Home and land: Diaspora dilemmas

Between two worlds

Somalee Banerjee

One of Mirza Ghalib's ghazals has a line that poignantly captures the dilemma of the Southasian migrant. 'Imaan mujhe roke hai to kheeche hai mujhe kufr,' Ghalib wrote. 'Faith holds me back, while temptations attract.' Those who have – for millennia, as today – left their homes for economic or other reasons encounter markedly similar experiences: trying to build a home in an alien land, even while retaining attachments with the country of origin. The migrant thus remains caught between two worlds, the attractions of the new home invariably clashing with the pull of the old. As referred to in our cover for this issue, by St Louis-based artist Somalee Banerjee, the push and pull between the vagaries of defining one 'home' and the physicality of one's 'land' is one that tears at any migrant.

Their rewards do not necessarily balance out the darker parts of the experience. In their new countries, Southasians might face racism, mistrust and even active animosity. Often from the poorer classes, these labourers are also the most vulnerable to exploitation.