Paper short abstract:

This paper tries to examine the familial bonds between Indians in Canada and the homeland.

Paper long abstract:

Academic enquiries in the field of the Indian diaspora in Canada have so far focused mainly on the diaspora settled in Canada. This study proposes to push forth in a new direction, with an investigation of the familial bonds between children settled in Canada and the parents who are often left behind. A close and continual association is maintained by the first generation diaspora with the country of origin, often through the agency of the parents. It can generally be observed that the intensity of visits to India might be more frequent during the life-time of the parents of the first generation migrants. These visits also often take the form of familial occasions like marriage, death or birth, religious occasions, and investment decisions like the purchase of land or construction of a family house. There also exists a significant reverse flow of traffic, in terms of parents visiting their children. This traffic and its implications are yet to receive adequate academic attention. While some research has been undertaken regarding the impact of the phenomenon of parents who also migrate permanently to Canada along with the first generation, there has not been any significant effort to examine the linkage for the majority of parents who do not immigrate for various reasons. The paper is based on primary data collected through fifty personal interviews among respondents who have visited Canada in the recent past. The fieldwork has been conducted in Vancouver, Canada during November and December 2011.