By Prasun Sonwalkar, IANS
London : The at-times quirky but often colourful account of the life and times of the Indian community in Britain has been chronicled in the revised edition of Indian journalist Sanjay Suri’s book, ‘Brideless in Wembley’, released here recently.
The book has been widely reviewed and commented upon since its release. It is leading to a significant review of the ways of Indian living in Britain. The book, brought out in the UK by Summersdale, was published by Penguin India in 2006.
The book has won quick recognition. The Guardian carried an interview with the author, and the 600,000 circulation Sage magazine took over exclusive rights for publishing its excerpts.
The Bookseller, a leading trade publication, called it “an important book”, and Publishing News said the book reveals “a world of which many of us, on the outside, are barely aware”.
The book, which recounts the author’s experiences and encounters with a large variety of Indian groups across Britain, has also been winning acclaim in academic circles.
“This is a book to read at many levels,” said Judith Brown, professor of history at Oxford University.
“At first glance it is a sparkling, funny and at times bitter sweet account of an Indian in London in search of a bride, as he trawls the connections and social gatherings through which Indians (in this case Gujarati Hindus) make their matrimonial choices – no longer ‘arranged’ in the older sense, but ‘managed’ by the older generation in various subtle ways.”
Brown added: “Beneath the obvious story there is a keenly observed account of life in the successful Indian diaspora in London. It should be read by anyone who is concerned with understanding something of the social lives of British Indians at a time when multiculturalism is an ambiguous or maligned concept, and when many British citizens are increasingly fearful of the new and complex societies migration has created in our big cities.”
Noted academic Meghnad Desai has called the book “a funny/sad account of what it is like to live in a diaspora where you can neither be a native nor a pucca Brit.” The book, he says, “tells us a lot about life in Britain not just for the Asian minority but for the larger community as well”.
Nisha Minhas, author of “The Marriage Market”, said the book is “a real eye-opener on how Indians have made their mark in Britain”.
The 400-page collection of non-fiction stories seeks a ground away from the usual projection of Indians. As Suri puts it, “the way Indians were being Indian, someone had to take notes.
“You keep hearing of Asian millionaires in those Asian rich lists, you see the same lords, ladies and gentlemen saying the same thing everywhere, to more or less the same audience of 200 or so. But that is not remotely a picture of the Indian world in Britain.”
The book, which Suri says boasts “no millionaire or celebrity”, is an account of everyday interactions of ordinary people. He adds: “But I found these stories more engaging, more entertaining even, than those Indian clichés that are served up by way of entertainment. Those clichés should really have run their course by now.”
The stories tell of Indian interactions with native British people – or the lack of them – in a chapter on Leicester. Other chapters look into the world of Patels and their polite civil wars, of illegal immigrants, of the supposedly untouchable leather workers of Punjabi descent, the ‘chamaars’ looking to found their own new religion in Britain, of the often dubious world of visiting summer gurus and a host of other stories.