The current Indian Diaspora consists of the ‘NRIs’ (Indian citizens not residing in India) and the ‘PIOs’ (Persons of Indian Origin who have adopted the citizenship of some other country) and the population approximately exceeds twenty million.
Malayali Diaspora consists of overseas Malayalis or Keralites, who hail from the Indian state of Kerala and generally identify themselves with their illustrious culture and the language they speak.
The Malayali diaspora forms a greater part of the worldwide Non-Resident Indian community and is widely spread in the West Asia, U.S.A, UK, New Zealand and other regions of the world. This is because in the present era, the Malayalees has migrated in their thousands to various parts of the world for the purpose of education, employment and business and have well-adapted themselves with the existing societies and diverse environments. Plus Kerala boasts of 100 % literacy, i.e. the highest in India, hence the professionals of Kerala having great expertise in the fields of Information Technology, Medicine and Engineering are sought after internationally. The Malayalee Diaspora with its membership widespread over 35 is of great significance to Kerala.
Malayali Diaspora in UK
There are many associations and organizations related to Malayali Diaspora in the United Kingdom. These organizations conduct a lot of cultural and social activities associated with the community of the Malayaliees. They are-
World Malayali Council
The World Malayalee Council is a world -wide community organisation for Malayalis and was constituted on July 3, 1995 in New Jersey on the final day of the first World Malayali Convention. It was formed to create a network between the Malayali people all over the world and to foster cultural and social development. The WMC has introduced a project called Nava Kerala to assist the socio-economic development of the Keralites . For further details log on to www.worldmalayalee.org
London Malayali Council extends financial aid to the poor people and helps in the promotion of Malayalam literature.
For further details please mail to londonmc2005@yahoo.co.uk
Malayali Diaspora in other countries
New Zealand
Hamilton, the colossal inland city is located in the central North Island of New Zealand. Hamilton Malayalee Association coordinates the interests of Malayalis in the Waikato region and creates a network between the Malayalee people and the other countries. The Vienna Malayali Association promotes and establishes cultural relationship between Austria and India and particularly between the state of Vienna and Kerala and also serves the Malayali Diaspora residing in Austria.
Thus the Malayali Diaspora is spread out everywhere in the world as the Malayalees have emerged as a predominant class in all the arenas. There is a humorous anecdote regarding the omni-presence of the Malayalees which goes like this-
Neil Armstrong, the first man who landed on the moon found a Malayali shouting tea..tea. ……thus implicating that Malayalis can also be present in the moon!
