OverviewMaking investment in India easier for overseas <strong>Indian</strong>sMinistry of <strong>Overseas</strong><strong>Indian</strong> AffairsFor details contact:Harish KerpalChief Executive Officer - OIFC &Director, CII249-F, Sector 18, Udyog Vihar, Phase IVGurgaon - 122 015, Haryana, INDIATel: +91-124-4014060-67 / 4014071Fax: +91-124-4014070Email: harish.kerpal@ciionline.orgWebsite: www.oifc.inConfederation of<strong>Indian</strong> IndustriesMinistry of <strong>Overseas</strong> <strong>Indian</strong> AffairsSixty years is a grain in time… yet in the history of a nation it is an aeon. But the grain is key. Forit is the eye of the grain that captures the soul of a nation whose rites of passage couldn’t havebeen more dramatic, momentous <strong>and</strong> historic as that of India. Country became nation <strong>and</strong> indiversity a young polity sought resonances of union, both ancient <strong>and</strong> modern. The leap of faithwas astonishing as visionaries <strong>and</strong> leaders, scientists <strong>and</strong> engineers, constitutionalists <strong>and</strong> revolutionaries,all built brick by painstaking brick the edifice of a nation. India today is an extraordinary enterprise-inprogress,a democracy which wrote back to Empire <strong>and</strong> which went beyond a functioning anarchy. Witha GDP nearly touching double digit, an unprecedented foreign exchange reserve, an economy in globalorbit, a people thriving on the fruits of the information revolution <strong>and</strong> a voice heard at the head of thetop table, India at 60 shines with the gumption of unafraid youth.As India celebrates its 60th year of Independence, it is time for as much reflection as celebration, <strong>and</strong>paying tribute as much as receiving accolade. India as a nation spills beyond borders <strong>and</strong> time. Becausethe making of India was not only forged within, but also without. And it was in order that PRAVASIBHARATIYA chose to pay tribute to those sons <strong>and</strong> daughters of the soil who have made the larger worldtheir home — from Fiji to Guyana, from Britain to the Caribbean, from Alaska to Australia <strong>and</strong> fromCalifornia to Malaysia…<strong>and</strong> have excelled in their chosen craft <strong>and</strong> trade to become some of the mostdistinguished global citizens of all time. And that is the amazing story of the Great <strong>Indian</strong> <strong>Diaspora</strong>!This issue of PRAVASI BHARATIYA is a roll call of honour — of <strong>Indian</strong>s who have crafted India within<strong>and</strong> those who have shaped what the world thinks of India from without. We have an array of some ofthe finest minds of our times who have come together to celebrate the achievements of <strong>Indian</strong>s abroad,or more precisely, people of <strong>Indian</strong> origin who went in search of a livelihood, often under force of historyor circumstance. Tarun Das, Chief Mentor of CII, pays tribute to the pioneers of enterprise from JamsetjiTata to L.N. Mittal who forged in their foundries the contours of a nation <strong>and</strong> who have left for generationsto come the steel frame of the collective destiny. Kul Bhushan, distinguished editor <strong>and</strong> writer, talks aboutthe political struggles that early <strong>Indian</strong> settlers abroad waged under trying circumstances to reclaim forthemselves destiny <strong>and</strong> dignity. Today, some of the progeny of those extraordinary forbears are leaders,statesmen <strong>and</strong> heads of government — from Guyana to Singapore to New Zeal<strong>and</strong>, to name a few. V.Krishnaswamy, veteran sports writer, profiles those awesome diasporic warriors of the playing fields incricket, hockey, golf, gymnastics, football… Vijay Singh, Alvin Kallicharan, Monty Panesar... Not leastSewsunker Sewgolum, that extraordinary but little heard of golfer of <strong>Indian</strong> origin in apartheid SouthAfrica who beat the best in the world <strong>and</strong> was yet forced to receive his trophy in driving rain because hewas coloured <strong>and</strong> who would eventually die in penury! ‘Colour’ stole the glory.<strong>Diaspora</strong> expert Shubha Singh talks about how the evolution of the diasporic <strong>Indian</strong> was closely linkedto ethnic media — the early chronicles <strong>and</strong> newspapers, <strong>and</strong> later community radio <strong>and</strong> much latertelevision, which lent <strong>and</strong> gave voice to people of <strong>Indian</strong> origin. Today, international television has amongsome of its brightest stars, a number of <strong>Indian</strong> origin ‘newsmakers’. Amit Khanna evokes the magic ofthat ultimate gossamer — Bollywood cinema <strong>and</strong> its iconic stars who hold sway from Moscow to Monaco<strong>and</strong> from Kabul to Cameroon… Raj Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan <strong>and</strong> Shah Rukh Khan are all potent pan-<strong>Indian</strong> symbols while a new genre of diasporic moviemakers — the Mehtas, the Nairs, the Chadhas <strong>and</strong>Shyamalans extends the sway of ‘<strong>Indian</strong>’ cinema.Rukmini Bhaya Nair, professor of linguistics, poet, writer <strong>and</strong> novelist reflects on some of the finestmasters of the Written Word — Salman Rushdie, Vikram Seth, Amitav Ghosh, Jhumpa Lahiri … whohave crafted a whole new genre of writing in English. Some of them wittingly <strong>and</strong> unwittingly have pavedthe way for the ‘great global novel’ sans borders, sans tongues. Such is the power of the diasporic <strong>Indian</strong>writer, her sceptre <strong>and</strong> her scythe!As this is a special issue, some of our regular features have made way for this delightful menu of a manyflavouredspread <strong>and</strong> more. PRAVASI BHARATIYA welcomes you aboard for a fascinating journey into theheart of what 60 years has meant for India within <strong>and</strong> without. India is a continuum, each warp <strong>and</strong> weftetched in time <strong>and</strong> each sruti <strong>and</strong> bhava embellishing the other.Enjoy…— Editorial Team,PRAVASI BHARATIYAPRAVASI BHARATIYA AUGUST 2007 3