provisions with the sole intention of preventing Indian immigration. The first required that all immigrants arrive in Canada by a continuous journey from their country of citizenship. Since there were no ships that made a continuous journey from India to Canada, the restriction effectively blocked brown immigration. The second provision required Indian immigrants to possess $200 upon arriving in Canada. This was eight times the amount of what was required of white immigrants (Europeans only required $25 to migrate).
We are all aware of the unfortunate Komagata Maru incident. In 1914, the ship sailed from British Hong Kong, via Shanghai, China, and Yokohama, Japan, to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with 376 passengers, all British subjects. The passengers consisted of 351 Sikhs, 21 Muslims, and 12 Hindus. Only 24 of them were admitted to Canada, and the others were sent back as the ship was forced to sail to India, where it met an fateful end. Despite the adverse and unfavourable climate, a couple thousand immigrants began to carve out a space for themselves in Vancouver's economy. Many became successful entrepreneurs, serving both their own community and businesses in the city.
Today, there are an odd 30 or so leaders of Indian origin, who sit at the king's table in the country's political arena. The most prominent of them all is Jagmeet Singh, the first person of Indian descent to have been elected leader of a prominent party at the National Level in North America. Similarly, there are several well-known persons of Gujarati origin, like Bharat Masrani, CEO of TD Bank Group, or Zain Verjee, revered journalist of the CNN, Naheed Nenshi, Mayor of Calgary, and others.
After decades of British colonisation, the Indian community found itself sprawled across the globe in bits and pieces. While history stands witness that time wasn't too kind to them, I would admit, their struggles bore fruits for the current generations. For every single person who was sent back to India from the shores of Canada, there are hundreds today who stand on two feet with their heads held high.
