Delhi's Chinese usher in New Year

Nancy and Khoyoun Hugh (TOI Photo)
NEW DELHI: Many of them have never been to China and probably never will. They frequently break into aggressive Hindi and enjoy spicy food as much as any other Delhiite. For the Chinese community in Delhi, who seem to be thoroughly integrated into mainstream culture, there will be no dragon dances and lantern festivals for the Chinese New Year.
"I don't look Indian but I think like an Indian," says Marie Lu, whose father migrated to India from China and mother was born and brought up in Delhi. However, some traditions endure quietly, especially among the older generation.
"There are barely 300 of us from the old Chinese families in Delhi," says Marie's husband Peter Lu, who runs Jerry Wong's Noodle House in CP along with his family and has been in the restaurant business for over 30 years.
"Unlike in other cities like Kolkata or Mumbai, we are not organised and have no club or forum of our own. A lot of Chinese people are now coming to work or study in the city but we have no way of keeping track of them. We don't do much for New Year and we don't even offer prayers at temples as we are now Christians, but yes, we clean the house, have a big meal and try to prepare all the food on the day before New Year."
Peter, who was born and brought up in Dehradun and has been in Delhi for the last 24 years, feels very much a part of the city. His friend Jude Yep, who runs a leather store, has lived all his life in CP in the heart of Delhi.
"My father started the store in 1938 and all of us brothers and sisters grew up here. I'm a Delhiite, more than anything else. Chinese New Year for me is good food, new clothes and playing cards but for the children it's a time for goodies. We also exchange ‘Lai See'— little red packets containing money," says Yep.
Like Yep, George Chiu, who also owns a shoe shop in CP, has been born and brought up in Delhi. "Many Chinese families have been in India for as much as four generations and about 40% of these people have married Indians," he says.
The story of many Chinese families in Delhi, thus, is a saga of family businesses running for years. Khoyoun Hugh, who spent her childhood in Kasauli and Ambala, has helped in running Sunflower, a beauty parlour in Khan Market, for over 28 years.
"We first started a shoe shop in Jor Bagh. Then my brother married a hairdresser and we started this parlour as a family business," she says. Sister-in-law Nancy Hugh, who also works in the parlour, joined the business after she married into the family.
New Year for them pales beside the pressures of business but the parlour will remain closed on the day.
However, with the younger generation, things have changed. Leon Lu, son of Marie and Peter, has no plans to join the restaurant business and wants to go into advertising. Chinese New Year for him is "nothing really big."