Multiple award-winning author Stephen Gill was
born in Pakistan, grew in India and has settled
in Canada after staying in Ethiopia and England
for a while. He has authored more than twenty
books, including books of fiction, collections
of poems and literary criticism. His poetry and
prose have appeared in more than five hundred
publications. He often receives doctoral dissertations
from different universities to examine.. He writes
mostly about peace and social concerns.
Q.Wordsworth defined poetry as spontaneous overflow
of powerful feelings. Whereas T.S.Eliot went against
the emotions and exclaimed:"Poetry is not
a turning loose of emotions,but an escape from
emotions".What is the best way? Should a
poet be subjective or objective? Or there should
be a perfect balance between the two? Which path
do you prefer in you poetry? Please communicate.
A: Poetry is a spiritual and psychic experience.
To give shape to this experience, poets need special
knowledge in order to use images, tone, economy
of words and other techniques. To weave a rainbow
of beauty poets select and adjust words in different
combinations.
Poetry is neither “emotions recollected
in tranquility,” nor is it “turning
loose of emotions.” Poetry is experience
that can happen any time with or without reason.
One element that is common in both definitions,
and in most others, is the presence of emotions.
I will call these emotions airy beings. With their
tools poets catch the airy beings in the net of
their words. It is like catching fish in a sea.
Painter catch them in the net of their colours
with the hands of their brushes. Dancers catch
them in the net of the movements with their hands,
eyes, brows and other body parts. These are different
techniques that do the same work.
Poets train themselves to catch airy beings.
I call these airy beings the robins of my art
in my preface to The Flame. There I say that these
robins are not meant to be caged. They are the
birds of freedom. They enjoy their freedom when
poets send them to publications or present them
in a book for the enjoyment of the reader.
In my poem Oars, I call them “naked creatures
of waves.” A poet, “clothes them with
images /stitched with words” (p. 32, Songs
Before Shrine). Poets are wordsmiths, who have
knowledge and education about the tools that are
used to cloth these airy beings in a graceful
way. This is an art. A person may be born with
a propensity to be a poet, but that is not enough.
Propensity or talent is like a raw diamond that
has to be chiseled and polished into a beautiful
form. In order to acquire the knowledge of chiseling
and polishing a poet needs work that I call perspiration.
To me poetry is seventy-five percent perspiration
and twenty-five percent inspiration or talent.
Perspiration needs struggle to know how to use
the tools of a poet effectively.
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Q.What are the major themes of your poetry?
A: The major theme of my poetry is peace. Peace
is the absence of war or fear of war and bloodshed.
My poems about peace are about the definition
of peace, in favour of harmony, against war and
bloodshed, and to condemn terrorisms. I believe
that peace is the legitimate child of peaceful
means. I deal with subjects such as war, bloodshed,
harmony, human rights, and democracy. Some poems
about peace from my collection Shrine, include,
“To Be”, “Peace of Mind”,
“To a Dove”, “Flight of a Dove”,
“My House of Peace”, and “My
Dove”. From Songs Before Shrine, I would
like to include “Peace” , “Dove
of Peace,” “My Name is Peace”,
“Seeking the Dove of Peace”, “Harmony
and Peace”, “Evening of Harmony”,
“Rays of Harmony”, “When”,
“Harmony”, “Muse of Peace”,
“Where are They”, “Prince of
Peace,” and “Domain of Peace”.
These poems are directly related to my major theme.
The poems that condemn terrorism, include “Religious
Fanaticism”, and “Terrorists”,
from Shrine. My long poem, The Flame, that is
of 145 pages and divided into sixty-three cantos,
is about terrorism and peace. In addition to these
poems, there are references to terrorism in other
poems.
I have written and published poems also in Urdu
and Panjabi against terrorism. I have a number
of poems on other social concerns, including Aids,
children and discriminations. Notable poems to
condemn war include, “Talking of Peace,”
“War Fever”, “Arms Trader”,
“Hounds of War”, “My Beliefs,”
and “Last Dance” from Shrine. “If
There Be a Third World War”, “A Question”,
“To War-Mongers”, “War is Fraud’,
“About War”, are a few notable poems
from Songs Before Shrine.
There is a complete section to condemn war in
Flashes, a collection of my haiku. In addition,
I have edited two anthologies of poems, titled
Anti-War Poems, volume one and volume two. Volume
one was released in 1984. It has one hundred and
twenty contributors from seven nations. Volume
Two was released in 1986. It has over one hundred
poets from seventeen nations. In both anthologies
poets condemn war.
We are breathing in an exceedingly perilous atmosphere
that is deteriorating at an alarming speed. One
single factor that is responsible for this impending
peril is nuclear warfare, hanging over our heads
like the sword of Damocles to destroy us all.
Scientists so far have not been able to discover
any other civilization anywhere else in the universe.
If by any chance the nuclear giant is out, even
this single civilization of ours will be wiped
out, leaving the sun, the moon and the stars to
appear and disappear without any being to enjoy
their sight. It has taken centuries to build our
civilization and it will take minutes to annihilate.
Obviously, it would be an inexpressible tragedy.
The poems of antiwar anthologies are related
directly to war and peace. In addition to these
poems, there are several more that have references
to war and bloodshed. I have also written several
poems condemning war and bloodshed in Urdu and
Panjabi languages.
I have also tackled the problem of war and peace
in my prose. There are several
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articles to condemn war and bloodshed. I have
given talks and interviews on radio and television.
Some of these interviews have been collected in
a DVD, titled Interviews of Stephen Gill.
Writers and poets are involved with every aspect
of life, including news media, and creative arts.
The heart is the seat for peace. If the heart
is at peace, the world around can also be impacted
with the radiance of peace emitted by eyes, tongue
and actions. .
Poets are involved with many aspects of life,
like writing lyrics for songs and speeches for
politicians and business executives. Lorca and
Byron gave their lives for the cause of liberation.
Among the written documents, the Vedas, the Bible,
and the Koran have a great impact on the minds
of people. Lately, Pentagon papers concerning
the Vietnam War have changed the thinking of several
Americans, and a book titled Uncle Tom’s
Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stow was partly responsible
for the liberation of the slaves in the USA. I
hope that my writings about peace will cause change
in the thinking of my readers.
There are different aspects of peace, including
terrorism, human rights, bloodshed, and poverty.
I deal with them in an art form. This art form
is as important to me as is the theme. To write
a good poem on peace, I concentrate deeply to
select the right words and tone, and to weed out
excessive fat.
Writing is also therapeutic to me. In order to
give light, a candle burns itself. That is what
a poet does. I write to disseminate my message
in an art form. This is a process of burning oneself
or going through the pains of a pregnant mother.
A poem should not be predictable, and it should
not be constructed on the trodden path. In other
words, the emotions should be caught in the meshes
of a style that is devoid of emotional clichés
and redundancies. The word clichés refers
to expressions that have been used excessively
and become stale. In other words, a cliché
is an idea, a metaphor or an expression that has
lost its freshness because it has been used frequently.
Such expression are often heard and read and a
poet is likely to lose admirers.
I try to use fresh language and images, cautious
to use allusions that are hackneyed. Trite expressions
are often used in Indian English Literature, such
as Ram Rajya, apple’s eyes, at a stone throw,
a faithful friend, Mother Nature, leave no stone
unturned, wear and tear , axe to grind, nip in
the bud and many more. These are worn out phrases.
Sometimes, original expressions may be obscure
to the reader and may prove enigmatic. It is sometimes
baffling for me to choose between a private image
that is original and trite expressions that are
over familiar. However, there are times when it
becomes important to use a cliché for brevity
or clarity. Such incidents may be rare. It is
not easy to put emotions into words and images
that are imaginative and inventive. All these
requirements need revisions.
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I also pay a special attention to tone. Tone
is the voice of a speaker that tells if the speaker
is angry, preachy, scornful, and so on. Just a
simple sentence "I need you," may have
different meaning to different listeners, depending
on the tone of the voice and if the speaker has
a smile or any other expression on his voice.
The tone can be understood but difficult to interpret.
It can be soft, loud, whispering and even scornful.
Tone is the prevailing spirit, or the moral attitude,
of the poet towards his reader. A poet conveys
the tone in his poems through words and expressions.
It is difficult to express it in a poem. In order
to convey the right tone, a poet needs revision
to select the right expressions.
Poems that are preachy are not admired much.
One can be preachy without being obvious. If I
have to preach something, I use prose. Poetry
is an aesthetic art and I want to keep it that
way. I use peace as a subject matter and toil
to handle it as a piece of art. Art is beauty.
When I read a poem, I look for aesthetic qualities,
not for information and knowledge. For knowledge
or information, I will read books in prose. This
is what readers expect. Therefore I avoid being
preachy in my poetry. I believe that to achieve
peace, the best means are the peaceful means.
If I have to preach, I will use the media of prose,
where I can use logic and reasoning to get my
message across.
Art is a way of expression that can assume the
shape of visual, performing or literary art. All
these arts express culture that can be personal
or collective. Expression is life—breath—the
palpitation of a nation or an individual. Poetry
is an art of expression and expression differs
as does the appearance of individuals.
When a person perceives an object—beautiful
or ugly—it produces a reaction or feelings.
Those feelings, reactions or sentiments, are formless.
A poet expresses those formless objects in a sensible
form. One can use a cliché that is easy
and needs no effort, but there is no inventiveness
in its use. One can find new ways and modes to
express the object. That needs real effort. That
is called individual approach—a distinctive
element—fresh memorable piece of art. Such
a treatment needs intellectual exercise. A poet
has to manage an unmanageable horse of emotions
that needs skills, guidance and control to be
able to achieve smooth efficient operation of
a poem. In order to achieve this object, a poet
needs time to work in different ways to bring
those feelings out. In other words, it needs revisions.
Let me also emphasize that poetry as demanding
as any art is. It demands devotion, skill and
professionalism.
Q.You have authored a haiku collection entitled
Flashes. What are your views about this type of
poetry?
A: I became interested in haiku in 1988, when
I began to study poets from the point of their
form and style. Some of them had been haiku writers.
Haiku enamored me as I went deeper in its study,
savoring its delightful simple presence though
its simplicity is deceptive.
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By its very nature a haiku is an unfinished poem,
written in telegraphic language. A traditional
haiku is of three lines, and has definite syllables
of five, seven and five respectively. It also
suggests a season. All that I can say is that
haiku is mostly the bones of an experience or
revelation.
Haiku was born in Japan and is still admired
there. Several new trends, particularly in English
haiku, have been introduced over the years. Haiku
also strengthened the symbolist movement in France
and Imagists in English literature between 1912
and 1918. Notable imagists were F.S. Flint, Kara
Pound, Amy Lowell and John Gould Fletcher. They
attacked the emotional and excessive use of the
metric verse of the time.
Because of its brevity, a haiku can be jot down
in short intervals. Moreover, haiku poets do not
have to be tied to set rules. They can write on
highly unusual as well as on ordinary aspects
of life. A haiku does not have to be about special
moments. What can be more joyful than to be able
to find beauty in everything around without waiting
for something rare to happen. This element turns
haiku into daily bread, not a feast to be enjoyed
on specific occasions. For the writers of haiku,
the well of imagination never goes dry. They do
not have to go to a library in search of material,
nor do they have to shut themselves in their rooms
to explore the chambers of their minds. This is
because the material is right in front of them,
even when they look into the mirror. To illustrate
how easy it is to catch these ideas from daily
life, I will quote my two haiku:
Dishes clutter the table light smiles from above
house is silent (Stephen Gill)
The above three lines sketch an ordinary scene
from ordinary life. This scene from a kitchen
suggests a family get-together, when all the guests
have gone, leaving the dishes on the table to
be picked up for washing. It is late evening,
suggested by a light, and the silence indicates
that the hosts have gone to bed because they may
be tired. They may do the dishes the next day.
Here is another haiku of mine:
Without you I am a leafless tree love is the
sap. (Stephen Gill)
For haiku writers material is everywhere. They
find material even in the most mundane situations.
To them style is a dress as it is for humans.
A poet may say that he or she has no problem finding
material; it is the choice of words or diction
they have to struggle with. For haiku poets such
distinctions do not exist.
They use ordinary language to present their ordinary
life. Many haiku appear primarily prosaic, like
Basho's diaries.
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Several English haiku writers have used rhyme
successfully, but its use is not essential. Over
the years, a vast body of haiku has been produced,
and still is being produced, in which rhyme has
been used rarely. This choice makes the job of
haiku poets easier.
Haiku has been free enough to adjust itself to
the needs of poets of every succeeding age under
different circumstances. For instance, in Japan,
Yosa Buson (1716--1783) introduced a more personal
style. Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827) introduced a
popular note, using haiku to portray human misery
and absurdity and to evoke compassion for man's
weaknesses. In modern times, haiku has received
fresh waters from Masaoka Shiki and Takayama Kyoshi.
In the West, haiku has influenced poets in different
ways. As the Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
states, Western poets interested in it knew no
Japanese, and therefore produced results which
often had little to do with haiku.
Haiku entices the poets who dislike original
limitations, particularly concerning the use of
syllabic versification, reference to season, and
terse language. Temperamentally, I cannot develop
a love for something that is chained. I like to
be free like nature itself. That may be why the
wind and dove in various shapes appear in my poetry.
Moreover, I do not perceive much creativity in
work in which a poet has to struggle to conform
to the established norms. Haiku offers freedom
to freedom-loving poets. For them, there are vast
possibilities for adopting new techniques.
I am not among those poets who finish off several
pieces in a single sitting. Rather I am a slow
but steady producer. My first draft is a diamond
in a rough shape. I polish and chisel, a practice
that is against the teachings of Basho.
Bashu Matsuo, the first great master of haiku,
was born in Japan in 1644 and died in 1694. He
was influenced by a 4th century B.C. philosopher,
Tchouang-tsen, who believed that the real value
lies in useless things and the right way of life
is to accept and follow the laws of nature.
Distractions do not pose serious problems for
haiku poets, though all writers hate them no matter
how deeply they are in love with writing. Interruptions
are unable to irritate haiku poets because they
only need a few minutes to jot down three lines,
anywhere, any time. The novelists and poets of
other genres may envy haiku writers for this very
reason. Even if writers inform the other members
of their families not to interrupt them at certain
hours, the family may not know what this means
because distraction or interruption has different
connotations for different people. When a writer
goes to the washroom or to the kitchen for a glass
of water, the spouse and children may think that
the writer is now open for conversation. This
sort of problem does not bother a haiku writer.
One way for a poet to make the best possible
use of any available time is to get hold of a
pocket- sized tape recorder. Inspiration comes
as a flash, a revelation. A poet should put it
into words immediately. Otherwise, it will fade
or evaporate sooner than water does in a tropical
country. Such flashes happen seldom. They seem
to be a result of the poet's unconscious acts.
Priceless gems, which are the works of this unconscious
mind, may be
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lost by procrastination. I have lost many gems.
In my long drives, I keep a tape recorder within
reach to pick up for recording. It is small enough
to fit in any coat pocket, and is easy to operate,
without even looking at it. Anything recorded
can be revised and polished later. What can be
more fun than catching daily scenes and random
thoughts in three lines. It is a different matter
if a poet happens to be too lazy to pick up a
note-book and a pen. If this seems to be a problem,
I would advise such a poet to keep a mini tape
recorder all the time in his or her pocket. If
they cannot even do this, then, I would ask them
to look within, to know if they are eligible suitors
for the muse. Maybe, they will do better as plumbers,
or at the grocery store, than as priests in the
temple of haiku.
Everyone likes short cuts, no matter where he
or she goes. So do writers, to save time. Fortunately,
haiku poets do not need these short cuts. Haiku
itself is a short cut to writing full poems of
several lines. Haiku is one of the oldest forms
of poetry and therefore it has had a long time
to mature, going through several stages of experimentation
not only in Japan, where it was born, but also
in the West. Haiku has become flexible enough
for new temperaments, modes of thought and expressions.
A poet can adapt it to suit his or her personality
and philosophy. Haiku has become a hat which has
lost its original shape because it has been worn
on heads of different sizes. Yet it looks new
and attractive. With a few adjustments, this hat
can be worn by any poet.
To study my views about haiku further and from
another angle, I would suggest reading my introduction
to Flashes, a collection of my haiku. This introduction
is also on my web site: www.stephengill.ca
Q.A number of Indian students, pursuing even post-graduation
in English fail to comprehend English language
properly. This proliferation of ignorance about
English language is creating a sort of digital
divide, as most of the researches in the field
of Information Technology are done in Inglis language.The
gulf between the computer literates and computer
illiterates is widening because of this ignorance
about the intricacies of language. So,should not
we fill this gap by teaching the students the
minutest details of English language in place
of lecturing on a number of irrelevant colonial
texts of England? Please make you illuminating
comments.
A: Answer to this relevant question is easy,
but the czars in India will not like to solve
it. They are likely to agree with it. The answer
would slip their power into the hands of millions
of others who aspire to touch the pinnacle of
progress. These czars have studied in English-speaking
schools and have the means to send their children
to these schools. These schools provide an environment
to children in which they can develop self-confidence
in early years. They fare much better in universities
because of their early education and also compete
easily at the examinations for top positions.
Because these czars do not want those positions
to be made available to everyone, they will not
do anything to improve the situation. They may
come up with theories. For example, they may say
that the economically backward classes have sinned
in their previous lives and therefore are being
punished.
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I have discussed the question of English in my
introduction to The Flame. I am from the government
run schools where English is touched at the minimum
level. Such schools are useless for India if she
wants to compete in the global village of today.
Let me bring out a recent incident. I had a problem
with my computer here in Canada. When I phoned
Microsoft, I was connected with an assistant in
Banglore, India. When he was not able to solve
the problem, he gave me Wednesday to discuss the
problem further. I told the assistant that the
coming Wednesday was a bad day for me. He could
not understand why that day was bad for me. He
thought that I was superstitious. It is a North
American expression that meant I was busy that
Wednesday. But he took it in a different sense.
I have discussed such problems in my novel Immigrant.
I am sure researchers would find this novel useful.
I have the following suggestions:
1. The government run schools should have one
or two periods exclusively devoted to the speaking
of the English language. This should be right
from the early years. Students should be encouraged
to listen to speeches by English-speaking foreigners,
and teachers should ask students questions based
on those speeches. It should be all oral. Language
comes by listening and speaking.
2. At the university level, there should be fifty
percent marks set aside for participation in seminar
classes. Students should write term papers and
present them to the class for discussion. Based
on those discussions, students should be evaluated.
To evaluate just on the basis of examinations
that are held once a year is not a balanced approach.
3. I would suggest that every university should
hire at least one foreign teacher for the subject
of English.
4. The concept of hiring a poet or writer from
an English-speaking nation every year for at least
a few months should be encouraged. These writers
are available for the students and professors
for consultation for their writing and publishing
problems. Colleges and universities in Canada,
the USA and UK have such programs. These programs
not only help students and teachers, but also
bring name to the institutions. When a prominent
writer or poet is invited for even six months
at a time, the students flock to that university
or college. At the same time, that writer will
have time to do some of his research work or creative
writing while at the campus. Such positions are
called poet in residence, or writers in residence.
There is almost nothing like this in Indian universities.
Q.What are the psychological problems of Indian
diaspora in Canada? Like Ruth in Keats' 'Ode to
a Nightingale', Indian diaspora must be "in
tears amid the alien corn", as they harbour
the memories of Indian past and are not completely
acclimatized to
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new culture.What are your ideas about this traumatic
experience of Indian diaspora in Canada?
A: The story of Ruth that John Keats mentions
is from the Old Testament in the Bible. Ruth married
a man from Judea , more or less Israel now, in
her homeland Moab where he moved when his country
was attacked by a famine. After the death of her
husband, Ruth, still childless, moved to Judea
with her mother-in-law Noami. The days of famine
were over. The story of Ruth has been recorded
in the Bible because of her unsurpassed loyalty
to her mother-in-law who was Jewish. Ruth told
her mother-in-law , “I want to go where
you go and live where you live. I want your people
to be my people and your God to be my God.”
In Judea, while gleaning the barley harvest,
Ruth met a man named Boaz, a relative of Noami,
who owned that field. He was captivated by the
beauty, modesty and piety of Ruth. They fell in
love and in due course of time got married. She
bore a son that Noami took care of. That child
was the progenitor of Christ and great grandfather
of King David. This happened about three thousand
years ago. In that field Ruth thought of Moab,
her homeland. It is notable that it was her devotion
to her mother-in law that was the ruling factor
in her decision to migrate to Judea.
There was another diaspora before Ruth and that
was soon after God created the world. That was
the first Diaspora in the recorded history of
the Bible. In the beginning, God created Adam
and Eve and gave them a beautiful place to live,
called the Garden of Eden. He allowed them sovereignty
over everything, except over a particular tree.
They violated the commandment of God and tasted
the forbidden fruit of that tree. As a result,
they were forced out of that garden to work hard
for their living.
Adam and Eve must have repented for violating
the law of God. In the second life of hard work,
they must have remembered the good old days when
life was pleasing amidst trees, flowers and animals
without day to day worries about food and shelter.
In the story of Ruth, diaspora was due to devotion
and loyalty. Ruth must have been caught between
her love for her homeland and her love for her
mother-in-law. She must have suffered because
she was torn between two passions. Ruth as well
as Adam and Eve are diasporans.
Diaspora in Hebrew means exile (Jeremiah: 24:5)
that is “expulsion of a national from his
country by the government or voluntary removal
of a citizen, usually in order to escape punishment.”
(The Columbia Encyclopedia). Diaspora has been
mentioned in the Old Testament also as punishment.
In Deutteronomy Xxviii; xxx11, dispersion of the
Jews among nations is foretold as punishment for
their apostasy. In the book of Deutteronomy (28:25)
it is written: “thou shall be a diaspora
in all kingdoms of the earth.” The Jews
were exiled from Judea in 586 BCE by Babylonians
and Jerusalem in 135 CE by the Roman Empire. They
travelled with their own luggage. Their dislocation,
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homelessness and memories of their homeland were
part of the Diasporic sensibility. Sufferings
in a new land under a new rule and geographical
conditions and inability to go back were the important
features of the Diaspora of the Jews.
Jews suffered in the 20th century when the Nazis
came to power in Germany and set up concentration
camps for their torture. Around seven million
Jews were killed. Even after their homeland was
formed, their sufferings did not come to an end.
It is estimated that
around 90, 0000 Jews from Arab countries dispersed
to different parts of the world, mostly to Europe
and North America.
In all these stories exile was under compulsion.
In the story of Ruth, it was the compulsion by
the devotion that she had for her mother-in law.
Later this compulsion became a bond when she married
a local man in her adopted land, Judea. This bond
became much stronger when a son was born. Due
to these powerful bonds she was not free to go
back to the land of her birth. Her inability to
go back to her land of birth, Moab, was complicated
by the distance. For a woman to cover a journey
of two or three days alone with luggage about
three thousand years ago was beset with unimaginable
hazards. She must have become nostalgic now and
then because she was among foreigners.
The present use of the word Diaspora about Canadian
writers who were not born in India is loaded with
confusions. Its overuse or loose use conflicts
with words like immigrant, refugee, visitor, racial
minorities, ethnic groups and so on. Some writers
include nearly every one who was born outside
the country and talks about the country of origin.
If diaspora is analyzed in the light of its original
use that was for the Jews and even the major diasporas
of non-Jews, it becomes necessary to include the
elements of alienation, loss, forced migration,
memories of the past and a dream to return to
the land of birth. It may include also the unwilling
acceptance of the host country.
Academic studies of diaspora began to be popular
in the late twentieth century. Diaspora happened
in several nations and ethnic groups throughout
the history of humankind. In addition to the Jewish
Diaspora, other major diasporas are from Africa
and Armenia. The Indian Diaspora started mainly
after the British made her a part of the empire.
Indians were moved as forced labour in the nineteenth
century to other parts of the empire, including
Fiji, Maritius, Guyana, Trinidad, Serinam, and
Malasia. Canada has a sizeable number of immigrants
of Indian origin from African and Caribbean nations.
Neither they nor their parents were born in India.
In some cases even their grandparents were not
born in India. Except their appearance and in
some instances their first or last names, they
have nothing to do with India.
Diasporans maintain continuous contact with their
homeland and with other dispersed segments of
the same group. There is no such thing on an organized
basis in Canada. Ethnic writers do not have an
organization of their own to remain in touch with
one another.
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An important factor has been brought out by Food
and Culture Encyclopaedia that says, “A
key characteristic of diaspora is that a strong
sense of connection to a homeland is maintained
through cultural practices and ways of life. Among
these culinary culture has an important part to
play in diasporic identifications.”
Any immigrant group from any nation who uses
neither Indian dresses nor enjoy any Indian food
on a routine basis should not be identified as
Indian diaspora. Food habit and language are the
key constituents of diaspora. Not only that, the
culture of several immigrants who were not born
in India is a mixture of identities. They can
hardly understand any Indian language and hardly
prepare any Indian food at home. It is the culture
that bonds a group and culture includes language
and food habits. Religion has never been a unifying
force in the history of humankind nor the last
or the first name of a person.
Some immigrant writers cry over discrimination
in Canada, whereas the fact is that there was
no discrimination in the country of their birth
that forced them to settle abroad. They had no
problem as forced exiled people have. Their tears
in Canada are of a political nature. They enjoy
shedding tears because there are sympathetic ears
to listen to them. Sometimes, it helps to receive
awards from governments on the basis of sympathy.
Book publishers are in business to make money.
They look for sensational material that is available
in India at every corner. They also guide their
authors how to sensationalize particular stories.
The authors of such books are not there as prophets
or on any mercy or peace mission. They also want
to exploit situations. The result is exaggeration
in the novels of such fiction writers to make
them interesting. Such descriptions should not
be confused with memories of their past in India.
Diaspora and nostalgic memories are inseparable.
Ruth in Keats “Ode to Nightingale”
must have thought of her land of birth nostalgically.
It was natural for Ruth to be nostalgic about
the country where her sister and parents lived
and where she passed her childhood and a part
of her youth. There was no exoticism or marketing
involved. “Exoticism, by definition, is
the charm of the unfamiliar.” (Wikipedia)
How can these immigrant writers think of India
when they never lived there, except for their
occasional literary trips. There is almost nothing
in their writing about India or even about the
land of their birth that can be constituted as
nostalgic. Their description of India is to exoticize
for marketing purpose. To group them under Indian
Dispora is going too far. It is better to call
them immigrants or ethnic or AfroAsian or AfroIndian
writers.
Diasporans in history had diaries in which they
recorded the hard life in the lands of their birth.
They often talked and wrote against the laws and
prejudices in the land of their birth. Because
those factors were responsible for their exile,
they attacked them. Being from the majority or
financially and educationally stronger groups
in the countries of their birth, these Canadian
ethnic groups did not experience discrimination
in their homelands. That is why there is nothing
worth noting about discrimination in the
12…Agarwal/gill
writings of these Canadian immigrant writers.
They hardly know India and therefore cannot write,
except about the caste system and things like
that in general.
Discrimination is an important part of Diaspora,
because it is largely the discrimination in the
country of birth that forces them to seek refuge
abroad. In the country of birth, this discrimination
becomes life threatening or intolerable. In the
host country it is not life-threatening and obvious.
If they find discrimination in Canada, they can
easily go back. Several immigrants hold dual citizenships.
They come and go to the countries of their birth,
not India.
Second generation children should not be included
in the category of diaspora. The new generation
cannot be nostalgic about the country they only
hear, read or see on the tv screens like any other
country and any person. If their children are
the outcome of mixed marriages between different
ethnic groups, they should not be called diasporans.
Such children cannot stay in the country of their
parents more than a couple of weeks. Ruth was
a diasporan also because of her affectionate memories.
But her son who was born and brought up in Jedea
was not a diasporan. He had nothing to be nostalgic
about. He may have had soft corner for the country
of his mother, and nothing more than that.
The immigrants who go abroad in search of green
pastures cannot be Diasporans, because they are
free to go back. Their migration is not a Diaspora,
because skilled and professional immigrants, including
medical doctors, engineers, nurses and investors
are under no compulsion to leave their country.
Most newcomers in the nations of greener pastures
bid farewell to their lands of birth because of
their loyalty to the god of gold. Suffering from
the mania of petrodollars, they search for an
El Dorado of prosperity for themselves and their
children in Europe and North America. They keep
sending their dollars back home where they buy
land or invest in business. Most of them cannot
adjust to the life back home. They come and go
whenever they want and eventually settle in Canada,
enjoying the best of both worlds. Inability to
go back and unwilling acceptance of the new country
were also important factors that constituted the
original diaspora in the history of humankind.
The diaspora of the Jews, Armenians and African
slaves have set criterion that these ethnic newcomers
to Canada do not meet.
Under a close examination of the definition and
origin of Diaspora, most ethnic writers of Canada
are not diasporans, because their knowledge of
India is based on the movies and news items from
the media. Their knowledge is not better than
the knowledge of several whites who for one reason
or the other are interested in India. Those who
were not born in India, not even their parents,
should not be called Indian Diasporans, because
they are not in touch with India; they keep their
contacts with the country of their birth that
may be a Caribbean or an African nation.
These economic refugees carry their luggage of
colour and habits that are peculiar to the nations
where they were born. They buy lands in the land
of their origin, visit them periodically, have
their children married there and want the best
of both worlds. They
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have nothing to do with India, except their appearance,
or their first or last name. Their women do not
have any idea of Sarees, and Indian food, except
chicken curry and ladoos In some cases, the whites
have more knowledge about India than they have.
Considering the barometer that is used here,
most immigrant writers of Canada should not be
classified as diasporans and their literary output
as diaspora. Moreover, they are not” in
tears amid alien corn”. Modern India is
an awakening giant after a long slumber. Some
AfroAsian or AfroIndian writers of Canada want
to be associated with India that has a long tradition
to welcome everyone. Association is one thing
and to be diaspora or a diasporan another.
Dr.N.K.Agarwal,
an Eliot scholar, is a Senior Lecturer in English
at F.G.College,Rae Bareli, U.P.,India. He has
written research papers that have appeared in
prominent journals.
Mailing Address:
Dr.Nilanshu Kumar Agarwal
A-111, Aawas Vikas Colony,
Indira Nagar, Rae Bareli,
U.P.
Pin:229001
India.
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