Why are most Indian people living in English-Speaking countries either from Punjab or Gujarat?

[SecondSlip]

First of all I would like to start off by saying that I am also a Punjabi, so this isn’t a rant thread by any means!  

 

I was born in Canada and have lived here my whole life. One big thing I noticed is that almost every other Indian person living in Canada is either a Punjabi or Gujarati. All of my Indian buddies from primary school, high school and college were from those 2 ethnicities. 

 

I did some research and found out that Punjabis & Gujaratis also dominate the Indian diaspora in countries such as USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand and of course, Canada! 

 

How come these 2 ethnicities are the most populous in English-Speaking countries? Even states like Bihar & Maharashtra have over 100 million people living in them each but you will barely, if ever, meet a Bihari or Marathi in Western countries. 

 

I know a lot of you fellow ICFers live in one of the countries I mentioned above, so I will gladly love to hear your views on this!

[diga]

Confirmation bias

[Ranvir]

It's definitely the case in the UK, although in the last 20 years more people from Maharashtra and South Indian states have also moved here.

 

I think it's due to the enterprising nature of both of these communities, they are always looking for where the grass is greener. From what I have heard education standards in Punjab and Gujarat are not great and the people would rather make money from other means than having a white collar job. Also there was a mass exodus of Gujarati and Punjabi people from East Africa in the 1960s and 1970s and these people settled down in the UK due to having British passports.

 

Punjab and Gujarat have always been relatively affluent Indian states and you need to have some money to move abroad.

 

A Bihari who I met here told me that no father in Bihar would let his daughter marry someone settled abroad. It's the complete opposite of the Punjabi mindset.

[coffee_rules]

Historically speaking, they started to emigrate earlier. They don't invest in education, but are good in running small businesses, like grocery stores, mptels, newsstand and frachises and also finance each other in the extended family.

[Trichromatic]

I used to think that every 2nd guy in US would a golt. 

[Vijy]

10 minutes ago, Trichromatic said:

I used to think that every 2nd guy in US would a golt. 

observation selection bias. lots of people from punjab and gujarat in the US too, especially in areas around NYC.

[SecondSlip]

On 7/26/2019 at 6:34 PM, Ranvir said:

It's definitely the case in the UK, although in the last 20 years more people from Maharashtra and South Indian states have also moved here.

 

I think it's due to the enterprising nature of both of these communities, they are always looking for where the grass is greener. From what I have heard education standards in Punjab and Gujarat are not great and the people would rather make money from other means than having a white collar job. Also there was a mass exodus of Gujarati and Punjabi people from East Africa in the 1960s and 1970s and these people settled down in the UK due to having British passports.

 

Punjab and Gujarat have always been relatively affluent Indian states and you need to have some money to move abroad.

 

A Bihari who I met here told me that no father in Bihar would let his daughter marry someone settled abroad. It's the complete opposite of the Punjabi mindset.

Are there lots of Biharis in England? I am yet to meet one here in Canada! 

 

All the Indian people that I have met here in Canada are either from Punjab, Gujarat, somewhere in South India, or Delhi lol. 

[SecondSlip]

On 7/26/2019 at 6:56 PM, coffee_rules said:

Historically speaking, they started to emigrate earlier. They don't invest in education, but are good in running small businesses, like grocery stores, mptels, newsstand and frachises and also finance each other in the extended family.

Here’s a small video that explains how Gujaratis are taking over the hotel/motel industry in USA lol. 

[Ranvir]

3 hours ago, SecondSlip said:

Are there lots of Biharis in England? I am yet to meet one here in Canada! 

 

All the Indian people that I have met here in Canada are either from Punjab, Gujarat, somewhere in South India, or Delhi lol. 

No there are not many Biharis here in the UK. I've only ever met two and both worked in IT.

[Ranvir]

2 hours ago, Shaz1 said:

Well this explains which ones are likely to leave the country.

Even amongst Pakistanis, it is mainly the Punjabis and Mirpuris (who are basically ethnic hill Punjabis) who have moved abroad.

 

I have hardly met any Pashtuns, Sindhis or Mohajirs in the UK in comparison to Punjabis and Mirpuris.

[Sandeep99]

I'm thinking of the following factors -

 

1. Wealthy businessmen who started new businesses in these countries - mostly Gujaratis

2. People looking for a better life and ending up doing Taxi jobs or setting up new restaurants, etc - mostly Punjabis. 

 

These people have migrated long back and I think their 2nd and 3rd generations are now in countries like US, UK, Canada, etc. Now a lot of Telugus, Tamils, etc can be see migrating and these are all techie folks.

[Ranvir]

2 hours ago, Sandeep99 said:

I'm thinking of the following factors -

 

1. Wealthy businessmen who started new businesses in these countries - mostly Gujaratis

2. People looking for a better life and ending up doing Taxi jobs or setting up new restaurants, etc - mostly Punjabis. 

 

These people have migrated long back and I think their 2nd and 3rd generations are now in countries like US, UK, Canada, etc. Now a lot of Telugus, Tamils, etc can be see migrating and these are all techie folks.

So most Gujaratis are wealthy business men?

In any community the number of business men is small compared to the community as a whole. Gujaratis and Punjabis tend to live in their own communities, there is not that much crossover. In London Punjabis are all over West London and Gujaratis are in North West London. Indian businesses in West London are mostly run by Punjabis (these days Afghan Sikhs who came to the UK in the 90s and 2000s) and likewise Gujaratis run Indian businesses in North West London.

From what I have seen the Gujaratis who came here a long time ago from India mostly do unskilled labour jobs like Punjabis.

 

The ones who migrated from East Africa (Both Punjabis and Gujaratis) were slightly better off than their Indian counterparts and some of them managed to land office based jobs due to their superior education and English skills. Arrogant bunch though.

 

Edited July 30, 2019 by Ranvir

[G_B_]

Punjabi Gujarati Tamil and Keralite.... these are the 4 communities that dominate the Indian diaspora.

[G_B_]

I cant speak for the other nations but in the UK

 

Indian Punjabis came across the second world war. They were army officers doctors etc etc and settled in the UK. Mostly in the 50s.

 

Gujaratis first wave came in the form of Idi amin kicking out Indians. A big chunk of the Gujaratis came to the UK from African nations like Uganda and Kenya. Mostly in the 70s.

 

Both these communities married Indians from their respective states and brought over spouses.

 

Both communities are successful in the UK.

 

Tamils in the UK the first wave was actually from SL in the late 80s early 90s. They married into Indian Tamils from India. 

 

The new wave of immigration from India is more city centric. More people from the metros such as Mumbai Delhi Bangaluru etc. Ie professionals.

 

 

[Sachinism]

Because Gujaratis and Punjabis are the biggest india haters. So they all leave

[velu]

27 minutes ago, G_B_ said:

Tamils in the UK the first wave was actually from SL in the late 80s early 90s. They married into Indian Tamils from India. 

 

 

might be elites

still caste plays major role .. inter caste marriages are still rare , but sl tamils dont bother much about religion as well ( esp hindus and Christians  ) 

[G_B_]

the reasons as to why these communities dominate the disapora

 

(a) Three of the sub ethnicity  have a long coastline eposing them to the world

 

(b) Punjabis fought in both world wars and were exposed to the west.

 

 

[G_B_]

1 minute ago, velu said:

 

might be elites

still caste plays major role .. inter caste marriages are still rare , but sl tamils dont bother much about religion as well ( esp hindus and Christians  ) 

 

Not elites really. We regularly goto the Shree Ganapathy temple in Wimbledon for worship. Its a case that SL tamils find spouse visa process is straight forward with an Indian spouse than SL spouse where SL gov creates barriers and views it with suspicion.

 

[Ranvir]

37 minutes ago, G_B_ said:

I cant speak for the other nations but in the UK

 

Indian Punjabis came across the second world war. They were army officers doctors etc etc and settled in the UK. Mostly in the 50s.

 

Gujaratis first wave came in the form of Idi amin kicking out Indians. A big chunk of the Gujaratis came to the UK from African nations like Uganda and Kenya. Mostly in the 70s.

 

Both these communities married Indians from their respective states and brought over spouses.

 

Both communities are successful in the UK.

 

Tamils in the UK the first wave was actually from SL in the late 80s early 90s. They married into Indian Tamils from India. 

 

The new wave of immigration from India is more city centric. More people from the metros such as Mumbai Delhi Bangaluru etc. Ie professionals.

 

 

Punjabis did not come across during World War 2. It was mostly in the 60s when the British needed more workers in the factories. A lot of Pakistanis and West Indians also came for the same reasons, maybe Gujaratis as well.

[Cricketics]

OP got to come to US to see how many Hyderbadis/Andhra folks we got here. If you speak Telugu, you will get by easily in any IT firm here as thats the most popular language and then comes JAVA, PYthon etc.