TII: Face any challenges?
Challenges included getting tourist visas (no embassy believed I was going to those countries just for sightseeing) and making air bookings travel agents in India are not familiar with that part of the world; and the Custom Department's unwelcome reception uponlanding in Cuba. My luggage was thoroughly searched because of the NAM Meeting which our P.M. was attending. Then I was told that even prostitutes had been detained and searched! Not a very complimentary comparison!
My lack of knowledge of Spanish and Portuguese was a negative, as was travelling alone into unfamiliar territory. Embassies, both of Latin American countries in India and the Indian Embassies in Latin American countries were either unhelpful or evasive at best. Exceptions have been mentioned in the book. Irritated by their questioning on the purpose of my visit, I had perforce to say: "To spend money". That got me the visa. Or the Brazil Embassy's query about why I was travelling alone. My response: "Man, you are crazy! Who goes to Copacabana Beach with his wife?" Visa promptly issued!
Persistence, my conviction and logic paid dividends in Cuba and Ecuador, while the British Library in London unearthed much needed information on Sikh migration to Brazil. Logistics, which look so frivolous or even funny in retrospect, were a nightmare. At times I almost aborted the trip.
TII: Is the older generation still in a time warp?
The countries where Sikh immigrants are present in small numbers and especially in countries which are far away from Punjab, the process of assimilation is very pronounced. There was literally and practically no other way for their survival. Most of the immigrants married locally which combined with the absence of Gurdwaras in earlier days meant the second and third generation are Singhs, but they cannot relate to being Sikhs. The comparatively fewer immigrants who married Sikh women from Punjab have retained the Punjabi ethos and customs more strongly. Most immigrants did not/could not visit their hometowns in Punjab or take their families to connect with families there. Gurdwaras, besides religion, are also exposing the younger generation to Sikh and Punjabi culture. I found younger Sikh women wearing salwar kameez on graduation day, probably more as a fashion statement. A wedding photo termed "Bridegroom sans Bride" is very telling where the turbaned Sikh bridegroom is in the Gurdwara without his Argentinian bride. The marriage ceremony was held at the church followed by a reception (langar) at the Gurdwara.
"To sum up, I hope I have achieved the main point of this book - to highlight that Sikh migration to Latin America was almost as old as that of Sikh migration to North America," a content Kahlon concludes as he prepares for his next two books.
Amita Sarwal is a freelance writer based in Singapore