Remember Tilo, played by Aishwarya Rai in the film based on Jhumpa Lahiri?s The Mistress of Spices, who runs a San Francisco store called ?Spice Bazaar?, where she helps people solve their problems with her spices? That may just what Indians over generations have needed while in alien shores. Fact and fiction are quite close here, resulting in what are commonly known as India bazaars, providing the India connection that most yearn for, the Indian food, culture and their dose of Bollywood/Mollywood/Tollywood movies.
The names are not inventive. They do not need to be, for their purpose is to establish the instant connect. So expect Gandhi Marg or Little India or Indian Street or India Bazaar and India Town. They will have a relatively larger concentration of South Asian shops, bazaars, restaurants, boutiques and businesses and are generally an eclectic mix of businesses and entrepreneurs from the Indian subcontinent ? India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka ? catering to the 30 million odd Non Resident Indians (NRI) and Persons of Indian origin (PIO) around the world.
Little India in Singapore or East End in London are now regularly featured as centres of desi culture in an alien land, courtesy literature and cinema recognising the tales of survival and economic growth. And as the second and third generations have emerged, along with new waves of migration, more such India islands are becoming the order of the day. While the US has an estimated 2,563 ?Indian? grocery stores (indianfoodguide.com), even New Zealand?s Auckland has 10 and Tauranga has one.
Places with historical links have now established Indian stores and even markets, much like Chinatowns. But is also evident in comparatively new settlements like Silicon Valley, California. Corporate giants like Intel have Indian community groups, they also have Gujarat?s jewellery chain Bhindi, and Sarovar restaurant.
And Pune jewellers, a store that PN Gadil set up in Sunnyvale in August 2007 to cater to the 300,000 Indians in the area, becoming the latest in the line of mainly Gujarati and Rajasthani entrepreneurs who have set up jewellery shops to cater to the Indian diaspora. During festivals, jewellery, diyas, raisins, clothes and phone cards become popular, Dilip Amin of NewYork-based Tajmahal Imports shares.
Gerrard India Bazaar in Gerrard Street East, Toronto, Canada is one of the largest markets for South Asian goods and services in North America with over 100 shops, restaurants and bazaars representing regional diversities of South Asian culture. According to Wikipedia, the portion between Greenwood and Coxwell Avenues is commonly referred to as Little India or Gerrard India Bazaar or South Asian Bazaar.
There are numerous restaurants, caf?s, videos/DVD stores, clothing shops, and electronic goods stores catering to the Indo-Canadian and Pakistani-Canadian communities located here. While no one has estimates of total business transacted, prosperity is evident.
The town of Springdale in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, is commonly referred to as ?Singhdale? because of the many Sikhs that live here that has a lot of Indian restaurants, grocers and others catering to Asians and Indians. Gore Road in Brampton is a popular landmark for the Indian shops too. The Punjabi market or Little India is the commercial district in Vancouver for Indo-Canadian businesses. There are a number of Indian restaurants, sweet shops, grocers, Punjabi video stores as well as other businesses that cater primarily to an Indo-Canadian market.
The Sikh community thriving at Woolgoogla, halfway between Sydney and Brisbane monopolises the banana plantations in Australia and the annual Woolgoogla Curryfest is the brightest spot in the desi calendar. The community meets in Indian restaurants dotting the landscape. Sydney and Melbourne are also full of Indian stores, especially for spices, pickles, videos, music and food.
Penang, Malaysia, has its own Little India. Lela Kaur writes about it in her blog. ?I have been going to Penang since 1986. My favourite location is Little India where I love shopping for Indian stuff. The food is fantastic? The masalas are a great buy. I just love the flavour of the place.?
Of course Little India, Singapore still goes strong as the centre for mingling for the large Indian community. But there?s another Little India at Sree Sagar in Singapore. Anchored by the Sri Veeramakaliamman temple, Tekka Market and Mustafa?s famous 24-hour mall, this maze of streets offers everything even remotely Indian.
In Trinidad, where 39.4% of the population is of Indian ancestry, the markets reflect this population?s ethnic demands. Trinidadian fast food, usually eaten with chutney, is mainly of Indian origin. For example, while saheena is like pakoras, ?doubles? is a variation of the channa bhatura, though more in the form of a chickpea sandwich, and their kachowrie is much like its Indian cousin. ?Indian ?trade? fairs are held monthly and its Indian wares are very popular,? says Maniedeo Persad, the country?s High Commissioner to India.
Paris too has its Little Bombay, between metro stations Gare de Nord and La Chapelle, and most Parisians will be able to point to the area where women are in colourful saris, the sidewalks are full of stalls selling curries, exotic vegetables and silks, and the fragrance of spices hangs in the air. Don?t miss Passage Brady, where numerous Indo-Pakistani restaurants fiercely compete closely.
In far away Fiji?s capital Suva, the Indian market, south of Al Watan market, there is a grocery store popular with Indians called Rocky Mini Mart. The best bets for samosas here would be at India Grill. Namaste Foods, Maya Bazaar, Swagat Indian Bazaar. That?s how Indian grocery stores are called in Japan. And Indian restaurants in Japan have names like Bindi, Bombay Restaurant, Devi Fusion, Dehli (Indian Restaurant), Ganges, Ghungroo,
Govindas, Great Kolkata, Kathmandu Gangri and Rasoi. And new ones are emerging constantly.
And there are many more dotted around unexpected corners of the planet, keeping up the India connection, providing not just sustenance but also the emotional touch, which Indians yearn for.