I am leaving the country under the scheme of ‘earn a crore, return home’. Earn a crore in three years, then go home and live “comfortably”. It happened in the late 90s. Until then, I had never seen people who saw even fifty thousand rupees as a bundle. So one crore was a big number then.
A house in Kochi and a car in this one crore country. Remaining 50 lakhs as bank deposit. Saying 10% interest per annum, a five lakh rupees. It is enough to live. There was very minimal desire. Don’t blame. In the first half of 2000, when Avidhik came to the country, he would go to Kakanad and ask for the price of the land. It’s time to hear that Smart City is coming and Infopark is coming. There are people who quoted the price from 5 lakhs to 50 lakhs per cent. I will realize with despair that my goal of a comfortable life is far away. The car will go back.
It’s been 23 years now. Haven’t gone back yet!
Now, mass migration of people from the country to Europe and Canada is being discussed. I will always think that these people come with the same goal as I thought 23 years ago! What I have learned from my minimal research is that most do not come with the intention of going back. Even if you make 50 crores in five years, no one thinks of going back.
The situation in Kerala today is not the same as when I left the country in the 90s. There were three companies in Ernakulam at that time, including the company I was working for in Kochi, that were getting 5-figure salaries. Today there are 750 IT companies from Kochi to Cherthala in the south and Koratti in the north. Out of which 60 IT companies are public limited companies. Today Kakkanad is a different city full of foxes, lizards, snakes and pontakads. Job opportunities and social conditions have greatly improved since the 90s. Why are children leaving Kerala?
To get the answer to this, the process of migration should be analyzed a little more scientifically.
immigration; That is, community migration. In other words, it is the process of a group following the same language and culture leaving the place where they lived till then and going to another place. This process has three steps. Pioneers are the first group to leave the country. They are adventurers. They have never seen a place where they have to go and stay even in a picture. The box is also packed and coming down. Such people are willing to leave their habitat and go to another country due to severe famine, natural calamities, lack of education and suitable jobs. The next group is followers. Followers are the group who think that with the motivation of the pioneers in the first group, let’s just go and see, if it doesn’t work, it’s not enough to go back. The next group is the Settlers. Settlers are the group that migrates only after confirming that the first two groups have built a socio-economic infrastructure there.
The migration to Malabar is clearly marked before us. The first settlers started farming by clearing the forest and fighting with wild animals. They set up a tea shop and grocery store at the intersection. They called it ‘City’. They are the pioneer group. They were followed by their relatives. With the help of the early pioneers, they had no trouble finding a farm with water and light. They started a tailor shop and a bakery in the city. These are the followers. Over time, the city grew. Bus service to the country has started. Jeeps started running on dirt roads. Those in the pioneer group and the follower group were selected for the panchayat. They became prominent in it. Then a group of settlers followed. Those who came to teach in the first group schools or to work in the rubber shop. They also bought some land and settled there. The city grew and became a municipality.
The arrival and era of these three groups is clearly marked in the human migrations that have taken place in the world. Gujaratis are the ethnic group that migrated the most from India to Europe and North America. In 2007, 3 people migrated out of 1000 households, while in 2012, it increased to 8 people. 27 in 2016 and 62 in 2021. The second ethnic group is the Andhras. Accounting for them and migration comes to about the same rate. In Kerala today it still stands at 3 out of 1000. (There may be errors in these figures, figures of people renouncing Indian citizenship are available from government sites. I could only find surveys by NSS and other NGOs)
Outward migration from Gujarat began as early as the 1850s. A political, cultural, and economic infrastructure favorable to settlers had already been created by the 1980s, at least in North America, by pioneers and followers. Settlers who are leaving now will land in America and Canada to the same cultural environment that they experienced in India. Ways and possibilities to organize house, food, car etc. have been made by pioneers and followers who have gone before. It’s that easy so new settlers don’t have to worry about whether to migrate or not.
Gujarat is a golden standard of wealth in India. From there, immigration can be seen to triple every five years. It is a characteristic of migration. As immigration matures to accommodate settlers, the reasons for leaving become increasingly childish. More people will want to migrate, and opportunities will open up. They will go. That’s it.
The same is happening in Kerala. A population of Malayalis has settled here. They also provided a cultural background for the new settlers. Today’s youth have no qualms about taking advantage of it. So they go. This influx is just a natural evolution of the process of migration.
English Summary- Migration of Youth in Kerala- Social Reasons- Expert Talk
