Integrating Immigrants

Byline: Urvashi Butalia A few days ago, quite by chance, I happened to find myself at lunch with a member of the British political establishment. For a while, the conversation remained desultory and ranged over the usual subjects - India, economic growth, food, Indian business in Britain and so on. And then, suddenly, things began to heat up. We found ourselves talking about immigrant communities in the West. What began as a general discussion on whether and how immigrant communities 'integrate' into the culture of the adopted country, turned specifically to discussing Indians and Pakistanis in Britain.