Study Probes 2nd Generation British Punjabis By Francis C. Assisi

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The authors consider the variables that affect the behavior of second generation immigrants, whose parents were born in India but have settled in the UK, and whose cultural background could be described as a mixture of the home and host country.

They consider questions such as: How does the mixture of cultural influences affect their behavioral? Also, how do they respond to different contexts and situations? Do their behavioral patterns reflect an ease of switching from one culture to another or do they highlight the stresses and strains these individuals face on a day-to-day basis?

The authors say that the second generation cannot be neatly categorized, but falls into different categories dependent on situation, behavior, education, family status, class, and caste.

And they conclude: As individuals or groups of individuals move from one country to another and re-settle, ethnicity is being re-created, re-defined and re-invented over time. Thus, as the second generation faces differing values and cultures, they are indeed adapting, accommodating and continually changing behavioral patterns to be part of and integrated into both cultures.

Using the Social Science Research Council definition of acculturation as ‘culture change that is initiated by the conjunction of two or more autonomous cultural systems,’ the authors affirm that acculturation plays an important part of their research and that the degrees of acculturation vary from generation to generation with second and subsequent generations developing new loyalties and become more assimilated than first generation immigrants.

As a result of chain migration Punjabi communities have been established in many parts of Britain, from the Midlands to areas in London and the South. These family units demand a strong loyalty and are often judged by "izzat", best translated as family honor.

In an article about young British Sikh women Muhammad Anwar argued that the "between two cultures" approach "implies that young people are simply caught up in a vacuum, in some sort of no-man’s cultural desert." Parminder Bhachu has also complained that the portrayal of second generation British Asians in academic literature and also the British media, as young people who lead "between and betwixt lifestyles, who can do little but suffer their parents imposition upon them of alien cultural values." But the authors of the study note that British Punjabis display intense loyalty and attachment to their families and are concerned about maintaining “izzat”.

The authors maintain that their model presents two distinct cultural backdrops facing second generations. “It is not merely a case of assimilating or acculturating with the host country, but as second generations this group has to balance values from the east and the west. Eastern values are part of their up bringing, their religion, their traditions (often being encouraged/pushed by the first generation, in an attempt to preserve eastern roots), while western values are also a part of their lives due to their education, friends, media and the indigenous population.”

The authors use Punjabi terms to help them identify second generation behavior in light of ethnic affiliation and acculturation. They use terms such as "Asli Punjabi" to mean a true Punjabi, a person who is loyal to the Punjab and their home country. And "Barli Hava" as a term that means a person has been touched by the host country’s values yet still maintains a connection to the home country’s culture as well. The term "Punjabi Bilathee" is used for a person who has emigrated to Britain but still holds strongly onto Punjabi values, traditions and the culture, such that they become essentially bi-lingual in home and host country values.

SITUATIONAL IDENTITY

In this exploratory research we wanted to hear how people felt about their culture, their identity and in particular their situational identity, the authors say.

Many of the respondents agreed that it was the influence of their parents that had kept them in touch with their Punjabi traditions. For some this was a positive experience: ‘If it wasn’t for my parents I don’t think I would have followed Punjabi traditions. My parents are key influencers in traditions and always in my actual personal life.’ (Rajinder, Male, 36)

But this was less so for others. Gurjinder, who describes herself as more English than Punjabi, reflected on how she felt Indian traditions had made her life more difficult: ‘I think our culture is suffocating, stifling and oppressive for women. I think that people, that immigrants to England bring with them Indian ideals from their generation, they use it as a foundation to bring up children in a society that doesn’t necessarily accommodate it. We English/Indians live in the Victorian era in the millennium. We are stuck in a passage of time. You have to learn to please.’ (Gurjinder, Female, 25)

Using their model as a basis the authors claim that most felt they integrated with the host country and so could be classified as ‘Punjabi Bilathee’. “As the results highlight, they are able to span cultures and can react, behave and respond differently dependent on the occasion and the decision being made in their lives. For example the socialization process might mean dining out with western work colleagues, which could include going out to the pub. At Diwali and Vasakhi the socialization process is different, wearing the traditional ‘Salwar Kameez’ and knowing how to conduct oneself in front of older family members and the local community to keep ‘izatt’ and honor in the family.”

The study notes that all the respondents were happy and familiar with the notion of spanning the divide between their Punjabi heritage and the everyday facts of living in Britain.

Situational ethnicity was an everyday occurrence for the Indo-British. Instead of having to choose between one culture and another they switched relatively easily between them; they became effectively bilingual in the culture, according to this study.

Two of the respondents, Balwant and Piratpal, said they felt primarily Punjabi. Piratpal said that he mixed mostly with white people but: ‘Its nothing deliberate, its just I know more white people, because I live in the south coast of England which is populated by white people, therefore I just get on with them.’ (Piratpal, Male, 31)

Piratpal also expressed this spanning notion: ‘An Indian tradition is to go to the temple on a Sunday every week and I do that, a white tradition is after work go for a drink, which I do, or go to lunch with people. I would say I try to follow a mixture of both, I wouldn’t say it is intentional, it is just what I feel comfortable with.’ (Pirtapal, Male, 31)

Both Balwant and Piratpal made a strong point saying that they felt more Punjabi and as Piratpal put it, although having been born in England, ‘My heart is in India, simple as that.’ (Piratpal, Male, 31)

But there was also a feeling among these three men that they would not be described by others as English and so that in effect defined their ethnicity. Balwant for example said the following: ‘If I’m walking along the road, in this country that I live in and if you were to ask ten people at random, oh where does that person come from? They wouldn’t say from the UK, but that was where I was born.’ (Balwant, Male, 31)

He added that while he felt that in a professional environment he could get on with most people, his close friends were going to be drawn from the Punjab community because, ‘I feel a lot more comfortable and I feel I can relate to them a lot better.’ (Balwant, Male, 31)

Moreover, he affirms: ‘In this day and age I can be western where I have to and eastern where I have to, you have to be like this to get on in life. I mean I couldn’t really go into work in a Kurta Pajama, I have to wear a suit.’ (Balwant, Male, 31)

Similarly Rajinder remarked: ‘I’ve been brought up in an Asian environment, speak the language and basically we are never going to be accepted as English are we? Let’s face it.’ (Rajinder, Male, 36)

Some people appear happy in their role of spanning cultures but become uncomfortable in what we have termed ‘enforced ethnicity’ situations. These are most likely to arise from situations such as visiting India and visiting the Gudwara (temple). The reactions of respondents to visiting India were in some cases similar to the concept of culture shock.

Despite the deep understanding of the Indian culture learnt through the family socialization process, faced with the reality of India without the familiar cues of home was disconcerting to some. ‘First time I had to go to see relatives. Second time was for wedding shopping – I was there for three days and I hated it.’ (Gurj, Female, 20s)

Visiting the Gudwara was for some a difficult process but different to the shock of the reality of India. For Gurj, her religion was an intrinsic part of her personal and cultural life but there were many aspects of it she found difficult and this including visiting the Gudwara. ‘I do not pray or go to the temple unless I have to.’ (Gurj, Female, 20s)

The authors comment: “Gurj’s essentially has a love-hate relationship with her religion. In identifying that one does not need religion to be happy, one might suggest that this is a response to western thinking and yet almost immediately she refers to what it means in terms of values and social connections. She expressed how she had problems with religion and yet understood its role in underpinning society and keeping her culture together. Religion was also regarded as part of the socialization process in Indian culture and the Gurdwara became a focal point for the second generations’ to meet others.” "I enjoy India as I can see everyone and we all get together and have a laugh." (Ieysha, Female, 19)

"I love India because all of my family is there and when we are all together I don’t want to ever leave."(Piratpal, Male, 31)

The second generation also finds a sense of security in identifying with festival occasions: ‘In a personal home situation I feel it is important to belong to an ethnic group as it is a type of identity for us. Especially, on occasions such as Diwali and Vasakhi when we all get together and go to the temple. You do in a sense feel proud to belong to a group. In a way it is a type of security.’ (Gurj, Female, 20’s)

Another respondent comments: ‘It’s a sense of belonging, it’s very important, as it is a sense that you are accepted as something, that you’re are not alone, you’ve got some sort of background behind you and you belong to a definite group.’ (Ieysha, female, 19)

Thus, ethnic security among the respondents was marked by the sense of belonging that they felt within a cultural tradition, the authors observe.

Our initial research revealed that second generation Punjabis are dealing with two, often contradictory, cultures. However as the second generation faces these differing values and cultures, they are indeed adapting, accommodating and continually changing behavioral patterns to be part of and integrated into both cultures, the authors say.

They note that the most fundamental and useful categorization revealed here is that of the cultural chameleon, the Bi-lingual Punjabi, with intense affiliation and acculturation but who may in different contexts change their reactions and behaviors.

Furthermore, the authors explain: ‘We label them as "the between two cultures generation", who do not just juggle situations between east and west (home and host country) but rather juggle life continuously, sometimes integrating and acculturating and other times deliberately alienating and identifying with one’s ethnicity for a sense of belonging and identity.’

According to the study, second generation Punjabis are able to balance eastern and western cultures without having to compromise the two. There is a fusion of cultures to an extent with the second generation being able to develop their own versions of ‘izatt’, ‘sharm’ and ‘religious values’. They might on the one hand visit the Gudwara on Sunday, yet socialize with White friends on the Monday. At work they conform and become a part of that grouping yet at the weekends spend time with the extended family.

The study goes on to reveal how second generation immigrants are negotiating their ethnicity, identity and how acculturation influences decision making at a personal and professional level. ‘The second generation do not always classify themselves as part of the indigenous British population. They are aware that they are different and are to an extent a mixture of east and west. They are comfortable with their western lifestyles but equally are keen to maintain their Indian roots – by keeping the family’s ‘izatt’, attending festivals and to visiting the Gurdwara.’

Even though the second generation were born in Britain they still have a strong affiliation with their Indian roots. They want to attend Indian weddings, listen to Bhangra, wear Indian outfits but will also be comfortable with the consumer trappings of the west in appropriate situations, the study says.

Above all they wish to achieve high levels of success in the western world. They want to leave home, to attend university like their western counterparts, become professionals in the dominant western environment and equally fulfill their parents’ expectations. They are proud to have two social groupings, Indian and English friends where activities, conversations and belonging vary according to the grouping.

Many have strong family ties, they have their own houses but certain decision making is still very much family orientated. The family ties are still strong but the second generation are crossing certain ‘taboo’ boundaries and are living on their own or with their spouse, finding their own partners while still retaining many traditional Punjabi values.

Respondents stressed that integrating western and eastern values and negotiating their identities had become a part of their day-to-day lives.

The study concludes: “The majority of respondents lived a life that balanced both eastern and western values and they were happy and confident in regularly having to switch from one culture to another. This gave none of our respondents a problem; they were all effectively bi-cultural. This in itself is an important finding, in that it reveals not only the functional adaptability but also the comfort they feel in what might from the outside be viewed as difficult situations. It could be argued that they are moving their cultural identity forward to the extent that both cultures were fusing and developing into a new "man-made" culture of their own.”

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