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Monthly Magazine – August 2008

2nd Year
Number 016
Figure 1
 Figure 2
I n a country whose population is quite
homogeneous, where is unusual to receive
foreigners from remote countries, a group of
people with dark-colored skin and a peculiar
language does not go unnoticed. Their presence
becomes especially evident in some areas of
Montevideo, such as Zonamérica and Downtown,
where they work, and Pocitos, where they live.
They travelled across the globe from the Asian
sub-continent to undergo a work experience –and
also a life-changing one- in a place that is, at least
for them, completely unknown. Not knowing
Spanish, or only a few words as their solely
communication tools, and without other
information than that “here we eat a lot of
sandwiches” and that there have not been wars,
about 40 or 50 Indians decided to embrace the
adventure of living in Montevideo.
Arpit Dawda arrived here in February and speaks
some Spanish. The interview is performed in
English, but Arpit is eager to sneak some of the
words he knows in the conversation, when his
rudimentary knowledge allows him to.
-What is a “cortado”?
- Un café con leche (Coffee and milk).
- Ah, OK. un cortado por favor (Ah, OK. A
“cortado” please).
“¿Van a querer comer algo?” (Would like
something to eat?), asks the waiter. Arpit and
Umang Chaudhary look at each other. Umang is
Arpit’s friend, another Indian he met here in
Uruguay a few months ago. They both look at me
asking for help, but do not say a word, maybe
because they feel embarrassed in front of the
waiter. “We can order in a restaurant, we know the
names of some fruits and vegetables, but if
someone answers in Spanish speaking really fast,
we don't get it”, they explain.
Kind, nice and eager to know more about our
culture and habits, they try to learn and store
information every minute of the day. At times, the
roles of interviewee and interviewer are exchanged.
Language is the main obstacle they find when they
try to become more integrated to the Uruguayan
society, and they would like to interact more with
the local people. Hence, they cannot let this
opportunity pass them by. “Which is the main
career youngsters study here?”, “Why aren’t there
more engineers?”. Coming from two specialists in
information technology (IT), their concerns are
easy to understand.
The Tata Guys. About 50 Indians, according
to Arpit and Umang, are working for Tata
Consultancy Services in Uruguay. The Indian
conglomerate arrived in Uruguay in 2002 and since
then, people living in Montevideo got used to see -
and some to smell-, their presence.
“A couple of Indians were living in the same
building as my mom, and the smell of their food
was unbearable”, tells me a friend of mine before
going to the interview. “We have never received
any complaint from our neighbors”, tell me Arpit
and Umang. “People are very polite here, and if
the smell of our food bothers them, they do not
say anything. Of course, if they wanted to
complain, they would have to learn English first”,
they say joking.
“Some people look at us as if we were aliens, but
we do not feel discriminated at all”. They find it
really funny that when somebody looks at them in
a shopping center or a supermarket, they
immediately identify them with the company.
“Tata has become our brand, our identity”. This
commercial group comprises several businesses,
such as car manufacture and chemical products. Its
IT division is known in India by the acronym TCS.
This is why it was difficult for them to understand
that in Uruguay everybody referred to this branch
of the company, the only one with a subsidiary in
our country, as Tata. “When people told us: oh,
you’re the ones from Tata, we at first thought
‘¿What is Tata?'. Now we know that we are the
‘Tata guys'. The funny thing about this whole
confusion is that many people think we work for
the Ta-Ta stores in Montevideo Shopping", they
tell among, laughing. Actually, they are habitués of
that shopping center, it is one of their favorites.
They visit it when they want to go “window
shopping”, but also when they want to buy some
chocolates (one of the most common gifts they
like to give their families when returning to India),
leather jackets and any kind of kitchen utensils they
might need for their homes. They actually go to
Ta-Ta to buy these.
Do I know you from somewhere? Most
Indians working in Uruguay met here. In a country
with 300 times the population of Uruguay, it is
unlikely for them to know each other from college
or work, even when most of them are engineers
and work in the same field. They all come from
different cities and regions, and even though they
share a common language, Hindi, that they use to
communicate, their mother tongue is usually a
different language or dialect from their hometown.
This is in addition to English: “When some guys
from the state of Gujarat (in the northwestern area
of the country) get together and they start talking
Telugu, for us is the same as if they were speaking
Spanish, we can’t understand a thing!".
Driven by a feeling of solidarity, they are always on
the alert for the arrival of new fellow countrymen
to our country and they try to help them through
the adaptation process. Usually, three or four
persons share an apartment. When they have a
vacancy, they are on the watch for a new arrival
needing accommodation. If there are no vacancies
in any of the shared apartments, someone will take
the responsibility of renting one before they arrive.

But beneath this thoughtful behavior, lies a
convenient reason for them to care for the newly-
arrived: they want to make sure they have enough
players for their favorite hobby, cricket. Many have
to work from their homes during the weekend and
are not able to commit to attend all the games.
Hence, it is convenient to count on a diverse staff.
Imitating the typical Uruguayan habit of playing
football in any green space one might find, Indians
get together every Saturday or Sunday afternoon
by the “rambla”, near Trouville. The difference lies
in the fact that they do not play with a ball, but
with tennis balls and wooden sticks. And that's
when the fun starts. "It has been impossible for us
to get the authentic leather balls”, they say
explaining why they use tennis balls. “Anyhow, we
do not have the entire protection equipment we
should wear if we were playing with the leather
balls, for their impact may be really hard".
Figure 3
Faith travels along with me
“Indian" and "Hindu" are not the same. “Indian” refers to
the nationality of those born in India; “Hindu” refers to
their religion. Not all Indians are Hindu. Hinduism is the
third most numerous religion in the world, after Christianity
and Islam. From a total of 920 million Hindus, 890
millions live in India. Indian people passing through in
Uruguay are all Hindus. In order to be able to practice their
religion, even though they cannot go to the temples they
attend on a weekly basis, as many do in the hometowns,
they brought along with them images of their gods. These are
small statues with which they build altars in their homes or
offices. They pray to them and make offerings.

Figure 4
Coming back for Diwali
Diwali, known as the festivity of the lights, is the most
important celebration for Hindus, and it lasts for five days.
It celebrates the victory of good over evil. It commemorates
the death of a devil, Karakásura, in the hands of Krishna, a
Hindu deity, and the release of 16,000 maids that were
kept imprisoned by the former. It also celebrates the victory
of Prince Ram over Ravana, the king of all devils.
According to the legend, Ravana had captured the wife of
the Prince and had kept her in the jungle for 14 years.
Ram, finally, managed to find his wife and bring her back
to the city. The inhabitants of the city covered the walls and
rooftops with lamps, to ease the return of the Prince. That is
why during this celebration, people light up all kinds of
lights: oil lamps, candles, etc. Families get together, they
cook special sweets, use new clothes for the first time and
light up fireworks. Besides, an altar is built in every house
with images of the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi. They offer
flowers, incense and coins to her.
More than once the ball ends up in the beach,
which during the summer becomes a great excuse
to observe “the view”. “Uruguayan women are
very pretty”, the two friends assure, “and they
show a lot”, they add laughing. That difference
becomes obvious just by comparing the traditional
and colorful saris, the dresses women wear in
India, with the low-cut and tight western clothes.
Nevertheless, they have never heard of any fellow
countryman that has had a close encounter with a
Uruguayan female. "Sometimes a girl starts talking
to us in a restaurant or a pub”. The fact that
women take the initiative is really something that
calls their attention. They quickly explain that these
conversations do not evolve into any other kind of
relation, and that these are no more than trivial
encounters.
They are eager to clarify that the role of women in
India has changes a lot in the last years. They think
one of the main causes of this change is the
influence of the Indians themselves, who travel
abroad to work, especially to California in the
USA, and they are quite “Occidentalized” when
they return. “Women are becoming more
independent. Many work in the big cities like
Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, and are forced to live
alone as their families are far away”. Even though
there are millions of women in India that work on
a daily basis, there are occupations that remain
being reserved mostly for men. “We could not
believe that here you have women working in
service stations or in restaurants, and moreover,
women that smoke!” they comment, a bit shocked.
They explain that “in India you can't find a woman
that smokes in public".
Cooking: a world of difference. Most
Indians living in Uruguay are single, with the
exception of four or five married couples, some
with young children. “Women here do what they
have always done in India: they get together to
gossip and cook”, says Arpit laughing with his
friend, who quickly explains that the wives
themselves are the ones that offer to, once a
month, throw a banquet worthy of a maharaja for
the male majority. "Food is what we miss the
most", they add quickly. India is comprised by 27
states, and each one does not only have its own
languages, but also different dishes. That’s why
when they get together, many end up trying for the
first time new recipes from their own country. One
thing they have in common is that none of them
eats beef, since cows are considered sacred for
Hindus, nor pork, that is forbidden for Muslims.
Some eat chicken and mutton. In their varied
vegetarian menu, spices have a paramount place.
Dishes may include six or seven ingredients in
powder that are brought from India. “Here we
cannot find all the spices we use and those that are
sold, are not of good quality,” they tell me. All new
arrivals bring two kilos of several different
powders with them to be sure they will have
enough provisions for a few months. Powder of
coriander leaves, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, red
chili powder and other hot powders that give their
name to traditional dishes, such as garam masala,
are some of the condiments arriving in the luggage
of any worker coming from the south of Asia. “In
general we can find here all the vegetables we use
to cook, with the exception of three or four that
we have never seen here and that we don’t know
how to ask for”, they explain. One of them is
called “ladies’ fingers”. We assume it must be long
and thin, but cannot help.
“It’s really mouth-watering”. When they
go out to eat, the number one choice is pizza. And
the good thing about this is that enables them to
eat as they are used to do: with their hands. "When
you eat with your hands you can taste the real
flavor of the food. There’s nothing like licking
your fingers to taste a good meal”, they assure.
They eat anything, even rice, with their bear hands.
Of course, they use cutlery in Uruguayan
restaurants, and they prefer to use a spoon, if the
dish allows them to. They explain: “through
Hollywood movies we learnt that there are some
habits that may be interpreted as offensive or bad
manners in other countries”. Besides, some of
them received trainings on good manners. “In
addition to the language lessons we received, they
usually advice us on table manners”. “Before
coming here I received a training in which they
explained to me some characteristics of Uruguay",
tells Arpit. "They told that here you ate a lot of
sandwiches, and since in India we also eat
sandwiches for lunch, I assumed it would be easy
for me to find something to eat. But here
everything comes with meat or ham!”, says Arpit
complaining. The sandwiches they eat include lots
of potato, onion, tomato and different types of
chutney. Here, they often go to the fast-food
restaurant “Subway”, in Zonamérica. There, the
people working in Subway could not believe that
their lunch was comprised only by bread with
tomato, cucumber, lettuce and any other vegetable
available, without ham, cheese, tuna or any other
product coming from animals. “Now, when they
see us coming, they start preparing our sandwiches
without asking anything. They already know us”,
explains Umang, who discovered mayonnaise in
Uruguay. Of course, since they do not eat meat,
they have not tried a “chivito”, the most
representative Uruguayan sandwich. Arpit says he
has tried a similar version, “as if it was a chapatti”,
comparing it with the Indian traditional bread,
“with no meat, ham nor bacon”. A long distance
from the “canadiense”, no doubt about it.
Friends will be friends. The concept of
friendship is really different for them, and they
think this is one of the main reasons why they have
not made friends among Uruguayans.
Nevertheless, they explain that they have a great
relationship with their work colleagues and that
many times they celebrate birthdays or organize
Indo-Uruguayans gatherings. Umang gives an
example: “I can call Arpit at 2 or 3 in the morning
and ask him for something. I do not have to ask
the question of ‘could you do this for me’, I just
ask him to do it. This is very different here".
But would they want to have more contact with
the locals? “Of course we would! We would love
to have more people come up to us so that we
could know more about this country. We have a
hard time approaching people because we don’t
know what they are thinking about us.
 Figure 5∗

∗
Powder of coriander leaves, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, red chili powder and other hot powders are some of the condiments
arriving in the luggage of any worker coming from the south of Asia.
Is not that they reject us or fear us, but everybody
is really busy. During the weekend they all try to be
with their families or friends and it’s not easy to
find the time to get together”. They are mainly
talking about their workmates, but also about any
other people interested in sharing a friendship.
Once, they exchanged telephone numbers with a
group of girls and boys they met while playing pool
in the shopping center. “We didn’t call them
because we thought they may not want to go out
with us, and we didn't want to put them in an
awkward situation”, they explain. Another reason
why they would rather not get involved with the
locals is because they do not know their
background. "We have a lot in common, we know
that the Indian guy arriving here comes from a
good culture", they tell me. The word "caste"
comes to mind. “It’s not a matter of socio-
economical level or caste”, they rush to explain;
“it’s just that we know that the person is not a
criminal, he/she is a good person”.
Looking for the significant other. Both
explain that even though most Indians get married
with people from their own caste, they would not
mind for their children to marry with someone of
another caste. But they themselves are single yet.
What would happen if they fell in love with a
woman who does not belong to their caste? “For
us it's the same, to get married in an arranged
marriage or not. If we manage to find a wife on
our own, great. But if a guy is becomes 28 years of
age and does not have a girlfriend, and a girl turns
25 or 26 and is single, the parents will start looking
for a couple for them. What also happens very
often is that one already has a girlfriend, but the
parents do not accept the relationship because they
feel she is not adequate for you, mainly due to her
family background. Then they ask you to finish the
relationship. Many youngsters still respect the
opinion of their parents and end the relation", they
explain.
What calls their attention?
- Old cars. “Even though we have vintage cars in India,
there aren’t as old as those we have seen here in Uruguay”,
they comment while pointing at a Mehari of the 70s that
passes by the rambla in Punta Carretas.
- Many people have dogs as pets. “In India there are many
dogs that run free in the streets and bark all the time. Here
we have seen many breeds, and they are very spoiled by their
owners”.
- The thermos and mate. “It is similar to the tea we drink.
We don’t mind sharing it with our workmates since in
India we many times share a cup. If someone leaves some in
his/her cup, many times someone else drinks it so as not to
throw it away.” They can’t believe how Uruguayans take
the thermos and mate to the shopping centers and drink it
while driving.
- The weather may change many times in one same day.
India has extreme weather: it is either very hot all day, or it
rains cats and dogs during the monsoon season, but it does
not vary in one same day. “The good thing is that here there
is no pollution", they highlight, comparing Montevideo with
the big cities in their country.
- Many people speak English, even those you wouldn’t
expect! “Many people ask where we are from, but we were
shocked by the amount of taxi drivers that ask us things
about our country in good English. Once we were in Ciudad
Vieja, and a homeless guy asked us for money. We
answered 'No Spanish’, and surprisingly, he answered: 'Oh,
no problem!’ and he started speaking English to us”.
Arpit and Umang still have three more years to
look for their significant others. For now, they
know they want to continue travelling around the
world, since they are sure that after getting married
it would be difficult to travel. Once the project
they are working on in Uruguay is over, they will
return to their hometowns, Arpit in Mumbai, in
the centre of the country, and Umang in Kanpur,
in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
“Sometimes, people ask, surprised, why we came
to Uruguay”, tells me Arpit. “Just as many
Uruguayans would like to travel abroad to work or
study, this is an experience for us. You want to go
away, we want to come here”, they explain.
Australia and USA are other appealing destinations
for a short adventure. “We have many friends in
USA. Anyhow, the idea is to make career to finally
return to India, especially once the time to get
married arrives”, they admit
As it usually happens to any person that emigrates,
when the time of having children arrives, the
hometown acquires special value. “It is not easy to
raise children with the values of the Indian culture
when you're living abroad, away from your family
and friends. In India we have a lot of celebrations
and festivals that are really important, and are
impossible to be recreated here”. In fact, many of
the Indians that are living in Uruguay now hope to
be back in India for Diwali, which will take place in
Figure 6
October this year. "It's just like the case of all those
Uruguayans living abroad that wish to come back
home for Christmas". The analogy seems to work.
In average, the Indians coming to Uruguay to work
stay from six months to one year.
Before saying goodbye, they assure they will take a
copy of the magazine to India. “We want to show
this article to our families, for them to know that in
Uruguay they were interested in us”. They say they
will read with the help of the Google translator, a
fundamental companion in their daily lives, which
helps them to get through each day in this forsaken
corner of the globe.