Archana Srivastava

BETWEEN EXPECTATION AND EXPERIENCE: Lives of Gujarati and Sikh women ageing in London Archana Srivastava Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of London February 1995 Department of Anthropology and Sociology School Of Oriental And African Studies 1 ProQuest Number: 10673199 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10673199 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 ABSTRACT This ethnographic study traces the ageing process as conditioned by the migration experience, and the social, economic and cultural backgrounds of Gujarati and Sikh women in London. This research was conducted amongst women of the two communities who frequented various Asian organizations and places of worship in Wood Green, Wembley and Southall in London. The data were collected through unstructured interviews. The essential experiences which condition the lives of informants include their migratory history, their residential patterns, the perceived threat from western morality, concern for their cultural identity, and actual and perceived racism. These experiences have demanded various adjustments from Indian women, such as the need to go out of their houses to work. They have to face changes in ideas about masculinity, femininity and authority, balancing their expectations (based on the ideal Indian world) with practicalities of life in London. In the absence of wider familial kin networks they need to rely on other strategies of social contact and support. All these changes have affected most women equally, but from time to time, their responses may be guided by their specific religious, regional, caste and linguistic affiliations, or by individual perceptions which are independent of such factors. This research contributes to the study of the ageing process among first generation women migrants to Britain who are growing old in a western country. It aims to understand their ageing in terms of the conflicts they experience as they adjust their expectations in light of their experience of late twentieth century London. The thesis aims more generally at an understanding of ageing processes of migratory communities living in the West. 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to take this opportunity to acknowledge my deep debt and gratitude to my informants who talked to me for hours, answering my questions, and teaching me about various aspects of the life of Indians in Britain (and in Africa). Formal and informal learning through informants and animated discussions with teachers, friends and family members have framed my thoughts on these issues. It is impossible to express my gratitude to all of them adequately in words. I owe a special debt and gratitude to my supervisor, Prof. Lionel Caplan and co supervisor, Dr. Chris Pinney, who gave me the freedom to formulate and express my own ideas on these problems, questioned my implicit assumptions, offered their valued critical comments and edited previous versions of the thesis, without which this study would have been less satisfactory. The lacunae and faults in the study are entirely due to my own shortcomings. It is their guidance, patience, consideration and support which has provided me the confidence to complete my work. I also owe special thanks to Dr. Suran Goonatilake, Mrs..Yvonne Craig and Mr. M.T. Sreejan for taking time from their busy schedules to read versions of the final draft. Besides editing, they made several astute comments. Sreejan, Shahrull and Suran have also saved me considerable costs by printing several drafts of this thesis. I thank them very much for this. I also appreciate the discussions with and useful suggestions made by Prof. Paul Spencer, Dr. Rachel Dwyer and Dr. Werner Menski of the School of Oriental and African Studies, my flat-mate and friend Leena, and Prof. Jain, Prof. Sharma, Prof. Oommen and Dr. Thorat of Jawahar Lai Nehru University in Delhi. I would like to thank the very helpful staff at the borough libraries that I visited and Gillian Crossby, at the Centre for Policy on Ageing and the various members of the Management Committees and workers at the Asian organizations where I did my fieldwork. They have been extremely supportive. Special thanks go to my local guardians, Dr. Mathur and his family and Mridu Thanki who introduced me to the Asian Women's Forum, the organization where I began my 3 fieldwork, in Wood Green, London. I am also most grateful to for the generosity and kindness of my informants, the wonderful food that some of them cooked for me, particularly the very special dishes of their community (e.g Gujarati Kadlii made by Mas!). Over the last two years, a very constant support, encouragement, critical and insightful comments have been provided by Sreejan. He has also always endeavoured (and often succeeded) to keep my hopes and spirits up. He has made everything possible. I extend my very sincere thanks to him. Several friends played a very crucial role in making me feel at home in London, and provided continuous support, encouragement and humour, particularly during tiring and trying moments. I thank very especially, Shahrull and Marion, Sam, Usha and Varsha. My thanks also go to Neeraja, Rachna and Jyoti my friends in Delhi and my cousins, Sangeeta and Sandeep, - distance has made us value even more our friendship/ relationship. I would like to honour especially the memory of my very dear friend, Shivi, whose faith and steady support gave me strength. His loss is difficult to accept. My gratitude and thanks also go to the Nehru Centenary British Fellowship and the Charles Wallace India Trust, who provided the funding for this study. Last but not the least, my unbounded gratitude is expressed to my family who have been a constant source of support, inspiration and encouragement - to my father, mother and brother who have taken an active interest in my work and contributed by their detached and insightful comments. My being able to come to London is the result of the aspirations and sacrifices, of my parents, I dedicate this thesis to them and to the memory of my grandmother whose desire (in 1971 when she passed away) was to see me reach this stage. Archana Srivastava 5th February, 1995 4 NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION The transliteration of Hindi words is in accordance with McGregor (1977). However the names of persons and places are given in the most commonly used form (e.g Geeta, Sushila, Karanjeet, etc). Sanskritic forms of deities' names have been retained, e.g Rama or Lakshmana. I have chosen to capitalise West to reflect its status as a social construct in the discourses I have recorded in the thesis. 5 CORRIGENDA p. 13: line 5 ' perdominated' read as 'predominated'. p. 24: line 33 ' parctice' read as 'practice'. p. 56, 57, 58: 'Gurndwara' read as 'Gurdwara'. p. 100, 131: post office 'attendant' read as 'counter clerk'. p. 134: f.f. 'Ramgardiah' read as 'Ramgariah', p .174: line 34 'palce' read as 'place'. TABLE OK CONTENTS CHAPTER T: INTRODUCTION AND FIELDWORK Pages 1. Introduction 11 1.1. Preliminary fieldwork 13 1.2. Theoretical premises 16 1.3. Themes, Concepts and Questions 19 1.3a. Indian "classical" view of ageing 19 1.3b. Conceptual constructions of ageing 23 1.3c. Importance of reminiscence in the ageing process 29 1.3d. Indian views on Gender and Age 31 1.3e. Race and Ethnicity in Britain 34 1.3f. Culture of complaint and the notion of Duhkh (sadness) 35 1.4. Fieldwork area, Organizations and Problems 38 1.5. Plan of the Thesis. 59 CHAPTER n: SETTLING IN LONDON 2. Introduction 61 2.1. Individual biographies 64 2.1 a. Three Gujarati women 64 2.1b. Three Sikh women 72 2.2. Emerging themes 79 2.2a. Migration and settlement patterns of Gujaratis and Sikhs in Africa and London 79 2.2ai. Migration and settlement in Africa 79 2.2aii.Migration and settlement in London 80 2.3a. Women's perceptions of age 84 2.3b. Concept of "home" 85 2.3c. Experience of migration 86 2.3d. Notion of identity 88 2.3e. Importance of background 88 2.3f. Suhkh aur Duhkh : Happiness and Sadness 89 6 2.3g. Culture of complaint and role of reminiscence 90 2.3h. Conflict between expectations and experiances 91 2.4. Summary 91 CHAPTER TTT: EMPLOYMENT AND AGEING 3. Introduction 93 3.1. SECTION I: Gujarati Women: Employment and Ageing 3.1a. Introduction 95 3.1b. Views of women in Hinduism and Ismaili faith 97 3.1c. Work outside the house 98 3. Id. Hindu women and prohibition on their outside work 105 3.1e. Experience at work 108 3. If. Women doing private work at home 115 3.1g. Changes in the status of women due to work 117 3.1h. Retirement 123 3.2. SECTION II: Sikh Women: Employment and Ageing 3.2a Introduction 128 3.2b Sikh women in Southall 129 3.2c. Views of women in Sikhism 132 3.2d. Sikh women going out of house to work 133 3.2e. Experience at work 138 3.2f. Women doing private work at home 141 3.2g. Changes in the status of women due to work 143 3.2h. Retirement 146 3.2i.

Load more