:: Kishwar Desai

Aussie-desi mindset

Kishwar Desai

Sept.19 : Melbourne has had a special place in my heart since I had first gone there on a month-long trip, five years ago — but I have to say that in the last few days, my feelings are changing rapidly. The latest racist attacks on fellow Punjabis have made me furious. Especially when I remember how delighted I had been when I had first heard "thet" Punjabi spoken by the Yarra river side — a young Sikh girl confidently speaking into her mobile phone, in the sturdy accent of deep Punjab. It added another dimension to what is essentially a rather colourless town.

That year we had an apartment on the river side and would spend long hours walking around. The city is easy to navigate but it doesn’t have the vibrancy of New York or the multi-culti feel of London. It doesn’t even have the edgy lifestyle of Lahore — or the overcrowded historical splendour of Delhi. It is just another sprawling, pretty metropolis, with some good universities, and excellent seafood restaurants trying to adjust to the influx of immigrants and foreign students who are changing their public landscape from a uniform white to black, brown and yellow. The slow pace of change is apparent in the eating habits: unlike in the United Kingdom, where you find curry houses and fusion cuisine nudging at the pubs, the Indian restaurants in Melbourne are hesitantly scattered around and the quality is dismal. Their downmarket status speaks volumes of a community still trying to establish a foothold.

The Indians here are represented primarily at the one end by the quiet academics and monetarily-challenged students, and at the other end are the ubiquitous Punjabi taxi drivers. There is little local understanding of us: over a billion-strong with a rich and diverse culture. Most of the impressions are formed through the war-like game of cricket which has descended into a race row over and over again. Or through the other well-publicised affair of the so-called terrorist plot. In short, stereotypes flourish. In the interim, little has been done to rectify the image of the average Indian, either through our very own ministry of external affairs (MEA) or through the Australian government and diplomatic channels. The very first race attacks should have sent alarm bells ringing — and not been allowed to take this repetitive hue.

Of course, the Australians have their indigenous people — but like our own tribal people back home, they are a well-kept secret. The only time you hear about them are in heartbreak stories in the media, and the public prayers at the start of most government functions: an inclusive tradition in which incantations of the aborigines are evoked. Even the reception we attended at the governor’s home in Victoria began with the same prayers. It is a quaint custom, but like any other minority community trying to cope with an aggressive majority, it reeks of years of struggle which end up with tokenism at best.

Yet, to be fair, Australians are definitely trying to change their self-imposed isolation and parochial mindsets. Most of the conferences we attended, even five years ago, therefore concentrated mostly on how to cope with a globalised world arriving on Australia’s doorstep. After all, for years the Australians had carefully calibrated their policies to allow in migrants in small doses — and only those which are absolutely required. Australia has tried very hard to control their air, water and human beings, because everything within the country had to be preserved at the optimum level. Its tiny population had to be protected from, and not polluted by, the influences of the outside world. Therefore, suspicion of the outsider is not unusual — especially if there is an "island mentality". More so if within that world there has been deep-rooted racism and degrees of tolerance.

Let us not forget that Australia has been cruel to its original inhabitants — who are neither white nor do they bear Caucasian features. The aborigines were driven out of their settlements and, like the Red Indians in the United States, treated as untouchables. Racism flourished in Australia till as recently as the past few decades — when people were allowed in only under the "White Australia policy", ie, coloured people would have been automatically barred. It was almost as though Australia desperately believed in white supremacy. It is not a mindset that can be forgotten easily, in just a few generations.

To rectify some of the present damage, an aggressive policy of diplomatic intervention by both the Indian and Australian governments has to be followed, as well as rigorous policing on the streets. There should be a strong campaign against the racist attacks, supported in the media by the Indian government both here and in Australia — and there should be no letting up till the culprits of this attack and other hate crimes are caught and tried in an open court, transparently.

However, it would be lethal, as some have suggested, for the very vulnerable Indian community in Australia to try to fight their way out of this. This is not the time for retaliation. Militancy is not the answer. Instead, the community needs the MEA to stand up and fight for their rights. So, perhaps, instead of twittering over five-star comfort and holy cows, we should expect some firm and strong action on the part of our government.

This is, however, a long-running battle. The image of Indians needs to change through a cultural onslaught of information as well. Our ancient culture and history, as well as our more modern aresenal such as Bollywood, should be used to soften hearts and minds. The horrific racist attacks are not just gang wars or a knee-jerk reaction against my fellow Punjabis, but also the manifestation of a profound ignorance about us. Occasionally, we should plan some weapons of mass education since just because the perpetrator is white does not give him any extra points for literacy or intelligence.

But, at the same time, we must watch our own backyard as well. The recent disturbing case of Kaya Eldridge, an intern with an NGO in Gujarat who was humiliated in court, despite the fact that she was allegedly the victim of molestation, shows us how far we ourselves still have to go. If a white girl is fair game for everyone, why are we surprised that a brown man is an easy target?

The writer can be contacted at kishwardesai@yahoo.com