Voices from the Indian diaspora share perspectives on community

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The more than one million Canadians of Indian origin represent a kind of human bridge to one of the world's rising powers. That relationship was celebrated yesterday as the Day of Overseas Indians kicked off in Toronto. It's the first time such a significant conference focusing on the Indian diaspora has been held in Canada. It drew more than 550 delegates and speakers, from Indian business and government leaders to Governor-General David Johnston and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty. The conference is the first of many large events planned for 2011, declared the Year of India in Canada. The Bollywood Oscars, with a worldwide audience of 700 million, will be held in Toronto in late June.

Lata Pada

Artistic director of Sampradaya Dance Creations

Founder of renowned dance company, recipient of India's highest honour for members of the diaspora.

What's your relationship to India and to Canada?

I see myself as a global artist, a global person, and that's where my identity is. It's one that straddles both India and Canada with great ease. I see absolutely no dichotomy about those worlds and there's no hyphenation about who I am. I am both Indian and Canadian at the very core.

How did you come to Canada?

I arrived in Canada in 1964 as a young bride. I came to join my husband, who was a mining engineer in Thompson, Man. It was a shock to the system. But I'm very grateful for the experience looking back because it's one that forged my identity as a Canadian. It taught me how beautiful this land is, how vast this land is. I got a chance to travel, to experience the lives of the first nations. I often think that I would feel differently as a Canadian if I were a new immigrant who just gravitated to my own cultural community when I first arrived in Canada.

Shan Chandrasekar

President, Asian Television Network International

Indian student delegate to Expo '67 who went on to launch several multicultural TV channels in Canada.

How will the Canada-India relationship evolve over the next century?

The immigration pattern from India to Canada will be enormous over the next several years. The projections are that the South Asian community is going to be the largest [visible minority]community in this country so we're pretty excited. Needless to say it opens the door for trade relations between the two countries and both countries can benefit.

What can Canada learn from India?

India's a country where multiculturalism has been in existence for thousands of years. You have 17 officially recognized languages, 563 dialects, seven religions. And they all live together. Canada has already learned from that and it has been one of the biggest strengths in terms of its democracy, unity and diversity.

How is the Indian diaspora different from other diasporas in Canada?

There's a lot of similarities but there's a lot of family values in the Indian diaspora. As the next generation grows in this country, the second and third generation, multilingualism may fade but multiculturalism will still be strong. From that perspective, the Indian diaspora really keeps its culture together. The roots are very strong. But the Canadian way of life has become an integral part of the Indian immigrant's life in Canada.

Didar Singh

Secretary, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs

High-ranking civil servant in the Indian ministry that focuses on the country's 25-million-person diaspora.

What trends are you seeing in reverse migration?

India is recording one of the most positive examples of reverse migration. I think it's to do with the economic story. As the young Indian diaspora professional emerges in different parts of the world, he is a globalized individual and he will look for economic opportunity wherever he can find it. These young professionals don't think, 'I need to be only in Canada, the U.S., Australia or India.' For them, the world is a stage. And because the Indian story is so positive at the moment and because the opportunities are so many, a large number of the young professionals are beginning to see the advantages of this reverse migration, or circular migration, because they may go somewhere else, to come back and connect. We're getting a large number of start-ups in the technology and financial-services area from young professionals coming back from Canada, the U.S., the U.K., who are becoming a major growth story in the Indian economy. About 100,000 per year, which is large.

Ananya Mukherjee

Professor, political science, York University

Academic focused on South Asia and issues of human development

What's the conference about for you?

What I really like is that it's not totally about only diaspora issues. It's about the issues of the day: youth issues, gender issues, which are not the issues of one diaspora or another. Our country should be looked at not only as isolated communities. We should have a say in policy-making. People doing jobs they're over-qualified for is not an Indian issue, it's an issue for all of Canada. If not, we lose the sense of Canada as a whole.

How would you describe the Indian diaspora in Canada?

In Canada, we have representation from all over India, with the dominant group being the Punjabi community. In the last few years I've seen more of an effort to have a pan-Indian presence. We do tend to have more engagement with the mainstream, partly because of our prominence in the professions and our facility with English. We had the right colonizers.

Kant Bhargava

Ambassador, retired

Former member of the Indian Foreign Service, now living in Toronto

How do you characterize the relationship between India and Canada?

Now it's an excellent relationship. Soon, Canada-India will be one of the three most important relationships for Canada, after the U.S. and Europe. China will be important, too, but it may be that the Indian relationship is more important because of our common values.

How is India affected by its regional neighbours?

It's not a good neighbourhood. It's a troubled neighbourhood. For a time, only Sri Lanka was a democracy. Now the democracy part is getting stronger with Nepal having moved over from the monarchy and Pakistan having elections. South Asia's problems are long-standing and structural. It's a region that suffers from being prone to disasters and has low levels of human development. Many neighbours have bilateral problems with India. Now the main problem is Pakistan.

What can this conference achieve?

The Indian diaspora, one million strong, I feel is coming together and realizing its potential to build bridges between Canada and India. The governments have done their part now with their agreements. The field is free for the diaspora to play its role.

Pankaj Mehra

Director, India and South Asia markets, Scotiabank

A leading figure in Scotiabank's multicultural banking department, who came to Canada 15 years ago.

Why did you choose Canada as a place to live?

I had moved out of India; I was in the Middle East for 10 years and I was looking for a more permanent residence. Canada seemed like a good choice. I came here and I had the typical immigrant experience. I sat at home for a year because I had no Canadian banking experience, even though I'd worked in banking all my life in other parts of the world. This is the perspective I'm able to bring to corporate Canada.

How do you see Canada's relationship with its diaspora communities?

The way I look at it, and I quote this to anyone who will listen, mark my words, Canada is the template for how the world will live in the future. The way we accept people. You don't have to embrace the flag and mom's apple pie. We are the mosaic.

Amit Chakma

President, University of Western Ontario

Originally from Bangladesh, studied in Algeria before coming to Canada and teaching chemical engineering

How can Canada take advantage of the diaspora connections of its citizens?

We're all a product of our own experience. The diaspora, by definition, they have already uprooted their connection from home. By virtue of that, they clearly have more global experience. That tradition remains with them. They have cultural ties, family ties. With that global view they not only look at their original home countries, they also look at the world. Canadians, on the other hand, those born and brought up here for generations, by virtue of the vastness of our country, by virtue of the tremendous resources we have, they can actually make a living by sheltering themselves from many of these global factors. Those who run companies, businesses, who work in the high-end professions, they see the impact of globalization. But the average Canadian, particularly in rural Canada, doesn't see that directly. As a result, if you're looking at population groups, it's quite logical to think that the Indian diaspora, or communities like it, they will have more awareness of what's happening around the world. There's an opportunity for Canada to take advantage of that awareness to explore business opportunities with these emerging economies.

These interviews have been condensed and edited.