Of Sikhs, Benggalis and Tamilians - PART 1

I just don't believe it.... I just don't believe it. Coming from someone who has lived in Malaysia all her/his life to ask me this ultimate question over lunch time: "How do you differentiate between a Punjabi, Bengali and an Indian(Actually what was meant here was a Tamilian) means that they have been living under a coconut shell. This only goes to show how shallow is one's knowledge about their fellow Malaysians. And this coming after Bill Clinton made a statement that he is so impressed to see a multi-culture multi-races Malaysia when the races don't even understand each others origins or ethnic backgrounds. Yes, Malaysians don't refer to us as Indians but as "Benggalis" eventhough we are not. I forgive my colleague for not understanding the difference but she/he is not alone on this issue of differences between the Punjabis, Tamilians and the Bengalis.
To non-Indians, there are just Indians. Ask an ‘Indian’ what he is, though, and he would say he’s a Malayalee, or a Telegu, or a Tamil or any one of the other language-specific communities, of which there is a bewilderingly large number. Take a look at this senario:
A YOUNG Sikh man and a young Tamil woman fell in love. They courted secretly for years until they finally decided that they wished to marry.
The nervous couple parted to return home and break the news to their respective families, and were greeted, amidst much gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair, by the identical chastisement: “Why lah you have to go and marry an Indian!”
Now that particular little nugget may be an urban legend, but there is some validity to the assertion that many of the different Indian communities view themselves as having a separate identity of their own that should be recognised by others.
This view is held not just in India, which is home to many of the world’s religions and boasts more than 20 official languages, but also all over the world where there are Indian communities, including in Malaysia where Indians are a significant minority.
Surely that view is justified, for after all, who in his right mind expects homogeneity in a region of nearly 1.5 billion people (if you factor in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal)?
But as Indians move away from traditions (some of which, some might argue, are poisonous ones) like the caste system and arranged marriages, just how much of the Indian sub-continent’s rich and varied history is being lost to current generations?
Two recent developments brought this question to the fore.
The first was a faux pas committed by newly elected Perak Mentri Besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin who mistakenly referred to the Sikh community as Bengali, when indeed the community has its roots in Punjab.
Another was the almost bewildering confluence of religious festivals that occurred over the last few months – Vaisakhi, Poila Boishakh, Ugadi, Vishu, and the Tamil New Year also coincided with Thailand’s Songkran festival and other regional celebrations.
The Punjabi/Bengali difference
As I attempted a thorough investigation into this vast realm, I soon became overwhelmed by the sheer diversity of the various Indic peoples (generally divided into the northern Indo-Aryan and southern Dravidian groups).
For example, I learnt that there are Punjabis who don’t practice Sikhism but who come from the same geographical region and speak the same language as the Sikhs. These Punjabis are Hindus, so one cannot factually say that to be Punjabi and to be Sikh are synonymous. And there are Punjabis who are Muslim and Christian, too.
The confusion over the specific race, religion, and language of the various Indian communities is nothing new, and that the Punjabi/Bengali error is a particularly common one.
Many Malaysians make that mistake. This has been an error that dates back to the British colonial era when many Sikhs were brought to Malaya.
Through some form of miscommunication, perhaps because the Sikhs came through the Bengali port of Calcutta, this incorrect title has continued to be applied.
A variety of responses to the issue have emerged.
Khalsa Dharmic Jatha Gurdwara vice-president Baljit Singh was very displeased: “That utterance (by the MB) has made the Sikhs a laughing stock of other communities,” he was quoted as saying:
Dr Sarjit S. Gill, Universiti Putra Malaysia’s professor of Social Anthropology, adopts an altogether different stance, though: “I view the MB’s statement as a blessing in disguise because I welcome the debate. I don’t think we should blame him. Firstly, we should blame ourselves, especially the Sikh organisations and gurdwaras (temples) in Malaysia.
“I have attended many seminars and programmes conducted by Sikhs in Malaysia where non-Sikhs are not invited to join in simply because we do not want ‘others’ to know our problems. So how can we get upset if we are a closed community and other groups don’t understand us well enough?”
However, network engineer Nirmal Singh feels that our nation’s political leaders should make more of an effort to understand the various communities.
“I am used to this sort of ignorance, but while I have seen it among children and young adults, I didn’t expect a political leader to make such a gaffe. There is a huge difference between Punjabis, Bengalis and Tamilians.”
I think in a modern, progressive Malaysia we should try to overcome our differences and think of ourselves as Malaysians first. If we harp on these traditional factors too much we are back to square one.
If you look at history, you will see why the differences can be confusing. In India itself, during the Chola dynasty, which lasted many centuries (from the 9th to 12th centuries), the whole of Southern India was under one rule.
During this time, the Tamil language became dominant, and it is the root language from which the other South Indian languages sprang.
In fact, there are even a few Tamil words like kapal (ship), tali (string), and raja (king) that have influenced the Malay language!
Since that time, there have been numerous separations and unifications of (states in) southern India, and it was only as recently as the 1950s that Madras State became split along the lines of language.
From that, you had the emergence of the Telugu-, Kannada-, and Malayalee-speaking states (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala, respectively).
When people from these peoples came to Malaysia in large waves under the British, these groups were all classified as Indian, without much distinction.
Aside from sheer numbers, another reason that Tamils and their language may seem dominant in Malaysia is that the Telegu, Malayalee, and Punjabi language schools that existed up until the late 1970s eventually closed down.
These communities scattered, and there wasn’t enough enrolment in their schools, whereas the Tamils have had the numbers to keep their schools going.
Unlike Indians from India, Malaysian Indians are not always well-schooled in tradition. In most cases, we cannot identify each other’s community visually, and so we rely on language, and even that can be mixed up.
And let’s not forget that even at home, many Indians choose to speak English over their mother tongue.
Still, to those who do follow tradition, there are true differences, especially in India. Each community will very often have its unique traditional clothing, ways of preparing food, and so on. The Malayalees, for example, might tie their saris differently, cook certain dishes unique to their community, and celebrate, say, Onam, but, again, some of these traditions don’t survive very strongly in modern Malaysia.
Even names don’t necessarily offer much of a clue about a person’s roots anymore: In Malaysia we have left behind the culture of using clan names like Rao and Naidu for Telegus, and Nair and Menon for Malayalees.
As Malaysia’s Indian society moves away from traditionalist mores that still hold sway in parts of India, we can expect a further blurring of communal lines.
Intermarriage across communities is another factor that is breaking down such barriers.
While you do have certain staunch traditionalists, many Indians are marrying outside their community and, often, outside their race.
Arranged marriages are on the way out, and people tend to chose their own partners, perhaps based on educational and economic background more than race, language or even religion.
Economic factors might be a reason that communities in Malaysia might still want to emphasise their differences.
For example, while many Indian Tamils originally came here in the late 19th century and first half of the 20th century as indentured labourers, the Malayalees and Ceylonese Tamils were brought in to perform more ‘educated’, white collar jobs, such as clerical work.
Thus, there may be a desire to maintain that socio-economic distinction.
Nowadays, as the communities become more prosperous, they may also feel more confident about exploring and safe-guarding their roots.
I believe even Astro has played a part in arousing interest as it offers programmes for Telegu and Malayalee speakers.
Festive fervour- THERE are hundreds of festivals celebrated throughout the sub-continent. These are some that Malaysians might be familiar with, as South Asian communities living in this country mark them. The common Indian Celebrations In Malaysia:

Ponggal – Tamil harvest festival
Thaipusam – South Indian festival honouring Lord Muruga
Holi (pic above) – North Indian “festival of colours” celebrating the first full moon of spring
Gudi Padwa – Maharashtrian New Year
Ugadi – Telugu and Kannada New Year
Puthandu – Tamil New Year
Vaisakhi – Commemorates both the establishment of the Khalsa (collective body of Sikhs baptised by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699) and the harvest festival
Members of Sikh communities around the world celebrate Vaisakhi in April. In Paris, they put on a show of their warrior skills.
Poila Boishakh – Bengali New Year
Vishu – Malayalee New Year
Onam – Malayalee harvest festival
Navaratri – Nine-day festival commemorating goddess Durga
Deepavali – Festival of Lights
Well now you can observe that there is a clear distinction between the Punjabis, Tamilians and the Bengalis. You just need to be an observant person to see the difference. In my next post (Part 2)I will look and explore the beginning of Sikhism and the person who founded it.