After having documented the struggles of Muslim women in Tamil Nadu in Shifting Prophecy and the mobile theatre tradition of Assam in Pageant in Painted Scenes , National Award winning filmmaker Merajur Rehman Baruah turns his gaze towards Indians in the U.S. in his new film Essential Arrival .
The film looks at “Indian immigrants in the U.S. in general and the state of Michigan in particular”, to foreground their diverse lives and contribution to the region. Set against the backdrop of bankruptcy in Michigan, it also looks at “the contribution that Indians are making to rebuild the state, to reverse the downward economic trend.”
With high educational attainments and significant contributions to the economy, Indians are now considered a ‘model minority’ in the U.S. According to Baruah, over 70 per cent of the workforce in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and medicine) field in the state is Indian. Explaining how this came to be, he says, “Michigan is a state that promotes immigration...a lot of Indians go there for higher studies, since there are a lot of educational institutes there. The state has a programme whereby it tries to retain people who have studied there...it immediately and directly benefits the state, especially when it is in a bad economic situation.”
In the hour-long film, Baruah speaks to Indians from a range of backgrounds — doctors, businessmen, engineers, lawyers and dancers — to understand how much they have assimilated into their new environment and how much of their past selves they retain. The film was shot over two schedules, in 2013 — in July and during October-November.
“Since all the festivals — Durga Puja, Eid and Diwali — were falling in that period, I wanted to highlight them,” says Baruah. While there are rules that curb certain practices — the immersion of idols, or the bursting of firecrackers, for instance — they don’t do much to hamper the celebratory fervour. “It’s unbelievable the way they celebrate Indian festivals...But they are also becoming bi-cultural. So at the same time they celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving as well,” he says.
The film seeks to reflect the diversity of experience of a group of people who are very often viewed through a monolithic spectacle, and are therefore prone to being stereotyped and misunderstood. “I feel it is pertinent to tell these stories not only in the U.S. but outside also, because it reflects the multi-layered mainstream with a larger society...I am trying to give a contemporary history of characters that has relevance across cultures.”
While Baruah had always been interested in immigration and Indian immigrants, the impetus for the documentary came from one of his teachers, Arifa Javed, a sociology professor at Wayne State University, Detroit, who has done extensive research on Indian immigrants. “I got really interested, and translated the idea of her research into documentary form,” says Baruah.
Incidentally, Javed is also the producer of the film. On the film’s fundraising page, she writes, “The film reflects on the American value of pluralism, which allows immigrant minorities to survive, thrive and give back to the richness of American society as a whole. It will provide a unique ethnic enrichment opportunity to American audiences, portraying Indians as people and as a culture.”
The film is being readied for screenings in India. Baruah is now working on a PSBT film on the challenges faced by physically challenged people, through the story of the dance group Ability Unlimited.
