Migrating Indians

Five generations ago, several Indians had left India for African countries in search of livelihoods. The British India gave them "Indian Empire" passports and made sea route easily available to Indians. Many migrated from states like Gujarat to Uganda, to South Africa, to Tanzania and Kenya(in late 1800s,early 1900s) Some went as business men, some as masons, some as carpenters. They took their wives with them. and they kept their social group well-knit, close and secure. Then generations of Indians had grow up with their culture intact living far away from India in far away Africa. Of course their professions in following generations had changed. The second generation of Indians in Africa became teachers, accountants, lawyers, architects shop owners and farm-owners. The government there, then gave them British citizenship and allowed them to move to Great Britain.By this chances for better professions by getting better education for their children had increased. Indians felt that their children should have better lives than themselves, and that can be guaranteed by better education. And they hard worked on giving their children better and better start. By keeping their culture alive and by only marrying among their own cultural community, they could make sure they had survived in any new land. So given a chance, we Indians not just survive, but prosper. We have the basics for prosperity.... strong family bonds and belief that life could be better only by better education.Another batch of Indians went from Vellore, a town in Tamil Nadu. They went as workers in sugarcane fields of the British, but soon became their owners of fields. They were given only the slope of a hill to make their homes in. But they made beautiful homes and made temples(converted small chapels) Now the present generation are all lawyers and doctors. They only know some spoken Tamil and do not have passports of their great great grand fathers to prove their Indian origin. But decedents of Gujarati people have all documents that were needed to show their origin.Many had migrated to Kampuchea and other far-east countries; they had merged with the local culture and cannot now prove their Indian origin.
Even now we have many persons of Indian origin showing the photocopies of the passports of their ancestors(five generations ago) to claim their rights as overseas Indian citizens. All get their PIO cards(Person of Indian Origin) and thereby rights to visit their "homeland". Although Indians are migrating fast to foreign lands, those who are settled in foreign lands want rights to revisit their homelands.Wherever we live, in our hearts we are Indians, for the sake of livelihood, we had to leave our motherland.