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Pablo S. Bose

Dreaming of Diasporas: Urban Developments and Transnational Identities in Contemporary Kolkata

Abstract

This paper examines the contested nature of diasporas and their complex involvement in dynamics of international development by focusing on the recent construction of luxury condominiums on the fringes of the Indian metropolis of Kolkata. These new housing projects are built and marketed with a self-consciously global aesthetic in mind and are actively promoted to both overseas Indian communities and local elites as spaces in which one can take up an explicitly “international” identity. This paper argues that these discourses and developments regarding life-space and lifestyle are part of a broader project intended to help Kolkata regain its past glory as a “world city.” Furthermore, it is suggested that the deployment of the heavily mythologized figure of the global Indian is a crucial element for mobilizing key actors and constituting material transformations in the postcolonial city. Résumé

Ce texte examine la nature contestée des diasporas et leur implication complexe dans les dynamiques de développement international en se concentrant sur les récentes constructions de condominiums luxueux en bordure de la métropole indienne de Kolkata. Ces constructions nouvelles sont bâties et mises sur le marché en valorisant un esthétisme consciemment global. Elles sont activement promues, à la fois aux communautés Indiennes outre-mer et aux élites locales, comme étant des espaces dans lesquels un individu peut acquérir une identité « internationale » explicite. Ce texte argumente que ces discours et ces développements au sujet de l’espace de vie, et de style de vie, font partie d’un projet plus large visant à soutenir Kolkata pour regagner sa gloire passée comme « ville du monde » . De plus, il est I would like you to reach out and invest in a new India. Invest not just not just Invest in a new India. out and invest to reach like you I would emotionally ... all, above culturally and, socially, but intellectually, financially, 2007) (NDTV.com with India. engage come

As Kapur suggests, “it is worth asking whether a less visible, quantifiable,tangible form and of remittances—namely social and remittances the flow of ideas— have a more critical impact than their pecuniary counterpart” (2005: 357). It is and literature on immigrant, diasporic or expatriate communities and development development and communities expatriate or diasporic immigrant, on literature and in putative or ancestral homelands. necessary is This diasporas to related flows cultural and capital paperboth of reading broader argues, however, that a much to understand the implications of invitations to with “engage” one’s homeland. foreign investment. foreign research the of much dominate to tend therefore, linkages, economic and Political Attracting Attracting and using diasporic capital—including investments, remittances and strategyforimportant especially an become ownership—has business or property unstable and aid declining foreign of era an in governments national of number a through through informal channels and (Freund Spatafora For governments 2005: 1). in developing countries and international financial institutions in particular, such figuresrepresent a lucrative and what they consider untapped source of funds. money sent by workers back to their “home” countries—grew from US$66 billion from US$66 countries—grew “home” their to back workers by sent money in 2000 to over US$268 billion in 2006 (Ratha 2005: 42; 2006: 3), with observers some estimating a further 35 to 250 per cent of these amounts transferred global migration, as evidenced by arguments concerning “illegal immigration” on as evidenced “illegalby arguments concerning global migration, immigration” the one hand on and But “brainthe it other. drain” is also evidence of the sheer size and volume of diasporic capital in today’s global Remittances— economy. Ireland to Israel and from the Balkans to South Asia. Israel and from to Ireland the Balkans to South Asia. In recent years the interest in relationships has Inonly partintensified. thisreflects ongoing debates regarding diasporic political connections and economic in re-imagining and reshaping former homes remains a topic of keen Such interest. attention is warranted by the long-distance nationalism expressed within diasporic communities, which has supported a variety of political causes, from state is deeply involved in efforts tocapitalize its on wealththe overseas resources and communities. of For many others—including scholars, financial institutions international and social movements—the diasporic desire to participate With these Prime words, Minister Manmohan Singh welcomed participants to annual the celebration Government of of Like the India’s many Indian diaspora. Indian today’s other national as well as governments regional and municipalities, suggéré suggéré que le deploiement de la figure lourdement mythique de l’Indien global des constituer pour et principaux acteurs des mobiliser pour crucial élément un est transformations matérielles dans la ville post-coloniale.

TOPIA 17 112 TOPIA 17 113 targeting targeting wealthy diasporic individuals and organizations for fundraising and diaspora. diaspora. Such groups are also being international brought diasporic into structures larger such as intra-national the authorities like National the Governmentalso actively of India are and 82-83). 2003: global Chinese “Huaren” (Ong Communities Communities that formerly might have association, referred to heritage themselves as group, a cultural committee philanthropic are increasingly organization self-identifying as or an explicitly ethnic political or national action Mythic Global Indian Defining Diasporas and the Making of the The label diaspora hasyearsrecent in become a sought-after and contested term. urban fringes on the other—have come together through planning, design and of luxurymarketing condominiums. city that have necessitated for some the desire to Indian global the achieve of idea forces—the two (or these how into insight reclaim) status—provides a global diaspora on the one hand and peri-the ongoing urban development in Kolkata’s connections connections to place, nation and home and the construction of “mythic Global Indian” through selected cultural texts and government policies. An of overview urban development in Kolkata—and the dominant representations of the symbolic importance as emblems of “the new India” heralded by much politicaldominant and cultural discourse. of the among distinctions the diasporas and of nature contested the explores paper This successful sons and daughters Whileoverseas. these new housing developments have engendered significant local criticismregarding their social and their ecological to due difficult especially made been has construction their opposing impact, a transnational, cosmopolitan, modern Such projects are a and crucial element in the promotion of Kolkata as a quintessentially global city, urban one lifestyle. that can be an attractive destination for both foreign multinationals and metropolis metropolis of TheseKolkata. new housing projects are built and marketed with a self-consciously global aesthetic that targets both overseas Indian communities and local Theelites. projects are promoted as spaces in whichone can embody This paper examines the use of the figure of thenon-resident Indian (NRI) in the design and marketing of luxury condominiums on the fringes of the Indian professional, professional, and often narrow in its portrayal of foridentities—has been a deployed variety of purposes gender, both within India sexual and its and religious various diasporic communities. produce produce a monolithic vision of the Indian diaspora. Buttressed by government and reinforced policy, through a range of cultural this texts, unitary view of the Indian diasporic experience—as primarilysuccessful and transnational, wealthy, the flow of ideas that is the focus of this paper, in the context of the global Indian Indian global the of context the in paper, this of focus the is that ideas of flow the diaspora and development on the subcontinent. In particular, I am with concerned how certain dominant political and economic discourses have helped to

, , NRI and person desi those which are constantly producing and reproducing themselves anew, themselves anew, and reproducing constantlythose which producing are 396) (Hall 1994: transformation and difference. through [not] by essence and purity, but by the recognition of a necessary of a the recognition but by essence and purity, [not] by with that lives “identity” of a conception heterogeneity and diversity; by Diaspora identities are hybridity. by difference; not despite, and through,

of the global Indian diaspora itself. Who is and who is not counted as part of this of part as counted not is who Whoand is itself. diaspora Indian global the of What group? criteria define membership and exclusion? segments of the Indian diaspora are viewed as heroic and they are in this sense understand To global identity. integral to of the a creation successful pan-Indian, constitution the at carefully look to needs one occurred, has shift this why and how diaspora—known by a variety of appellations including of Indian origin (PIO). Where once émigrés were viewed considerable with resentment suspicion for and “abandoning” their former homelands, today large These definitional debates over what constitutes a diaspora are not readily apparent apparent readily not are a diaspora constitutes what over debates definitional These when one looks at the current imagining and mythologizing of the Indian creating creating exclusionary boundaries around the term is both morally my use problematic and of analytically diaspora Ultimately, is unhelpful. a way of illustrating and power. place space, between shifting relationships and creative the contested, describe a vast array of groups, from abroad. work trading or education seeking communities professionals IT to to functionaries imperialfrom labour migrants, who suggest that (2004), In this paper such I as Walsh follow and Gilroy others, like Gilroy, like diaspora Gilroy, is a useful concept in opening up the question of identity beyond the particularities and atavisms of static, essentialized Selves. Diaspora can be a starting rather than an ending point, a physical, cultural node and of economic the intersection spaces. Accordingly, term between has been used to population population movement (Mishra 2004: 171-72). Some argue that the concept of the diaspora as a term ofthat hope exiledefines living and communities through dreaming of home must be writersrecovered (Braziel For and Mannur 8). 2001: But the diasporic turn in the study of so-called has not been ethnic communities with conflated often too is idea the that complain critics Many challenge. without concepts such as transnationalism and more general processes of migration and image image of natural nations spontaneously endowed with self-consciousness, tidily composed of uniform families” (Gilroy 2000: 23). Hall offers diasporic experience as defined a notion of the Gilroy Gilroy suggests “[the] that idea of diaspora offers aready alternative to the stern discipline of primordial kinship and rooted belonging. It rejects the popular investment investment purposes and they continue to promote the concept of Diasporas have a become Indian “overseas a identity.” popular distinctly subject of study for as for as well disciplines. a number of academics within agencies development

TOPIA 17 114 TOPIA 17 115 (overseas) Bengali is therefore fraught therefore is Bengali (overseas) prabasi There has also been a tendency to subsume South 1 stain of ancestry and the hegemony of the word “India” remains with us remains “India” stain of ancestry of the word and the hegemony the morass of the contemporary through way seek to make our own as we 2) (2000: world. India is present today in the body of the Indians and others from in the today India is present the South But 1.4 million in the United States. number who now Asian subcontinent, Bangladesh, from are Many Pakistan, “Indians.” not all these people are or Fiji, Canada, Africa, England, the Maldives, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, India, The United States. within the born and bred are and many the Caribbean, the rural-urban divide. Finding the the Finding rural-urbandivide. the with difficulties; this is perhaps why an Indianidentity is interpellated in the Kolkata example examined below. rather than Bengali diasporic The ethno-linguistic culture associated with parts of the eastern sub-continent straddles two major religions (Hinduism and Islam) and national borders (India and Bangladesh), not to mention distinctions based on caste, class, gender and not easy, as Diasporas any search tend for to a be Bengali diaspora demonstrates. not easy, identified within host country by with their nation-states association census data Eastern America, Latin (e.g., regions supra-national or Italy) Mexico, India, (e.g., Any Europe). potential Bengali diaspora does not conform to such boundaries. 2004). In this 2004). sense it is Punjabia Gujarati, or Keralite identity—rather than an Locating in the formation of the diasporic self. is predominant Indian one—that however, is, censuses or maps like instruments through identities sub-national such many many within overseas communities identify much more strongly with regional and familial neighborhoodbonds relationships, hometown associations, cultures, Ley 2003; Dehesa la de Levittand 2005; al. et (Chami nation-state the with than Indian diaspora. For one thing, the claim that those from one thing, For the Indian parts of the Indian diaspora. the of Much one. tenuous a is foremost and first India with identify subcontinent literature on remittances and diaspora-influenced development has shown that It is difficult to whom therefore, one know, is describing when speaking of the Asian under “Indian,” Asian when under in “Indian,” fact the region produces many national and sub- argues that Prashad diasporas. national expelled and resettled in North America, rarely self-identify counted as as part Indian. of Being the may diaspora, however, not be a choice and may indeed have negative consequences. claim membership in the Indian the in diaspora labourers indentured but of descendents the instead identify example, For more with “homes.” recent their more Caribbean or trading classes who migrated to east Africa and were then forcibly membership; membership; the numbers can who those and fromIndia, recently or directly emigrated include have who those country, Indian citizens living outside of have Indian or the mixed-Indian Many heritage. of these groups do not necessarily The size of the Indian diaspora is variously estimated at anywhere between 18 and 18 between anywhere at estimated variously is diaspora Indian the of size The 40 million people worldwide (High Level Committee on the Indian Diaspora, 2002). The wide discrepancy figures in has much to do with defines how one a magazine with global India Today,

left the sub-continent and identify with it. and special featured issues in 2003 and 2004 devoted to the diaspora, circulation, it now includes a “Global Indian Report” in each One issue. editorial showed a emerges emerges tends to privilege the migration and settlement experiences of affluent, obscure to tend Such representations highlyeducated highlyand skilled émigrés. the histories and contemporary experiences of numerous other groups who also both within the sub-continent and in many diasporic Indian communities. In films In communities. Indian diasporic many in and sub-continent the within both dramas television newspapers, community and documentaries radio literature, and and newssoap operas, programs and the Internet dominant blogs, narrative that on the Indian Diaspora 2002: 169-77). the Indian Diasporaon 2002: texts, cultural of variety a wide in reflected also is group this of success apparent The the world, totaling over US$16 billion (IMF 2003). The Gujarati diaspora alone, Thetotaling Gujarati over the US$16 diasporaworld, billion alone, (IMF 2003). is estimated which makes up less than 0.01 of per cent the of U.S the population Levelcountry’s(High that of wealth cent per 5 Committee than more control to with a combined net worth of between US$40 and émigrés successful US$60 these billion have Nor (High Level 417). 2002: Diaspora Indian the on Committee been stingy with their good fortune; in recent years remittance outpaced flowsMexico toas India the country receiving the largest volume of remittances in and they make up a sizable proportion of today’s the of assets high-tech gross combined the millionaires estimated have Some across 1999). (Saxenian globe the Indian diaspora at around US$300 billion (roughly equivalent to GDP), India’s diaspora across the globe have indeed been in highly their successful new homes and (Motwani, prosperous Gosine and Barot-Motwani 1993). engineers Indian rank second IT in number only to Chinese immigrants in Silicon Valley have have to some degree overwhelmed the celebratory chords of globalization, and diasporic Indians often find themselves lumped into the category of threatening Indian the of significantthat sections deny to hard is it Yet Others. dark-skinned of those troublesome “immigrants and minorities who have long been depicted as lazy, grasping, and needy” (Prashad 2000: 3-6). This representation has lost much of its lustre in the post-9/11 as era, discourses of racialized securitization The overseas Indian who inhabits such an identity is characterized as hardworking, hardworking, as characterized is identity an such inhabits antithesis who Indian the overseas The words, other in educated; be to willing and intelligent entrepreneurial, assuming a range of identities. I argue, however, that the dominant representation representation dominant the that however, argue, I identities. of range a assuming of the diasporic who Indian is is the of exemplar of the the successful NRI/PIO, minority.” “model Asia, the Asia, AfricaCaribbean, and the South SuchPacific. a diverse presence may indeed suggest a truly global reach for the Indian diaspora—situated in multiple leaving locations, from diverse working trajectories, in different occupations and Nevertheless, Nevertheless, Indian diasporas, variously populations defined,not only in U.K., advanced industrialized countries such as the U.S., form significantminority Canada and Australia, but also in the Persian Gulf and throughout Southeast

TOPIA 17 116 TOPIA 17 117 groups its overseas-born Indians: Indians: overseas-born its groups 3) : : India Today India 2004 , which shares a sense of adventure with these intrepid intrepid these with adventure of sense a which shares , India Today India India Today India [the] deterritorialized Indians became imagined as crucial nonresident to Since narratives. in filmic national and nation-state the Indian economy deterritorializedthe integralinternaland as imagined been has Indian then, well as as representations, filmic Consequently, to the Indian nation-state. 40-41) (2004: shiftedstate policies have this discourse. to reflect migrations of the 1960s and 1980s to largely educated professionals, and 1980s to largelymigrations of the 1960s educated professionals, slowly rising are to great New and Oldthese navigators of the Worlds have not often would their parents in areas in their homelands, prominence ( possible. dreamed Last year, Lastyear, This their achievements saluted Global Indian issue. in a special Indians, or overseas-born (OBIs), Indians generation, celebrate second the we year, nevertheless not callwho may than are but who home India their more Born great the two in lives. the sum of the fragments of their parents’ creation of a division of NRI Affairs within the federal ministry of external affairs; affairs; external of ministry federal the within Affairs NRI of division a of creation Global Indian include: the establishment of a the legislative Indian diaspora committee across to the study globe; the co-founding the Indians; overseas with of celebration annual an of Commerce of Chambers Indian the Federation of State policies that have underscored the cultural importance of the mythic diaspora, an impression that has become reinforced through successive government government successive through reinforced become has that impression an diaspora, years in recent As Desai suggests, policies. Those profiled include recording software advertising doctors, artists, executives, engineers, Hollywood actors, stock analysts, This gives asenators. narrow impression of what and constitutes scriptwriters, U.S. the Indian venture capitalists seem that the only successful diasporic individuals are IT workers and yuppies. categorieswhichthe into Consider entertainers. the and hybrids the professionals, the trailblazers, the politicians, the global Indian diaspora, they may as well not exist. they as well may global Indian diaspora, If one were to look at Bollywood films and the glut of publications devoted to hybrid identities now popular within the sub-continent and abroad, it would and janitors, and in many other non-professional occupations in North America, and in occupations in many other Northnon-professional America, and janitors, Europe and especially These the peopleGulf have as notstates. the disappeared, distribution of diasporic populations but illustrates, in terms of the myth of the descendents of indentured servants in the Caribbean and traders in Africa, Sikh labourers who established workers domestic themselves in drivers, taxi farming as and labour to forestry continue who sectors millions in the and North America, This statement is interesting notonly for what it saysbut for what it leaves out. spawned which have migrations” great “two only interpretation, this in are, There the Indian diaspora. Such a reckoning leaves many out of the picture, such as particular understanding of who comprises the Indian diaspora and of why they celebrated:should be for us. If today India is shining, then the diaspora is shining too. We say to say We then the diaspora is shining too. India is shining, If today for us. to gain from as much have the diaspora that you do from it is us as we you; (Sharma 2004) relationship. a mutually beneficial Our destinies are interlinked. The overseas Indians are an excellent resource resource an excellent Indians are The overseas Our interlinked. destinies are

and poverty, cheek by jowl, in the city itself. space jowl, cheek by and poverty, Asia Pacific region” (2006). The many names given to Kolkata/Calcutta reflect the reflect Kolkata/Calcutta to given names many The (2006). region” Pacific Asia multifaceted history of the city—from a colonial past to industrial decline to a all the of a while wealth situation facing hopeful and self-proclaimed resurgence; attempted to brand the city as the City of More recently Joy. the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation“the gateway to has the extolled Kolkata as Asian tigers ... offering the shortest distance to the treasure rich trove of the and hope. Patrick and Swayze’s reading hope. of Calcutta as the “City turned of a Joy” bad book by Dominique Lapierre into an equally bad film filled with clichés about a once government municipal Kolkata’s them. save to knight white a for need city’s Empire’s scribe Empire’s Calcutta Rudyard was “the Kipling, City an of Dreadful Night,” and the city criescrowded wet “yelling heat” “dense of blanketed by a oppressive, activity bereft of industry, Rajiv city,” Gandhi “dying branded it a (1891). jackals” century urban intelligentsia who first made it a thenone centre for of indolence, learning and finally the centre of a vigorous proto-nationalist and anti-colonial movement, it became a “City of (Sanyal, Palaces” 1993: To 42-44). the British “Golgotha” to the British soldiers, sailors, tradesmen and clerks who accompanied accompanied who clerks and tradesmen sailors, soldiers, British the to “Golgotha” Job Charnock at the time of the city’s founding, connoting the 19th a To humid air and high mortality rates due to malaria. Biblical skulls with heavy, place of place of “poverty and despair, of desperation and decline” is nothing new for the city the for new nothing is decline” and desperation of despair, and “poverty of place existence, of years hundred three its over names many had has Kolkata vii). (1996: and few of them have been flattering. The fledgling settlement was known as Kolkata: From Colonial City to Imperial Centre From Kolkata: Wasteland to Post-Industrial a as reputation Its press.” “suffers bad a from remarked, once Hutnyk as Calcutta, discussed in this paper? If, as diaspora previously identities stated, If, are more often linked to place than to nation-states, how might Kolkata—often cited as a identifications foundational touchstone and interpellationsof diasporic the in implicated identity—be Bengali division said of the initiatives of the Indian government towards its diaspora: towards of the Indian government said of the initiatives division dispensation dispensation to own immovable property and invest in business parliament ventures Indian within the to election for stand to NRIs some allowing even and India; (Yelaja 2006). A former high-ranking civil servant who helped found the NRI the extension of dual citizenship rights to selected communities (mainly based in Westernaffluent countries); the granting of special visa privileges(through a Person of Indian Origin Card program); allowing diasporic individuals special

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2 the guidebook protocols” (1996: 3). Hutnyk reveals these particularly 3). (1996: the guidebook protocols” despite process. Kolkata process. experienced decline in both economic and political power and which it was the centre—was divided in the Partition that accompanied Britain’s which it was Britain’s that divided the accompanied centre—was in the Partition of wing Muslim-populated mostly eastern, The sub-continent. the from departure traumaticthe province and in becameviolent what East was Pakistan, a lengthy, sense of neglect and decline that has gripped Kolkata for decades, especially in Kolkata lost In the earlythe post-Independence partperiod. of the 20th century, its position as national capitaland by 1947 to the Delhi, province of Bengal—of illiteracy, illiteracy, the explosive growth of general public and alarmingthe green slums, levelsspaces, of water to and air pollution snarlingand contribute a general problems Such traffic services. congestion, and infrastructure lossof deterioration of It is in these rapidly urbanizing cities with concentration increasing that population one cannot growth avoid and issues of mass unemployment, widespread 13 million. While13 million. India may still be a country of many mega-cities villages, like Kolkata are increasingly the sites in which we see the concentration of many of that confrontthe problems the contemporary as a whole. Indian nation against the Even British. today its sphere of influence continues to be exercised over neighbouring Indian states as well as countries Bhutan such as Bangladesh, Mumbai following India, in agglomeration urban largest third the is It Nepal. and and Delhi—the 2001 Indian Census gives the population of the city at well over such as city gas lights, or in its concentration of administrative and political power power political and administrative of concentration its in or lights, gas city as such crucial site a been long city also The has 2006). Chattopadhyay 1990; (Chatterjee of resistance and revolt, especially in the anti-colonial and nationalist struggles point in the extension of 19th-century globalization and imperialism, through its through 19th-centuryimperialism, of and globalization extension the in point second the as described once was it indeed, Empire; British the in role prominent city in the Raj, behind only London in receiving technological advancements dominance on a regional scale. For centuries, migrant labour has been attracted to attracted been has labour migrant centuries, For scale. regional a on dominance the city from all across the especiallysub-continent, the neighboring provinces, to work in industries, agriculture and as servants. The city was an important Kolkata has long extended its reach outside of its city limits, encompassing an amorphous and ever-changing “hinterland” over which it exercises primacy. It and it still exerts this was once a primate city both nationally and internationally, for a It neoliberalis a rebirth. crucial node maintenance in and the construction, diasporic and local. urban and rural, Bengali identity, of reformulation Orientalist representations and highlights the role that Kolkata has played within played has Kolkata that role the highlights and representations Orientalist anti- things: many of symbol a is It India. and Bengal in culture and politics local thesis of rural land and political ruins reforms, of fecund imperial soil grandeur, to that imaginary Calcutta of guidebooks and charitable Western sympathies, but sympathies, Western charitable and guidebooks of imaginary Calcutta that to also to the experience of Calcutta which sometimes impinges upon those who visit The city has also been characterizedby what Hutnyk has termed“a poverty of a representation,” refers tendency Calcutta of to “rumour view the its Hutnyk, life For and tourism. prospects and through pollution the lenses poverty, of charity,

producer producer service sectors since the includingmid-1990s, the proliferation of call centre firms servicing transnational corporations. The West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Corporation (2007) has prioritized efforts to attract IT the Left governing Front—the coalition of leftist parties led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) that has been in power in West Bengal since Kolkata 1977— as other regions of India has seen the rapid growth of financial and construction of flyovers in the city) and to implement user fees such as a water tax, tax, water a as such fees user implement to and city) the in flyovers of construction notably segments of the population. unpopular with the poorer As a result of some of these changes and the new“business-friendly” attitude of authorities, authorities, has also emphasized a cosmopolitan and business-friendly attitude among young entrepreneurs through educational and trading as incentives, well as instituted long-term plans to ease traffic in Kolkata (with Japanese-assisted period has seen an explosive growth of private and public-private partnerships as a way of redeveloping the city through new urban housing projects aimed at an emerging and global middle class. The state, in conjunctionwith municipal of neoliberal economic reforms on the heels of an International Monetary Fund assistance significantagreement), investment was focusedon especially Kolkata, This service city’s industrialthe the suburbs. in manufacturingin as well as sector crease in corruption and inefficiency in municipal governance. in corruption and inefficiency crease governance. municipal in the with 1991, After decades. two last the in considerably changed has situation acceptance The India’s (following era liberalization the as known is what of introduction and a measure of stability in West Bengal; for the Kolkata, however, following decades brought yet more flight of capital, the degradation ofin- an and construction housing anclassupper-middle for scramble a infrastructure, aging public economic economic stagnation and capital flight from In 1977 periodsan alliancethrough of politicalprofound instability the and turmoil. city,a trend continued that of leftist parties took control of the state and ushered in an era of rural reforms time still maintained the highest per capita income levels in Just India. as Delhi had replaced Kolkata as the political capital forty years earlier, in mid-centuryThe 1960sMumbai sawbegan considerable to it replace as the economic capital. of India. West Bengal in the 1950s was still a leading industrial state in the country the in state industrial leading a still was 1950s the in Bengal West India. of industry manufacturing extensive an and infrastructure economic established with this at population its and goods) consumer and chemicals automobiles, (including Pakistan). disappear from of course, the Calcutta politicaldid not, and economic landscape India, India, Bengal saw the effects cyclically and at a lower level, withrefugee continuing flows for close to fiftyyears and spiking during various conflicts (such as the 1947 Partition and the 1971 civil war that created Bangladesh out of East its city services were overwhelmed by the enormous influx of refugees, somewhere somewhere refugees, of influx enormous the by overwhelmed were servicescity its between three and six million in the period following Partition alone. Massive population transfers and violence accompanied Partition, but unlike northern

TOPIA 17 120 TOPIA 17 121 signal a decline in the importance of cities due to the emergence and consolidation consolidation and emergence the to due cities of importance the in decline a signal world cities Particularlyin recent influentialyears. have beenaccounts ofworld- city formation offeredby scholars such asFriedmann (1986) and Sassen (2000). Sassen suggests that while some believed that the end of the 20th century would What is it that marks a city as “global”? And why does it seem that so many urban many so that seem it does why And “global”? as city a marks that it is What has scholarship Considerable designation? the for vying are today agglomerations of impacts political and social economic, the and planning urban to devoted been elling the Dream: Advertising Fantasies and the Diasporic Indian and the Diasporic Selling the Dream: Advertising Fantasies condominiums. In condominiums. these housing complexes and transformations of urban space in the Kolkata, idea of the mythic Global Indian and the idea of the global city shape. taken concrete have of joy” has become the “city of (Mukherjeeflyovers” 2004). A particular source of pride for many has been the surge in the building city in construction recent in years, especially in and the around number of “international style” luxury list struggles have all challenged these exclusionary visions among many middle-class Bengalis there of and is Kolkatans, today a great deal the of future. But confidence and optimism about the future. Some say approvingly that the“city the landscape of Kolkata have resulted in considerable organizing and opposition, opposition, and organizing considerable in resulted have Kolkata of landscape the of raft a or modernization privatization, renewal, urban evictions, against whether other neoliberal Union environmental initiatives. groups movements, and popu- ecological impacts and As economic previouslyKolkata ones. and noted, Bengal the to from nationalist the agitation, and fermentpolitical of sites been long have Naxalite movement and many other struggles Thebesides. changes wroughton of Calcutta” (2003-2005) similarly included evictions dwellers. of slum and pavement These developmentshave not occurred without problems: forced evictions, Operation Sunshine in 1996, waged against hawkers which and included their forced pavement removal and relocation to dwellers, urban fringes in order to “beautification the campaignsforseries of later A Kolkata. of streets cleanthe up Perhaps Perhaps most notoriously, the Government of municipal government West in Kolkata, has Bengal initiated a series along of urban and “renewal” with the measures. One “regeneration” of the best known was the euphemistically titled in Kolkata itself (Department of Information Technology, in Government Kolkata of West itself (Department of Technology, Information Bengal 2007). has declared IT a thus utility, disallowing strikes in the sector; these in investment attract jewelryit to and gems park Salt toys in a Lake and park has set up a sectors, and improved power and phone service across the state and especially companies, initiatives that are paying off with the increasing location of outsourcing outsourcing of location increasing the with off paying are that initiatives companies, operations in Kolkata. Recent government state The arrivals Satyam. and include Wipro, IBM, Cognizant, Services, Consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers, Tata

such phenomenal growth in has There Kolkata elites. local as well as diasporas target housing which and projects flavour, “international” that have an explicitly townships new and complexes housing of creation the in boom enormous an been Kolkata. Such renewed linkages to labour the and transportation outside can world help us through understand why networks there of may have capital, been and Chennai. Multinational corporations, especially those involved in so-called Singapore environs. its and city the to relocated have outsourcing process business Airlines, Lufthansa and Emirates Air have all recently added direct flights to transform Calcutta-the-poor into Kolkata-the-rising. Kolkata is viewed by many many viewedby is Kolkata transformKolkata-the-rising. into Calcutta-the-poor to be a city on the way Theup. American Chamber of Mumbai Commerce Hyderabad, hasrecently Bangalore, after India in fifth its Kolkata, in branch a up set transportation infrastructureit has also Yet such suffered throughas a a subway. serious My decline. contention is that the urban transformations on the eastern to past; the on build and recover to project broader a of part are cityfringes the of Kolkata has a storied past with many of the features that characterize city: a a world rich cultural heritage, spectacular architecture (colonial edificesthe suchVictoria as Memorial), a rebirth as an economic and political modern center, and reified through these projects and their proponents such those a within India or elsewhere It who is represent toward Global Indian. is that of the mythic aimed. are that these developments formulation types of developments are taking place, then what types of identities are being projected by the condominiums and the lifestyles they are the idealized inhabitants? I contend that to a offering? large degree the identity promoted Whoare increasingly become a form of globalized practice ... Australia as in and well California, Turkey, Indonesia, Canada, as places more generally” as far these If scenario. apart a such in arise that questions several as are There 131). 2004: (King marketing marketing of substantial suburban styles familiar to the residential “Western” residential locations of NRIs the Western-based property apparently based on has, over the last two decades and with other forms of property development, associative associative element for King in that ourselves “the represent location and dwelling to, where seen we are live or is to, choose either we how of way (important) one to (129). others” He that suggests, moreover, “the international advertising and the development of diaspora-driven/oriented housing and importance of habitation in our comments understanding of identity by on looking at a series the of advertisements selling luxury-style condominiums in Place Delhi. is a crucial Within many cities, including those in the so-called Third World, a concomitant a concomitant World, includingThird those in Withinthe so-called many cities, phenomenon in recent discusses King fringesthe at ones (2004). the Kolkata to of similar developments years has been the explosive growth of housing of globalization, the reverse is true: the power 1). of (2000: control global transnational of sites temporal as capital well as physical in must be spatially, produced

TOPIA 17 122 TOPIA 17 123 ] projects are sic There are lots of rich Indians overseas. We intend also to sell to them. They We intend also to sell to them. lots of are rich Indians There overseas. to buy a want The NRIs and bring in this project in the dollars. will invest 2006) of Indonesia (Ciputra Group at home. home second [with] a spate of new infrastructural properties developments in Kolkata The city is witnessing construction suddenlyhave prime estate. become real includesThe range 2 to 5 of international style apartment complexes. (Axiom villas suiting varied and townhouses budgets. flats, bedroom Estates 2006) investment in real estate. The developers note: estate. in real investment To the west of the city, an Indonesian company has signed an agreement to build to agreement an signed has company Indonesian an city, the of west the To the West Kolkata International billed Township, as India’s first foreign direct demand.” Another property Another website, firm development its sayson Kolkata of demand.” Calcutta has generated a fair amount of the middle demand and lower amongst middle income the categories ... a flatlot many buyers[ in in mushrooming the peripheral suburban areas of Calcutta due to this persistent international real-estate market. In several particular, agencies who serve NRIs have featured Kolkata prominently in recent years. HDFC Realty example, tells (2006), prospective for buyers that the “[suburban] area in the periphery of the New Kolkata Township at Rajarhat, hotels and port facilities. at Rajarhat, Township the New Kolkata Kolkata’s efforts in these and other initiatives have notgone unnoticedby the nine 28-floor towers with close to one thousand luxury apartments and a shopping a and apartments luxury thousand one to close with towers 28-floor nine mall. In addition to numerous other housing developments, the CMG has also been responsible for highway improvement projects, building hospitals, aquatic and adventure theme parks, high-tech and industrial parks, hydroelectric dams, partnerships is the Calcutta Metropolitan Group (CMG), a joint venture between between venture joint a (CMG), Group Metropolitan Calcutta the is partnerships comprising city, the in the structures city of and sets tallest the the United of Credit one as Beeline designed Group. Among their Park,” “Hiland many projects is development. Themunicipality is also inon theact; a prominent figure in local public-private moved away from expertise and experience in “slum improvement” toward projects projects toward improvement” “slum in experience and expertise from away moved tied to “significant costrecovery or surplusgeneration components” that focus on residential middle-class as housing, well as new area and commercial facility specialty hospitals, condominium complexes, malls and multiplex cinemas. Many Many cinemas. multiplex mallsand complexes, condominium specialtyhospitals, of these projects have been undertaken in partnership with explicitly has state example, for The agencies. (2006), Authority Development Metropolitan Kolkata to house 500,000 people (78 per cent of whom are targeted as middle and upper income earners), among high-technology oriented office complexes andspaces. Luxury open hotels have appeared in the area, as well as convention centers, to the east of the city, especially Metropolitan along Bypass which the connects Kolkata new to highway the international called airport. The the largest townships in Eastern this Rajarhat region, and are Kolkata, New designed Town The names of the projects instead often denote a sense of disconnection disconnection of sense a denote often instead projects the of names The 3 about returning to one’s roots, but also an urge, a commitment to make a commitment but also an urge, roots, to one’s about returning (Saha 2006) Bengal a better place. It would offer NRIs the standard of living they are used to in the West. West. used to in the of living they are the standard offer NRIs It would blend of the a worlds, the best of both would combine The complex not just It’s and the earthy charm of Bengal. West the of conveniences

buildings. livelihoods are tied to the physical spaces upon which the diaspora-inspired urban diaspora-inspired the which upon spaces physical the to tied are livelihoods dreams are to be they—like built. Yet those made invisible by the myth of the “model minority”—are nowhere to be seen in the planning of many of the new are also involved in trading produce from in trading produce also involved are the area. The new housing projects will therefore inevitably displace many of those whose another 6,000 working in wastewater-fed rice fields and 4,000 people engaged in vegetable farming on garbage (Sarkar a 1990: further Additionally, 173). 20- 25,000 work as waste pickers at the municipal Dhapa Numerous dump. people the working poor. The area has a total population of between 62,000 and 100,000 and 62,000 between of population total a has area The poor. working the people living in several semi-ruralThis includesdependent villages. an extensive workforce: 8,500 are employed directly in co-operative or private fisheries, with fisheries, farms and an ingenious system for managing Kolkata’s waste (Bunting et (Bunting waste Kolkata’s managing for system ingenious an and farms fisheries, daily vegetables of fresh tonnes 150 approximately provide wetlands The serving 2002). mainly al. Kolkata, within markets urban for fish of tons 10,500 than more and significant impact on the social, economic and ecological environment of the city. city. the of environment ecological and economic social, the on impact significant will developers by favoured most areas the in urbanization rapid that worry Critics includes that region ecologicallysensitive an Wetlands, Kolkata East the threaten Kolkata; Kolkata; they are primarily high-rise apartment although buildings, some aspire to be skyscrapers in a city few. with precious Beyond altering the Kolkata skyline, such massive developments will have a at the global growth in condominium design and marketing to see many of the in developments rivals Kolkata in construction of scale and pace The trends. same other Theremajor are moreurban thancenters. fifty majorprojects underway in international. international. But their imagining conjures very specific to the clientele they target. to the amenities they offer, fromimages their names, habitat, homeof and Many of these features are not unique to the Kolkata case; one need only look prominent prominent local as well as diasporic publications and other forms of and media, through a series of travelling road-shows to diasporic locales Theysuch areNew and as designedToronto. York by London, various architects, both local and Theprojects in question marketed are through websites, advertisements in working in Silicon Valley, “Rosedale Garden,” would be a “slice of would be “slice Americanaa on “Rosedale Garden,” working in Silicon Valley, developers: of the In the words the fringes of the city.” Many Many of these projects are aimed in a similar fashion or at those who the aspire “successful” NRI to be like them, as represented in popular culture another media. and Yet project, initiated the by two MIT graduates from Kolkata now

TOPIA 17 124 TOPIA 17 125 use. South use. City’s promotion of the ideal global life is difficult Besides to ignore. the requisite country club. Most noteworthy about the South City Projects are the are Projects City South the about noteworthy Most club. country requisite the giant billboards which advertise its international appeal These all across the city. are in addition to the magazines websites, and television ads that all promoters “eco-friendly design” that “promises a lifestyle (South“promises that of “eco-friendlyinternational standards” design” City TheProjects 2006). complex includes severalresidential towers (which the promoters describe as a “soaring”), a school, entertainmentmall, complexes and Perhaps Perhaps the most explicit are lifestyles, transnational or global diasporic, and among ownership apartment between these projects in making the Southa self-describedCity mini-township with Projects: 12 ha (30 of acres) the connection proclaims that the project “is what reflects the best that Kolkata has to offer to an to offer to has Kolkata that best the reflects “iswhat project the that proclaims Village 2006). (Vedic Earth!” international audience—a veritable paradise on decrease heat and keep homes cool. The bungalows are spaced into arrangements spaced are The bungalows cool. heat and keep homes decrease that mimic typical North American Theirmanicured suburbanlawns advertising and paved roads, a lack of population density. subdivisions, with wide, well- international and diasporic market as the other developments. It is of comprised a set of condominium-bungalows, a resort and a spa. Along with shopping amenities—conference recreation rooms, facilities—it malls, offersthe the usual to roofs the on slopes grass with “eco-friendly abilitypurchase unique to homes,” promotion of food courts and 250 different retailers where multinational branded multinational where retailers different 250 and courts food of promotion stores which “rub shoulders with their Village, while unbranded Vedic cousins.” not promising towering apartment blocks, appears to be targeted at a similar is a private-public partnership, designed area as an residentialcomplexoffice and is a private-public partnership, that includes a multiplex theatre and parking space for 800 Kolkata cars 2006). (City It Centre also privileges North American-style malls, especially in its modern and global. City a Centre, project with an that “architecture embodies the spirit of Kolkata” words, words, “where life resides”; “Five-Star campaign is World of with Difference” “Make Inside, their a moreover, Five developers offer, Star Outside.” What the self-consciously is which amenities these lifestyleamong a live to opportunity the a shopping arcade, a home shopping deliveries arcade, a a for temperature beautygroceries, parlour, controlled swimming indoor pool, gyms, roller-skating convention arena, centre and coffee conference shopslibrary, hall, and Itrestaurants. in is, the promoters’ new homes. The advertising copy for the Sanjeevani Group’s Bengal Silver Spring Silver Bengal Group’s Sanjeevani the for copy advertising The homes. new promises “just the kind of place you would never you’d get” (Silver see Spring Its 2006). in amenities include foreign landscaped gardens, glossies and regret developments developments together is both their inclusion of numerous attendant facilities including private schools, swimming pools, country clubs and shopping and their mallsreliance on images of the diasporic Indian as an ideal denizen for the with the local in favour of allusions to the global or Ideal high-tech Unitech the City, futures—Technopolis, Uniworldmodern, especially City to or Infinity A further theme common tying formany of example. these housing Benchmark, South City 4 , but rather to a global a to rather but , per se per

rich terrain, used by multiple actors for various purposes. For some politicians and politicians some For purposes. various for actors multiple by used terrain, rich Conclusion This paper has suggested that the category of diaspora is a highly contested and in this sense be helping underestimated, as it does to blunt criticisms regarding the material transformations be undergoing. that cities like Kolkata may actual actual presence of NRIs, the idea of the mythic Kolkata of city Global the which Indian to retains a standards” “international strong the embodying significance, diaspora Indian life-worldcannot global the the of symbolic of The value aspires. suspect that such claims were not only difficult to verify, but that they functioned functioned they that but verify, to onlydifficult not claimssuch that suspect were as part of a marketing strategy themselves, a way of proving the desirability of a project and its provenance as an “international” destination. Whatever the interviews with promoters, developers and residents, I heard that NRI-ownership NRI-ownership that heard I residents, and developers promoters, interviewswith of flats ranged between 25 and 75 per cent,an orNRI (Silver that everyone’s Spring neighbour2004; South was City 2004; VillageVedic 2004). I began to in Kolkata. secondary of is condominiums the in Bengali overseas the of presence physical The importance; it is the idea of them that is crucial. Time and again during my few attempts have been made to enumerate a Bengali diaspora in concrete terms. terms. concrete in diaspora Bengali a enumerate to made been fewhave attempts In the absence of such the connections, figure of the mythic Global Indian has urban developments of context the within role prominent more even an on taken class—beyond the sub-continent. Perhaps it is because the Bengali diaspora is more difficult to locate for a variety of reasons; though cultural associations and sites, diasporic various in abound identity Bengali on based organizations business in the diaspora. It is curious, then, that in the advertisements condominium such then, It is curious, in the diaspora. sub-nationalism is eschewed this in Perhaps is favour of due a to global identity. fromprofessional migration it larger-scale of recent Bengal—much relatively the non-resident Gujarati and non-resident Keralite programs launched by other state other by launched programs Keralite non-resident and Gujarati non-resident to subject is prideand much of source a identityis Bengali India. in governments and Bengal in both discourse and culture popular through reification considerable Western Europe Western and the there Gulf, has Persian been little attempt by the state government of Bengal the to to target Bengali contrast diasporas stark in order in to solicit stands funds it or because to unusual is This connections. business build such advertising is not to a Bengali diasporicidentityBengali a to not is advertising such Indian Unlike one. regions such as the Gujarat Punjab, America, and NorthKerala, which like have places to connections ongoing and migration of histories long World Does.” World and Interestingly, perhaps uniquely in the case of Kolkata, the appeal made in promising promising prospective buyers that they can “Own a home with India’s biggest swimming and pool” frolic in park “A larger than Eden Gardens,” the Way the “Live and to offersresidents the its opportunity in“Live the to Sky”

TOPIA 17 126 TOPIA 17 127 - . http://www.axiomes . , edited by Jana Evans Braziel edited by , Theorizing Diaspora is seen as an untapped source of capital for development development for capital of source untapped an as seen is

of the diaspora that is crucial for mobilizing key actors and Axiom New Property in Kolkata Developments idea and Anita Mannur, 1-22. London: Blackwell. London: 1-22. Mannur, and Anita May 2006). May Points Globalization: Migration, Nation, 2003. Mannur. Evans and Anita Jana Braziel, In in Diaspora Studies. of Contention References 2006. Estates. Axiom 16 (accessed tates.com/kolkata-property.htm?gclid=CK-pqIG1qIQCFRDOPgodvjb9jw over the building of a Tata car manufacturing factory agricultural on land in Singhur. Tata the building of a over local cricket is a prominent Eden Gardens pitch and stadium. 4. the area an internationally conservationthe area protected struggles and popular area that oppose Such are conflicts evictions political and highlight corruption in land-use allocations. violence the recent as evidenced by as elsewhere in Bengal, in Kolkata as well ongoing 3. There has been intense opposition to development in the region, for example through for example through region, in the to development has been intense opposition There 3. Notable the popular ecologicalWetlands. and social justice struggles in the East Kolkata includedevents court have litigation challenges the public interest that helped to declare 2. According to the 2001 census, around 285 million or approximately 28 per cent of the 28 per cent of approximately 285 million or around to the 2001 census, According 2. with 38 per cent of the urban residing population in urban live areas, Indian population in only 38 agglomerations. welcomed supportwelcomed from the global Chinese diaspora against attacks from the Indonesian but did not necessarily military consider during and media financial crisis, Asian East the only fashion being identified in this contributed to Moreover, themselves to be Chinese. ethnic/racial lines. along “impurity” of disloyalty and national accusations Notes who in Indonesia, Ong (2003) discusses the case of ethnic Chinese communities 1. the fringes of their Kolkata, symbolic importance and impact cannot be denied. it is Indeed, the materialconstituting transformations in the city. mythic Global Indian appears in bodily form and takes up residence in the luxurythe in residence up takes and form bodily in appears Indian Global mythic condominiums. The argument remains thatregardless of howIndians are many diasporic actually purchasing properties in the new housing developments on interested interested in living in these new developments the opportunity to live a global The be inhabitants may Bengalis or theyoverseas may and transnational lifestyle. it Fundamentally does not matter be that those “livethe who wish to like them.” Thepromises made by the advertisingmake no campaigns mention discussed of such sacrifices or above consequences. Instead,they of course offer those hand, for hand, those who might be displaced by the construction of such apartments, the diaspora might represent a foreign elite whose needs and desires supersede often marginalized populations. those of local, policymakers the diaspora the policymakers many To projects. developers they are the ideal target group toward whom the construction and design, marketing of luxury apartments On is the aimed. other ------

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