A 'little India' outside India

Every major city in this world has a little replica of India within its expansive greatness. Just like every metropolis has an obligatory "Chinatown", it also boasts of a "mini India". Be it in the form of a tiny shop crammed with eclectic Indian goods brimming from its shelves or an entire street lined with colourful glimpses of India, this miniature version of India is a discovery that warms the heart of an Indian living abroad. Little India area in Singapore, Wembley, Queensbury, Southall and many more in London, Devon avenue in Chicago (lovingly called "Diwan" avenue)…the list goes on. We Indians have reached almost every corner of the world and made it our own in more ways than one. It is as if a small piece of India has been transplanted into foreign soil.This year, Diwali shopping in an alleyway in Little India in Singapore was for me a trip down memory lane -of the India that I left behind, many years ago. It is that time of the year when Little India is decked up like a bride; flower festoons, bright festive cut-out archways across roads, marigold and jasmine garlands, gaudy multi-hued "rangoli" packets jostling for space with "diyas"(clay lamps), paper lanterns and "torans". Moving among the throngs of holiday shoppers and curious tourists, soaking in the pre-Diwali atmosphere, took me back to India for those few hours. Bargaining here and there for a few dollars was just like being back in India, those same old haggling tactics used with pride and pleasure. Shopkeepers actually enjoyed the trading banter, looking pleased as you struck a deal, wishing you "happy Diwali" as you proceeded to look for another bargain. Diwali fried snacks and goodies - some familiar and some completely unknown, from various parts of India lined some shops just as the sparkler packets with pictures of Bollywood stars. Coming away from this experience, was like a trip to India - nostalgically refreshing and recharging. Visiting an Indian area abroad has that effect; like visiting an oasis that provides a refuge to homesickness especially during festival time when one misses India and family back in India. However, this representation of India outside of India is a little different from the real India. The sounds are muted, no blaring loudspeakers or the cacophony of chaotic traffic. The flavours are bland, the marigolds, slightly less lustrous, perhaps because they have been in a plane for too long, the fruit and vegetables too perfect but lacking oomph. The agarbatti smoke smells a little dilute; the "chaat", a little insipid, made of all the right spices yet missing the 'X' factor; the sugarcane juice, although hygienic, a bit watered down. Most of all, the people appear a little subdued, less loud, less animated, perhaps homesick like me; very little pushing and shoving and no "eve teasing" in this place. Or maybe living in a foreign land has that effect; of being a tiny bit conscious, a wee bit guarded and a little more eager to present a pleasant picture of India to the world, to the many international tourists who visit the mini India assuming the real India to be exactly like it . Everything seems more expensive here. A "jeera" packet, a very ordinary salwar kameez, a carton of "lassi", fresh coconut water all cost much more than in India, but savoured a lot more when away from home. Some of the delights on offer, like restaurants serving food on banana leaves, are fast disappearing in India these days, but flourishing in this part of the world.Just as one begins to think that the little India is a sterilized, sanitised version of India, one spots the occasional "paan" stains, the jaywalkers crossing the road where there is no pedestrian crossing, disrupting traffic and the pockets of litter dotting the otherwise relatively clean area. One wishes these signs of authenticity would go away, but they are stark reminders of problems back home.The fact remains that these "mini Indias" have mushroomed all over the world, in the same way as we Indians have spread our wings. These havens provide us with our link to our motherland. They are the places we escape to when a good dose of all things Indian is needed to fix the melancholic boredom that sets in and is part of living in a foreign land. Sitting on a flight to India would take half a day or more of travel time, but in a matter of minutes, we could be reliving the Indian experience, albeit of a different kind, in a mini India. In many ways, these are our homes away from home.