Aasharyathaputhanvidu Migration in Identities

Abstract

Until the 1950’s, ours was a Syrian Catholic family in Prakanam, Pathanamthitta district of South Kerala. Despite relative widespread education, there was little hope for employment in the state. This propelled a large movement of Malayalees across the country. In the 1950’s, Ahmedabad was running to the siren of the mills. My grandfather became one of the several Malayalees that had given in to the appeal of the textile mill industry. They dominated clerical positions in a state that planned to carve its identity as an industrial haven. Migratory influx from Kerala toward Gujarat was thus sustained. Malayalees were to fill up positions that the locals were not addressing. The prospect of a regular salary was highly desirable to the Malayalee population. But the city offered more than employment. With increase in numbers, communities began to cluster. The sixties saw the coming together of a new community, that shared the common tale of financial responsibility of those back home. The arrival and settlement of migrants revived a dormant church in Ahmedabad that had hitherto held intermittent services for floating populations. The Vatican II council in 1964, in its revised worldview set the church and the migrants on the same footing; to acquire the local ethos. Consequently, with each generation, the migrant population learned to find a sense of belonging in their destination city, having little in common with the identity and struggle of the previous generations. This documentary attempts to record the movement in identities of Malayalee Catholic migrants to the city of Ahmedabad. The church becomes a core aspect, that finds symbiosis in its relationship rearing the migrants that grow up to contribute significantly as able members of the church.