HYDERABAD: Global migrants. The term has resulted in many books and discussions making several authors emerge in different avatars. The world cities offer a 360 degree view when zoomed in by home-born authors. The close-to-clear pictures that appear take you to the investigative trails the author must have taken to peep inside the lives of these immigrants.
Ben Judah, the Britain-born journalist, in his second book ‘This is London’ gives an account of the city overbrimming with migrants. The author, a seasoned journalist, meets immigrants from several countries, talks to them posing as a different national and finds out how out of place they feel with their colour, language, culture, food and ,of course, nationality. The author’s dark walnut brown hair and features as that of a Central Asian helped him mingle with them easily. Interestingly, he has roots in India. His ancestral home is in Calcutta – a city that still offers glimpses of the Raj. He was recently in the city for a talk at Lamakaan organised by HydPark. He talked about Putin, Brexit, Trump and immigrants living near “the river that sweats oil and tar.” Excerpts from the interview:
What brings you to India?
This is the first time I have been here. The Judan family I belong to was actually from the Baghdadi Jewish community of Calcutta. My grandparents lived over there for 100 years. The oldest synagogue in the city was originally built by my family.
What other layers of multi-ethnic London did you dig into while doing the research for your book?
I wanted to show the readers that London as a city is part of their lives. I wanted to show them that white middle class is only a part of London that understands very little about the migrants whether they are super-rich or super-poor. The book has 25 chapters and each one follows different profiles. The stories are about arriving, beginning of new lives; about people made by London, destroyed by London. People get a kaleidoscopic impression. It’s very different not in terms of age, race and religion. It can be a very different city for a child, an old man or a male or a female.
Do you think that the migrant-ethnic groups have in a way overtaken London?
I don’t think the migrants have overtakenLondon. On the contrary, they are powerless. Even when they have communities in the city, they don’t have a voice or a say in anything especially in the wave of immigration from eastern Europe. There’s very little voice for this community in London.
One experience that stayed with you after you finished your research...
I wanted to know more about the poorest immigrants – the beggars. I became a beggar; joined the begging gang. Slept in the tunnels, corners of Hyde Park, loitered around Buckingham Palace. This difficult and painful experience stayed with me. I went with them to the construction sites, the tough daily toil is excruciating. I went to live with them in one of the over-crowded areas pretending to be a migrant sharing space with others. They had different stories to tell. Not knowing the language well was a big trouble.
One newspaper alleges that at 28 you are too young to feel nostalgic about old London. Do you agree?
The literary establishment has really refused to see that England really is transforming from one country to a new country. I definitely belong to the new world, not the old one. I will say that I have been wrongly interpreted that people view me as a nostalgic.
You have been compared with George Orwell. Do you accept the comparison?
Personally, I don’t like him. He was a racist writer. I didn’t like how he wrote about the Burmese, the Indians or Jews. He didn’t see things in an ethnic spectrum. I think Orwell has been canonised into this patron saint. He’s highly overrated and is a bad guide for readers of the 21st century!
Don’t you think that the dirty work of London is being done by others i.e., the immigrants?
If we talk about the dirty work i.e., the criminal work it is being done by the British themselves! Corrupt people from India, Russia and Africa come to London to hide stolen money. And there are people who let them hide this money. It’s none other than British bankers, lawyers and accountants who hold prestigious positions in society. The poor workers on the other hand shove rubbish in the bins and arrange bricks at construction sites.
Do you think we as humans are eternal immigrants?
It’s an interesting question. When you look back in the millennial history yes we are eternal immigrants adaptable and used to change. However, ethnic change is the most difficult for society to accept.