Punjabi Migration Sociology

Rahul Kumar is a Ph.D. student of Sociology at the Centre for the Study of the Social Systems,
Jawaharlal Nehru University, and New Delhi, India. He is currently working on his Ph.D thesis:
“Migration, Well-being of Elderly Punjabis: A comparative study of Doaba (Punjab) and England (UK).
He has completed his M.Phil. Dissertation on “Diaspora and Homeland: A study of Punjabi Migrations”.
His research interest lies in Migration and Diaspora issues. He is a member of the editorial team of
`Global Research Forum for Diaspora & Transnationalism` (GRFDT) and a founder member of GRFDT.
He can be contacted at [e-mail]

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to explain the prevalence of female marriage migration to a long –distance

Parents in Punjab are still interested to send their unmarried girls to Canada and tie the nuptial knot into the transnational families. Most of the transnational marriages are arranged either by an immigrant relative or a person known to both the families or sometimes by a marriage bureau agent. This case study of Punjabi brides from
Brampton 2 and Mississauga 3 attempts to examine the nature of social, economic, cultural issues in transnational families. This study try to situate and contextualize the lived experience of these brides among transnational families. This study assesses the role of husbands, in-laws, and children in transnational families. The participants arrived in Canada from Jalandhar 4 district of
Punjab in the 1970s when a girl had no opportunity to see her husband before marriage. During these years, the picture of a bridegroom was sufficient to enter into matrimonial arrangements however this practice later on changed. This study also understands how ethnicity interweaved with memories of transnational families’ lives and belonging. The participant immigrant 5 bride’s narratives revealed that they need to adjust or compromise most of the times in

Canada, U.S; UK; Europe are the golden destination for Punjabis. When NRI comes to Punjab and show their changed life style among the people they go crazy to go to these destinations.
This was not merely freakish nomenclature. It was a telling comment upon the most anxious desire of hundreds of thousands of people in Punjab: go west, by hook or by crook, with visas or without, riding on the back of true love or by arranging marriages. The migration and movement of women has often produced anxieties among the communities, says Annie Zaidi, a columnist for Frontline 6 , a magazine. 90 percent hunt for spouses from Punjab. Foreign girls are not quite in turn with their concepts of a spouse, says, psychotherapist, Kamlesh Nischol: “NRI bridegroom want a bride who will work and also give them home-cooked food. An Indian man abroad is looking for some respite when he comes home”. Media outlets in India report there is