Biku Ghosh

Indian Immigrant Biku Ghosh

'We looked for workers. We got people instead.' - Max FrischIndians have been travelling to and settling in Britain since 1600, about as long as Britons have been sailing to India. Colonialism powerfully altered what being 'Indian' meant culturally and legally in Britain - a meaning quite differently perceived in India. The lived experience of Indians venturing into Britain varied in their historical context, gender, class and individual circumstances. This fiction tells stories of some of the early settlers who perished in harsh conditions and of the many professionals, who arrived later in Britain to fulfil demands in various public services, successfully integrating into the British society albeit facing many prejudices. Right-wing agenda claims an insular 'all white-England' apparently under threat from the non-white aliens. Nativist British hostility to immigrants has increased since the Brexit Referendum. This book tells the stories of Indian immigrants not as an offshoot of race relations but from their perspective.