The Hindu : New Delhi News : Getting close to the psyche of immigrants

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Wednesday, Jul 09, 2008
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Getting close to the psyche of immigrants

Staff Reporter

‘Book tries to explore why immigrants abandon their homes for foreign lands’

NEW DELHI: Union Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi on Tuesday said people who migrate to foreign shores not only benefit themselves but also their adopted nations.

Releasing a new book, “Striped Zebra: The Immigrant Psyche”, authored by Uday C. Naval and Soofia Hussain at India International Centre here, the Minister said: “As the title of the book suggests, it deals with the issue of immigration. I have gone through a few pages and can say that it starts on a philosophical note but gradually takes a scholarly attitude towards the contentious issue. It reiterates the fact that man has been moving from place to place for a better life since time immemorial.”

Pointing out that Dr. Naval had taught predominantly students from the Caribbean countries, the Minister said that in Trinidad and Tobago the Indian community was facing a lot of problems with the African American community.

Speaking on the occasion, Bollywood actor Deepti Naval -- representing her octogenarian father Uday C. Naval -- said she was only a go-between the author and the publishing house Rupa and Co.

“My father was the Head of English Department at Hindu College in Amritsar, but in the 1970s he decided to move to the United States at an age when his colleagues were contemplating settling down in Dalhousie. To eke out a living in the U.S., he had to work as a librarian during the day and as a watchman at night. When he remembered his earlier days in Amritsar where he was revered by his students, tears used to roll down his face. He worked as a librarian and a watchman for one and a half years before taking up full-time teaching,” she said.

Describing the book as a fascinating account of migrants from India, Pakistan and other Asian countries, Ms. Naval said her father spoke to hundreds of immigrants who shared their true life stories in their adopted country. “Basically it is quite an academic research-oriented book and took more than four years to complete. It is a major study on the psyche of immigrants and tries to explore why they abandon their own homes for foreign lands. As it has lot of statistics, my father very methodically re-confirmed the research work.”

While Dr. Naval is a retired professor of English from the City University of New York, his co-author Dr. Hussain has been a professor of sociology at the State University of New York. Dr. Hussain’s close association with foreign students of different backgrounds have helped her offer an insight into their behaviours and beliefs, all pointing to the validity of the “Striped Zebra” hypothesis.

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