The Rising Indian Community in Germany

AN INDIAN JOURNALIST IN POST-WAR GERMANY

The post-war migration of Indians to Germany started in the late 50s and continued till the beginning of the70s of the last century. The first migrants came mostly from West Bengal, but in small numbers from the metropolitan centres of other North Indian states also. Later, a large number of nurses and nurse-trainees, about 5000 of them, came, mostly from Kerala. In 1973 the Federal Govt. of West Germany stopped issuing work permits to fresh migrants from Asia. The nurses and nursetrainees already here got work permits and were allowed to continue working. They got permission to bring their Indian husbands to Germany. These husbands, however, were not given work-permit in the first four years of their stay here.

Today we have nearly 200 000 persons of Indian origin in Germany, about half of them being German citizens. The first generation Indians were mostly academics and professionals. Many of them came to Germany as students and after finishing studies many managed to find jobs and get settled here. When the husbands came and children were born, the nurses also opted for permanent settlement here. A small percentage of the first generation migrants, mostly men, married German spouses and decided to make Germany their home.

The Rising Indian Community in Germany

Because of their academic background and characteristic resilience, it was comparatively easy for the first generation Indians to learn the language and adapt to the German environment. Many of them found good jobs in the manufacturing and service industry, a few of them found their way to Universities and other educational institutions. A sizeable number of Indians worked here in the medical sector as doctors and nurses. In all these areas the Indian professionals were noted for good performance, disciplined work and a high degree of loyalty to the employer.

Some of the first generation Indians could climb to great heights in the fields/organisations they worked. So we have examples like Navina Sundaram, who made a mark as TV-Journalist or Dr. George Arickal who made it to the Chief Executive Director of the Karl Kuebel Stiftung in Bensheim. In the industry several of them made it to top managerial positions like Dr. Pra buddha Banerjee of Karlsruhe or Gopal Kripalani of Braunschweig. In the academic world we have outstanding Indians like Dr. Alokeranjan Dasgupta (University of Heidelberg), Dr. Shalini Randeria (University of Zürich) and Dr. Purushottam Bapat (University of Constance), to name only three. Even as entrepreneurs and businessmen we have a few first generation Indians who made it to the top like Dr. Satish Batra (Horizon Consults, Aachen), Jolly Thadathil (Old-age Care Complex, Schwelm) and Rajiv Ranjan (Wehmeyer Lifestyle GmbH).

The children born to Indian parents grew up in a bicultural environment, which enabled them to imbibe the essence of both the cultures and acquire a high degree of competence to function effectively in the emerging multicultural world arena. Their multilingual and intercultural skills, upbringing in parental houses with above-average educational levels and the high degree of adaptability and resilience they acquired by growing up with conflicting identities, qualified them to take up leading, respon-

AN INDIAN JOURNALIST IN POST-WAR GERMANY

sible positions in the society. So the second generation Indians, although small in number, have already been able to create an impact in the German society.

The majority of young Indians born and brought up here make it to Abitur (Higher Secondary Level) and later go for medical and engineering studies. The number of those who opt for humanities and other professional courses is also not that small. Many have by now finished their studies and taken up jobs in the industry, the service sector and the academic field. Even in politics at the national level we can see prominent Indian faces, like Sebastian Edathy (SPD) and Josef Winkler (Buendnis 90/Green). Some of the other prominent second generation Indians who are on top and have created an impact are: Joybrato Muckerjee (President of the Giessen University), Simon Chaudhury( Global Programme Manager of Vodafone) and Paul Mechery ( Professor for Intercultural Learning and Social Change, University of Innsbrueck).

The first generation Indians came here with a baggage of native culture filled with languages, literature, dance, music, food habits, dress styles, religious customs etc. etc. Since these were strong identity factors they tried to create bastions of this culture in places where they lived in large groups. This was achieved through organisations and associations founded by them or in concert with their German friends to cultivate and promote Indian culture. Several such organisations exist in Germany today. The most important of them is the Indo-German Society with over 30 branches and about 3700 members spread out in the whole of Germany. Two other organisations deserving special mention are the Indien Institut in Muenich and the Indischer Kulturverein In Frankfurt. Indian festivals like Durga Puja (Bengalis), Onam (Keralites) and Deepavali are also celebrated regularly here. Two private initiatives worth mentioning in this context are the Dance Academy in Berlin established and run by

The Rising Indian Community in Germany

Rajyashree Ramesh and the Darshana Theatre Group in Cologne run by a group of Keralites. Even for promoting Indian literature an organisation by name “Literaturforum Indien e.V” was founded here in 2006, which has since been doing some good work to popularise India’s regional literature here through translations, seminars, reading sessions by authors etc.etc. There are even a few periodicals founded and run exclusively by Indians, two of them in Malayalam (Nammude Lokham- Unsere Welt and Rasmi) and one in German (Meine Welt).

With the rapidly growing economic cooperation between the two countries, the presence of India in Germany has become more visible. At least 123 Indian multinationals are said to have their subsidiaries in Germany, about 170 in number. They have on their pay-roll 20000 employees and 1000 trainees. This situation has brought in some fluctuation in the number of Indians living here. It is estimated that against 10 000 Indians who come to Germany every year, 8000 leave. Another significant development in the recent past is the rapid increase in the number of Indian priests and nuns coming here to work in parishes, hospitals and old-age homes. It is estimated that about 440 catholic priests are doing pastoral work in Germany today. The number of nuns working in hospitals and old-age homes is not less than 2000.

Although small in number, the Indian community has already created an impact here. Its potential as a creative and dynamic force cannot be underestimated. It will certainly play a constructive role in the country’s search for new directions in remodelling lifestyles and making economic growth sustainable and just. (Published by the Indo-German Society of India, Germany, about 15 years ago.)