Research Report Series

Research Report No. 6

Dakshina Kannada in the Gulf Community and Politics in a Transnational

Virtual Space

Jananie Kalyanaraman and Leah Koskimaki

January 2013

National Institute of Advanced Studies

Bangalore, India

Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research University of Amsterdam

DAKSHINA KANNADA IN THE GULF COMMUNITY AND POLITICS IN A TRANSNATIONAL

VIRTUAL SPACE

ProGlo Research Report No. 6

Jananie Kalyanaraman and Leah Koskimaki

January 2013

Copyright: NIAS and AISSR

No part of the paper can be published, reprinted or reproduced in any form without permission.

Published by:

National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bangalore, and

Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR)

Bibliographic information:

Kalyanaraman, Jananie and Leah Koskimaki. 2013. Dakshina Kannada in the Gulf: Community and Politics in a Transnational Virtual Space. Provincial Globalisation Research Report No. 6. Bangalore: National Institute of Advanced Studies and Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research.

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ABSTRACT

This research report reviews and analyses the content of online fora that connect the Dakshina Kannada

region of India with the Gulf. Internet-based research points to the ways in which transnational connections

between migrants and their home regions may influence local transformations. The report discusses online

transactions and debates that take place within this transnational space, with a focus on linguistic, religious,

regional and/or cultural identities and debates about development initiatives in the region. The analysis shows

how diasporic community organisations and their activities, such as channelling investments and philanthropy

to the home region, create translocal publics that are intensely engaged in a politics of self-representation. The

ubiquity of virtual publics reveals the visual lexicon of transnational spaces and communities that are

facilitated by internet-based communication and sociality.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction 3

1.1 Dakshina Kannada and the Gulf in Context: A Hub of 6

Interaction and Exchange

1.2 Summary of Content and Methods 7

2. Cultural and Regional Identities Online 9

2.1 Interactive Fora: Facebook, Egroups, and Matrimonial Sites 9

2.2 News Media and Information Portals 14

2.3 Organisation-Based Websites 20

3. Development Initiatives and Philanthropy Online 21

3.1 Debating Development Issues Online 21

3.2 Real Estate and Changes in Land Use: Reading Advertisements 23

3.3 Online Philanthropic Endeavours and Their Implications 25

4. Conclusion 27 5. References 30 6. Appendices 32

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1. INTRODUCTION

This research report surveys a range of websites and online portals used to maintain spaces of debate,

connectivity, and influence for migrants between the Gulf region and the Dakshina Kannada district of

Karnataka, South India.1

Regionally focused websites and other online fora have become prominent media for fostering transnational

connections and provide a powerful means for maintaining social networks, often contributing to various

kinds of transformations, social and material, in the home region. For example, Vertovec writes that one key

area of transformation is ‘institutional transformation affecting forms of financial transfer, public-private

relationships and local development in the economic domain’ (Vertovec 2004: 971). However, he rightly

notes that, ‘while not bringing about substantial societal transformations by themselves, patterns of cross-

border exchange and relationship among migrants may contribute significantly to broadening, deepening or

Both migrants to the Gulf (to countries such as the UAE, Oman and Kuwait) and

returnees to coastal Karnataka (mainly in Mangalore town and the surrounding areas) use online portals and

news websites to stay connected with social, business, and political issues in their home region. We offer an

introductory assessment of the role of online interactions and ‘community’ mobilisations in these interlinked

regions by reflecting on the use of social media, the content of online newspapers, and various community

fora centred round regional, caste and religious identities. We also review the content of key websites that

promote cultural activities, cover local news, and discuss socioeconomic development and business ventures.

Two interrelated themes emerge prominently in the formation and content of these virtual public spaces:

First, identity and regionalism, such as discussions over language, region, cultural expression and self-

representation; and second, discussions around development initiatives in the region such as land use, real

estate ventures, and online philanthropic endeavours that tap migrant resources for the home region. The

report poses some questions about the role of NRIs (Non-Resident Indians) in coastal Karnataka’s

development and community representation, keeping in mind that access to the internet and increased

circulation of media is still limited by class and other social criteria.

We would like to thank Carol Upadhya and Mario Rutten for their supervision and support. We are also thankful to ProGlo team members Sanam Roohi, Sanderien Verstappen and particularly Sulagna Mustafi for the helpful discussion on religious communities in the Mangalore region. We would like to extend our gratitude to all our research participants. Provincial Globalisation Consultant Researcher, Jananie Kalyanaraman, conducted the majority of the internet-based research for this report. The work was supervised by Programme Co-Director, Carol Upadhya, and Research Fellow, Leah Koskimaki, who contributed to the content analysis and offered insights from research interviews in Mangalore (with Kalyanaraman) carried out in spring 2012 and Dubai in December 2012. Future work expanding on some of the issues explored in the report will be forthcoming in the ProGlo Working Paper series. 1 In this report we have quoted a number of examples from various websites to illustrate our arguments. Several of these quotations have spelling errors that we have deliberately left intact in this paper since discussions on the use of language on the internet and the linguistic politics of the region also constitute a portion of this report.

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intensifying conjoined processes of transformation that are already ongoing’ (2004: 972). Keeping this in

mind, we explore how the internet is a means for migrants to take part in transformations in their home

region through virtual transactions, social and political contributions, and ties to community politics. Online

connections constitute a transnational virtual space that facilitates exchanges and interactions across two

geographically removed locations.

Within the extensive debates on globalisation, diaspora, and transnationalism, we draw on a few useful

reflections to help conceptualise the role virtual networks play in the debates over regional futures. Bose has

argued, for example, that ‘the category of diaspora can help to critically interrogate and challenge traditional

notions of not only development and displacement, but also of citizenship itself’ (Bose 2008: 3). However, we

recall Ong’s speculation that the notion of diaspora ‘is invoked by elite migrants in transnational contexts to

articulate an inclusive ethnicity’, and that these ‘spurious ambitions’, as she calls them, ‘have gained

momentum through the communicative possibilities of the internet, so that the formation of networks and

“translocal publics” is merely a mouse-click away’ (Ong 2006: 53). While not necessarily implying that the

ambitions of the actors who are engaged in the online networks of our research are ‘spurious’ or meaningful,

we do point to the fact that sites and transactions are indeed community-based, and that these portals foster a

continued emphasis on cultural dynamics and community-specific welfare and philanthropy. Ong questions

whether ‘cyber-driven humanitarianism’, even when well-founded, may actually have ‘produced a

disembedded form of racialized citizenship that poses the question of who is accountable to whom in a

transnationalized world’ (Ong 2006: 53). In this case we leave conclusions about the ramifications of these

transactions open-ended, because the research revealed a diverse set of intentions and varied expressions of

transnational citizenship. However, the focus on communities tells us that at least in virtual spheres, many

migrants from Dakshina Kannada articulate their citizenship through regional and social affiliation. The Gulf

as a transitional space for many migrants eager to create economic success while maintaining family and social

ties in India may also help to reinforce associational, religious or caste-based ties.

The fact that these flows influence development and social change in the home regions is of particular

interest in this context (Upadhya and Rutten 2012). Furthermore, the review of websites may help to open

questions for further research on the role of these networks in the upholding of ‘region’ and affiliation as a

key to aspirational ‘developed’ futures. Indeed, whether in the form of investments, the movement of bodies,

or the role of internet networks, these ‘flows’2

2 Tsing, following earlier work on globalisation (Sassen 1998), has defined ‘flow’ as ‘movement stimulated through political and economic channels’. (Tsing 2000: 338).

appear to have reinforced certain community identities.

Nevertheless, Tsing notes that we must think of ‘flows’ as ‘not just interconnections but also the recarving of

channels and the remapping of the possibilities of geography’ (Tsing 2000: 327). To elaborate, she critiques

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the way in which ‘flow is valorized but not the carving of the channel; national and regional units are mapped

as the baseline of change without attention to their shifting and contested ability to define the landscape’. In

the process, she notes: ‘We lose sight of the coalitions of claimants as well as their partial and shifting claims’

and also ‘lose touch with the material and institutional components through which powerful and central sites

are constructed’ (Tsing 2000: 330). It is in this spirit that we approach our review of these online publics; our

use of terms such as ‘community’ should be understood in the context of representation, shifting identities

and as one component of the ways in which these transnational flows reconfigure institutions and political

claims in the home region.

The following anecdote about a doctor residing in a small town in Dakshina Kannada whom we met during a

field visit will highlight the significance of the internet in creating and sustaining transnational social networks.

Although he had spent considerable time in an Indian metropolis in his youth, he decided to return to the

small town of his grandparents, where the family still held onto a plot of family land. He prefers to live and

work there to revitalise his familial and cultural traditions, as well as to fight for the rights of a region

undergoing various forms of exploitation. Actively engaged with regional issues connected with the

promotion and preservation of one of the local languages, Tulu, and its culture, he maintained various

accounts in online fora and made a point of accessing social debates regarding regional issues. During the

course of our conversation, he mentioned that given a choice between opting for an office space in his town

and a maintaining website as a means for communicating his work and ideas, he would prefer the latter,

emphasising that ‘a website reaches a wide audience’. He also felt that it was necessary to tap into Non-

Resident Indian (NRI) participation to promote regional language and culture, and thus a website would be a

far more effective medium than a local office space. Significantly, he asserted that his many Tulu-speaking

NRI contacts were equally passionate about maintaining local cultural rituals and events and shared similar

views regarding their community’s sustenance. In his experience, therefore, the maintenance of virtual spaces

was an effective way of networking with geographically distant individuals and mobilising ideas. His use of

the internet reveals its increasing importance even for actors in small towns in India for the dissemination of

ideas, preservation of ties with homelands, and unification of specific target groups in a transnational

dialogue.

Taking this as one example of the increasing need for connectivity for small town residents in India, this

report examines the content of the ‘bridgespaces’ (Adams and Ghose 2003) that Gulf migrants and returnees,

both long-term and aspiring, maintain between these connected regions.3

3 For example, see Heerink’s (2011) study of virtual linkages between NRIs and the Andhra region.

By categorising and tabulating some

of the main internet-based networks, news portals, and interactive websites that are relevant to migrants, and

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qualitatively exploring their content to understand the role they play in strengthening or altering these ties,

this report addresses key issues that have emerged in the transnational, online debates by people of Dakshina

Kannada over development, social change and cultural issues.

1.1 Dakshina Kannada and the Gulf in Context: A Hub of Interaction and Exchange Much of the content of the websites that we surveyed is centred on the town of Mangalore on the south

coast of Karnataka, which has the largest population in the district at 399,565.4

In addition, the region is quite diverse in terms of religion, caste and language. In Appendix B, we provide a

partial list of groups residing in the region, which served as the basis for the keywords used for conducting

this internet-based research. The 2001 Census gives the composition of the population in Dakshina Kannada

by community as Hindus - 1,30,1603, Muslims - 4,18,904, and Christians - 1,64,982.

Mangalore has historically

been an important port city in the region, and its recent growth is testimony to its continued role as a hub of

global flows in the contemporary context. The addition of an airport that offers regular flights to cities in the

Gulf has further facilitated the ties between the two regions. Like neighbouring Kerala, coastal Karnataka has

been a major source of Indian migrants to the Gulf and consequently has experienced an increase in

transnational ‘reverse flows’ through individual household remittances, business connections, ideas and

philanthropic contributions from NRIs (Upadhya and Rutten 2012). ‘Reverse flows’, or migrant resources

flowing back into the home region, is one way in which migrants remain connected with their hometowns or

villages. The coastal region in which Mangalore is situated has undergone a remarkable process of

urbanisation in recent years, partly due to these NRI and Gulf investments, with the flourishing of the

industrial, real estate, banking and hotel sectors in Mangalore and nearby towns of Udupi, Surathkal,

Moodabidri and Bantwal. Economic as well as ‘social’ remittances (Levitt 1998) are often channelled into

local projects such as infrastructure development or the social sector, and may have a major influence on local

socio-economic and cultural issues.

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4 Census of India. District Dakshina Kannada (24), Karnataka (29). Accessed July 2, 2012.

A small number of Jains

and Buddhists also reside in the region. Kannada, Tulu, Konkani and Beary Bashe are the main languages

spoken, in addition to English and Hindi/Urdu. This diversity and interaction of communities across various

cultural affiliations contributes to the richness of public interaction around regional issues online. The second

half of 20th century witnessed a major transformation in the economic pattern of life of some of these

communities, especially with the increased migration trends that have influenced socio-cultural and

developmental patterns in region. The use of these online spaces is thus an important dimension of the study

http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Dist_File/datasheet-2924.pdf. 5 Districts of India. Religion-wise Projected Population (Total/Rural/Urban) by Sex in Dakshina Kannada District (Karnataka) (2009 and 2010). Accessed December 17, 2011. http://www.districtsofindia.com/index.aspx.

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of ‘reverse flows’. In this light, we offer insights into issues of importance to the diasporic community as

these flows are maintained and reproduced.

1.2 Summary of Content and Methods

The methodology for the internet-based research, conducted mostly in November and December 2011 by

Kalyanaraman, involved initial general searches related to place and community names in the Dakshina

Kannada region and their Gulf-based communities. The large number of sites that came up point to the

density of connections and interactions between the regions. To specify, internet research yielded a total of

125 relevant websites, Facebook pages or groups, blogs, and e-groups, most of which were interactive, media-

oriented and/or community-specific. Methodological details, keywords used, and challenges faced are

discussed in Appendix A of this report.

While carrying out the research, the information was organised into three main categories according to the

type of portal or website: 1) news media and information portals; 2) interactive fora such as social media and

blogs; and 3) organisation- and community-based websites. The news and information websites serve as a

portal to regional information available through reports, classified advertisements, citizen journalism, online

community information, and the promotion of group cultural identities. Interactive fora, the second

organisational category, include spaces in which target users are encouraged to participate or express

themselves, such as blogs, Facebook pages, discussion and e-groups, and matrimonial sites. The third

category of interest to the report covers websites owned by community-specific associations such as parishes,

caste associations, and active migrant groups. Appendix C offers a tabulated listing of these sites.

All of these websites contained sections that revealed Gulf-Dakshina Kannada links, especially by highlighting

the needs, goals and regional issues of interest to NRIs. Within the category of blogs, discussion fora and e-

groups, the number of email communities available for each search term within the e-group portal was also

quite large. In this report only a few of the most active and prominent groups are examined in depth.

Structurally, blogs and fora are meant to mobilise reader response through the ‘comment’ facility. As we show

in detailed examples below, comments in news sections reveal an enthusiastic NRI presence in discussions on

local political and social affairs and involve a diverse range of social groups belonging to various coastal

Karnataka communities. The archives of online news portals also were revealing and contain news items on

certain diasporic organisations that did not otherwise appear during the internet searches, or were perhaps

overshadowed by more popular websites. These news items also cover those cultural and social events and

activities of interest to diasporic groups.

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However, of the blogs listed here, not all showed reader activity through comments, some may have been

dormant for several years, and others mainly serve as informative news blogs. Also, not all the listed

Facebook pages or fora are active. Some seem to have been dormant for a considerable period of time, with

forum posts overtaken by spam, or news items dating two years back. However, we list them in the report

pending possible future activity as well as to reveal the structure of these pages as community-based. Not all

Facebook sites listed are public – some are for members only. Although some of the sites have the same

names as some organisations and their hosted websites, we could not determine their affinity.

Thematically, social identity emerged as a major strand of website content. The website tabulation and

content analyses reveal how specific caste, religious and social affiliations are represented and reinforced on

the internet. The analysis also shows the extent of NRI participation through various online connections,

philanthropic endeavours, the fostering of markers of cultural identity, and efforts to ‘uplift’ their particular

community welfare and status at home. News and information portals are rich in region- and community-

specific content, and given that many participants are NRIs with certain forms of access or wealth, the focus

of the content raises interesting questions about self-representation of communities in public spaces and the

ability of members to mobilise individual participation and promote specific activities.

Another interesting aspect about these sites was the high number of advertisements and content coming from

Gulf establishments and participants. Most of the news portals, especially Daijiworld.com and the

Mangalorean.com, allot a large amount of space for advertisements whose content principally focuses on

property and real estate development in Dakshina Kannada, the hotel industry, educational institutions,

investments opportunities and visa agents. The prominence of these types of ads suggests that real estate and

property development, as well as small businesses, are major sites of NRI investments flowing into the region

from the Gulf. The advertisements also reveal visually the kinds of aspirations that have been generated by

Gulf migration and what NRI status implies in these transnational publics.

We review all of these aspects of internet content in detail in the following sections. Section 2 discusses the

various websites we explored with a focus on cultural and regional representation, and in Section 3 we detail

how Overseas Indians’ participation in, and discussions of, development and philanthropy online often also

have a community-based focus.

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2. CULTURAL AND REGIONAL IDENTITY ONLINE

The content of the internet-based research for this project revealed how each social group represents itself

online and the extent to which websites are based around particular affiliations such as caste, region, or

religion. The focus on cultural affiliations and languages seen in a large number of organisation-based

websites, blogs, online newspapers and interactive sites are evidence of this pattern. Importantly, the large

presence of these community fora and organisation-based websites points to the importance for migrants of

maintaining these social and political affiliations abroad.

For this report, we focus on websites containing English-language content because the primary operational

language for most sites (in Table 2) is English. However a few sites, such as Gulf Kannadiga (a Kannada script

site) do exist which maintain local scripts. During personal communication with a founder of a Kannada-

language website in the Gulf, Koskimaki was told that these vernacular sites also are more accessible for

migrants who prefer Kannada to English. Some of these websites can be viewed in a language of the reader’s

preference, usually Konkani or Kannada, using the Kannada script, clearly indicating the linguistic orientation

of their viewers. Mangalorean.com also has the options of Konkani and Kannada apart from the language in

which the site opens by default – English. The World Tuluvas Network is one site where many comments are

written using the Roman script in the Tulu language. This facility reinforces the local language within

transnational virtual spaces. Recent research work argues that the presence of Kannada language in online

spaces often amounts to an iconic assertion of vernacular identity as a claim to space while borrowing from

offline politics (Rashmi 2012).

2.1 Interactive Fora: Facebook, Egroups and Matrimonial Sites

The discussions in online interactive fora reveal the extent to which Indians in the Gulf maintain interest in

cultural and social debates in their hometowns. While some of these networks are affiliated to organisations

or media portals, others are independent. Table 3 in Appendix C categorises the networks under three heads:

Facebook, e-groups, and matrimonial sites. Among the various communities covered in this report, Bunt and

Christian sociocultural associations have a very noticeable presence in these fora. These affiliation-based

websites express not only the politics of self-representation in a public space much like the news portals, but

also show the concerns of that community about particular issues. To give some examples, blogs and fora like

Festivals in Mangalore, Konkani Catholics and World Tuluvas Network emphasise culture, religious practices and

events. This kind of content is discussed in more detail in the following subsections, which expand on these

themes by illustrating some of the ways in which community identity acts as a node for situating the goals of

various categories of websites.

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2.1.1 Facebook (pages and groups)

Facebook ‘groups’ and ‘pages’ contain a wealth of information on the various communities in the region and

are used by both residents of Dakshina Kannada and its diasporic communities. Examining Facebook as a

social network reveals that some individuals maintain ties with their homeland by being part of a regional

group on Mangalore city (for example, Mangalore (Kudla) or Proud to be a Mangalorean) while also participating in

networks formed around specific cultural identities such as a Mogaveera or a Bunt page. From the data

(shown in Table 3), the Bunt community outnumbers other social groups in terms of their presence on

Facebook, closely followed by the Konkani-speaking groups, especially the Konkani Catholics. The Beary,

Mogaveera, and Devadiga groups come next in terms of online presence. Some Facebook sites are affiliated

to media portals and sites hosted by organisations.

A significant number of news portals have Facebook ‘groups’ or ‘pages’ as an accessory to their already

existing websites that also facilitate comments and user interaction. An additional Facebook presence for

certain independent websites often serves to mainly direct readers to the actual site rather than acting as the

primary channel for connecting individuals and sharing news and images. Facebook also establishes their

presence on a popular social network and links up with their readers’ profiles. The advantage of having a

Facebook presence is that links and affiliations between the organisation and individual readers are reinforced

when they ‘like’ or ‘share’ an organisation’s ‘pages’ and ‘posts’, increasing online community building. For

example, news portals such as Daijiworld.com, Coastal Digest, and The Dakshin Times, also maintain Facebook

pages. The activity on these sites by and large consists of posts by the moderator, which are usually articles

from the main website, to which readers react by posting comments or by ‘likes’. These portals have a large

number of followers. For example, based on access on May 27, 2012, the number of followers and likes were

as follows, with 16,541 for Daijiworld, 1,694 for Mangalorean.com, 641 for Coastal Digest, and 2131 for The

Dakshin Times. Nonetheless, Daijiworld and the Mangalorean.com demonstrate a larger amount of activity on the

actual portals compared to their Facebook pages.

Of those sites that are affiliated to other organisations and communities, for example the Vishwa Konkani

Kendra, Mogaveera’s, Konkani Dictionary Project, World Tuluvas Network, internet users tend to be active with

updates of organisation events, the ‘sharing’ of related news and discussion topics on Facebook, and the

posting of culturally relevant queries. Some of the websites and Facebook pages emphasise cultural pride. For

example, Royal Bunts is followed by the tag line, ‘I am a Bunt… and I am proud of it’, and contains some

posts written entirely in the Tulu language, using the Roman script, conveying pride in ‘Tulu Nadu’ and Bunt

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culture. Mogaveeras emphasise their identity as a fishing community: the Mogaveera’s6 Facebook page contains

photographs of fishermen at work, sea creatures, and culturally significant ceremonies such as the Samudra

Pooja, or the sea worship ritual. Sports groups such as cricket clubs and football associations are especially

visible on the pages of the Mogaveera community in the Gulf, where members often participate in a number

of games and sporting events.7 A community member during an April-May 2012 research visit to Mangalore

informed us of an important community function that included sports activities, which indicates that such

events are popular at home and abroad. Online newspapers also often report on Mogaveera cricket matches

in the UAE. The organisation of such social events reveals the kinds of local interactive social activities of

these communities. Gulf-based Bearys also started a Facebook page, Nakk-Nikk, to promote Beary language

and culture. Before ‘Beary’ was recognised as a distinct language, the language spoken by the community was

known as ‘Nakka-Nikk’. Apart from language and culture, this Facebook page is also used to promote some

causes which are perceived as important by the community (Mustafi 2012). The Vishwa Konkani Kendra

Facebook page also lists cultural events, such as a shared link to a Konkani-language play:8

Figure 1: Poster found on the Vishwa Konkani Kendra’s Facebook page

6 Mangalore. ‘Udupi: Catch of Eight Kilo Squid Surprises Fishermen’. Accessed December 16, 2011. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150501448874180&set=a.240445169179.172660.140180344179&type=1&theater. 7 Mangalorean.com. ‘Dubai: Mogaveers UAE holds Mogaveera Cup’. Accessed November 25, 2011. http://www.mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=local&newsid=272054. 8 Vishwa Konkani Kendra. Accessed April 24, 2012. http://www.facebook.com/worldkonkani.

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A number of the independent and non-affiliated Facebook sites seek to unite members of a particular

community. However, activity levels on these sites are more erratic and the nature of activity varies from

jokes to photographs to ‘shared’ news items, recipes, and celebrity news. Bunt celebrities such as Aishwarya

Rai and Shilpa Shetty are often referred to with pride on some of these sites. A post on the Proud to be a

Mangalorean9 page states:10

Mangalore city-related Facebook pages also carry diverse information such as news items from media portals,

announcements about events and other local information. Below, we show a photograph from an ‘open

group’ on Facebook called Mangalore, of a biking fest to be held in Udupi (Figure 2):

Dazzling: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan lived up to her title of ‘the world’s most beautiful woman’ at

the AmfAR gala at Cannes last night, just a week after critics slated her for not losing her baby

weight fast enough! Way to go ASH!

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Figure 2: Poster from a Facebook group called Mangalore

9 This page is managed by a Bunt and contains a lot of information on Bunt social and cultural activities along with other events in the Mangalore region. 10 Proud to be a Mangalorean. Accessed May 24, 2012. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Proud-to-be-a-Mangalorean/155695121132480. 11 Mangalore. Accessed May 18, 2012. http://www.facebook.com/mangalore.city.

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2.1.2 Egroups/ email-groups

Egroups/ email-groups, as the name suggests, consist of individuals who form a community of subscribers and

contributors to online discussions. These groups chronicle reader response and connect a wide international

audience. Though there are several Yahoo promoted egroups,12 only a few are examined here based on their

relevance, activity levels and popularity. The presence of these groups demonstrates the importance of

regional, social, and other community affiliations in creating spaces to discuss relevant issues.

Upon searching for the word ‘Tulu’ in the Yahoo groups search directory, a large number of results came up

in reference to ‘Tulunadu’, implying an emphasis on the Tulu region rather than just the language. The Tulu

Nadu egroup states its goals as follows:13

• To Encourage to use Tulu Script in Communicating with other Tulu Speaking People

• To form a separate State from Karnataka for the 40 LAKH (TULU&Koduva Language)

People!

The Mangalorean Catholics egroup similarly states their objective as mobilisation around cultural and regional

identity for ‘proud Mangalorean Catholics’ residing in countries all around the world including UAE, Kuwait,

Oman, and Qatar. The site states:14

Mangalorean Catholics is a group of all Konkani Catholics of Mangaloeran origin or Mangalorean

Spirit spread all over the world. Started in the year 2004 we have been pioneer in serving our

religion, culture, language and society. When our Church was attacked or our Church was under

crises our group gave first hand information to the members in time. Our members who are

spread across the globe shared their thoughts and helped our members in their boundary. Being

a member of this community, feel free to share your thoughts, religion, Konkani language,

culture, heritage & discuss on burning issues. Get help from our expert members. Quench the

thirst of our people. Be a strong supporter of our community & our language. Be the first one

to share your experiences, live incidences that take place at our place… please utilise this golden

opportunity to meet your near and dear ones. Our Motto is to give voice to the voiceless and to

12 See http://groups.yahoo.com/. 13 Tulunadu. ‘Tulunadu’. Accessed May 15, 2012. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TULUNADU/#ans. 14 MangaloreanCatholics. ‘Mangalorean Canara Konkani Catholics’. Accessed May 15, 2012. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MangaloreanCatholics/.

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give life to the oppressed and the downtrodden. Come and bind all Canarites in one rope. Let

the ZOR of SARASWATI flow all over the world.

Goanet is a well-established egroup with wide outreach and an open community with fully visible archives.

Because of the historical and linguistic Konkani connection with Goa, many Mangalorean-raised residents

now in the Gulf interact on this egroup. A substantial amount of information and discussion topics deal with

local political debates and cultural and social issues impacting the region. The group also debates Konkani

language, culture and religious views. News articles reference Goan diasporic organisations and their

activities, such as ‘keeping Goa state clean’ initiatives. Mangalorean Catholics is another group that shows

significant Gulf connectivity, and its description indicates that the motivation behind its formation was the

issue of church attacks15

Online newspapers and information portals also reveal much about how the Gulf and Dakshina Kannada

share a connected transnational community. With content largely focusing on ‘local’ events in both of the

regions, readers can keep up with news and also debate issues online. Often articles about crime, politics, or

in Mangalore city. This email group maintains discussions on religious issues, the

church, and local topics. Tulunadu is an egroup for Tulu speakers. This online group, like Riyadh Bunts, does

not allow access to its debates unless one is a registered subscriber, but its group description represents a

strong sentiment towards the demand for a separate Tulu Nadu state against the larger context of regional

politics and statehood demands.

2.1.3 Matrimonial sites

Matrimonial sites, which are in fact independent and not affiliated to any larger matrimonial site like Shaadi.com

or Bharat Matrimony, are also popular. These matrimonial sites are interesting because they point to specific

cultural identities and the felt need to maintain them i.e. indicating the desire among community members to

marry within their social and cultural groups and consolidate that identity. However, unlike some of the

national-level sites, the regional sites are mostly closed for members in that they do not reveal profiles to

unregistered users. Some of the news websites also host matrimonial sections (see Table 2) and seem to be an

integral part of the web portal in serving to link target members. These pages are interesting since they reveal

the community or caste-specific NRI networks that are prominent in the region.

2.2 News Media and Information Portals

15 In 2008, a number of churches in Mangalore and others parts of Dakshina Kannada were attacked and vandalised by Hindu right wing groups. These attacks were claimed to have been in response to forceful conversions by certain church groups. See http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=51155&n_tit=Mangalore%3A+Attacks+on+Christian+Prayer+Centres%2C+Institutions+around+South+Kanara....+, http://www.ndtv.com/topic/2008-mangalore-church-attacks.

15

development provoke long debate by various commentators, many based abroad. Reports of events such as

cricket or cultural events held in Dubai also instigate congratulations and praise in commentary sections.

Altogether, Kalyanaraman documented 39 websites that act as primarily news media and information portals

and determined the primary target readership of these portals by documenting the following: name of the

portal; the categories into which the news sections are divided; additional pages such as entertainment,

culture, greetings, obituaries, matrimonial and classifieds; reader interactions through comments on articles,

contributions on interactive pages; and other participatory pages.

From among the news and information portals listed in Table 2 Appendix C, those which would qualify more

as sites meant to disseminate information about and connect members of a very specific community, such as

Shivalli Brahmins and Bunt Community, the targeted readership is clearly very narrow. These sites appear to be

intended mainly for members of communities interested in finding information about their respective cultural

rituals, knowledge about their community, and religious practices online. What distinguishes these websites

from the list in Table 4, Appendix C (Organisation-based websites), is that these sites are apparently not

accessories to existing formal bodies such as associations and organisations (with the exception of Milagreans

and World Tuluvas Network which also serve as dissemination portals). As discussed in the last section of the

report, they are also used to mobilise charitable donations for the community and sometimes even for

specific members in need. The sites also promote language and literature of various communities; for

example, the Karnataka Beary Sahithya Academy hosts a comprehensive site that represents the goals of the

academy in promoting Beary language and culture. The site stresses ‘a close relation between education and

literature’ and the role of the academy in creating ‘an awareness of education’. It also offers a list of Academy

publications, press clippings, information about history and culture, and also activities and events. Some

websites, such as Bearyvillage, contain discussions and educational content about Islam, and require registration

for access to further debates and comments in the website forum. Community-based websites often identify

with political trends; for instance Devadiga.com emphasises a connection with former Karnataka Chief Minister

Veerappa Moily, who is admired as the first Tuluva Chief Minister of the state. The NRI Forum Karnataka is

headed by a BJP affiliate. The Beary site called Towardsall, maintained by Beary members in the Gulf, offers

articles and discussions on Islam.

The online newspapers are important for their dissemination of local news, reports of events, and

advertisements. One of the most visited news portals is Daijiworld.com, which calls itself ‘A portal linking the

West Coast of India and the World’. As the site explains, ‘“Daiji” in Konkani means the descendants from

16

the paternal lineage who historically enjoy a seat of respect during any family get-together’.16 Closer

inspection of media coverage of the activities of diasporic associations reveals that communities

commemorate occasions, celebrate festivals, and host stage performances, music shows, and cultural events in

the Gulf. The following is an excerpt from a Daijiworld article entitled ‘Kuwait Kannada Koota Celebrates

Marala Mallige Day’:17

It was an exhibition of fine talents exposure by children and as well as elder members of the

Koota. Every year, KKK celebrates Marala Mallige day. Marala Mallige (Desert Jasmine) is an

in-house magazine of KKK, published on a quarterly basis since the year 1986. On this day,

children and elders of the Koota are encouraged to participate in elocution and debates,

extemporary speeches, Skits and dance, Kavigoshti,

18

The news portal names themselves often indicate who are the majority participants for example:

Mangalorean.com – Serving Mangaloreans around the World; Canara World Foundation Inc. – Uniting Mangaloreans

Worldwide; Sezari – Website for Konkani Speaking People Worldwide; and NRI Realty News target very specific

audiences. In addition, the structure and organisation of the components into which the news is categorised

reveal this specificity. For example, the cultural sections and participant fora listed on the portal represent the

main cultural target group. The portals generally have world and local news sections, but variations in the

classification and content of the news in each section reveals place-based and interest-based readership. For

example, The Dakshin Times, an English-language portal, has the following news sections: ‘Dakshin News’

(Puttur, Moodabidri, Bantwal, Mangalore, Kasargod, Sullia and Udupi), ‘India News’, ‘World News’ and ‘The

Indian Diaspora’. Apart from these, the portal’s entertainment, education and videos sections contain diverse

content such as celebrity news, ‘how to do it yourself’, ‘scandal videos’ ‘funny videos’, and music videos. The

Daijiworld news sections are very precisely segregated into the following categories: ‘Top Stories’, ‘Business

News’, ‘Karnataka News’, ‘Gulf News’, ‘Mumbai News’, ‘Sports News’, ‘Showbiz and Glamour’, ‘Others’,

‘USA News’, ‘Goa News’, ‘Photo Album’, and ‘Editor’s Pick’. Daijiworld, like the Mangalorean.com, offers the

option of user comments under each article. This segregation of news is a demonstration of a more specific

delineation of the social target groups. Among these news portals, some of the noticeable differences between

testing of general knowledge, Rangoli for

ladies, Vege and fruit carving for ladies and gents.

16 Daijiworld.com. ‘Mangalore: Daiji Dubai Strengthens Konkani Writers’ Bond Worldwide’. Accessed May 23, 2012. http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=48931&n_tit=Mangalore%3A+Daiji+Dubai+Strengthens+Konkani+Writers'+Bond+Worldwide. 17 Daijiworld.com. ‘Kuwait Kannada Koota (KKK) Celebrates Marala Mallige Day’. Accessed June 5, 2012. http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=138693. 18 Kavigoshti means poets’ meet and rangoli is a traditional form of decoration, which is made on the ground using rice flour.

17

sites have to do mainly with the interactive sections and the language options. To illustrate, the tag line of the

Mangalorean.com portal reads: ‘e-source for Mangaloreans’ and ‘where Mangaloreans meet’.

As a contrast to some news portals such as Sezari.com, Mangalorean.com, Canaraworld.com, Daijiworld, Bellevision,

Indians in Kuwait, Coastal Digest, The Dakshin Times, and Sahilonline, all of which mainly provide news in addition

to uniting members of specific communities who engage in readership and related activities, NRI Realty News

and YaHind imply a wider audience – a pan-Indian appeal – and have largely business-related news items.

Some of the portals with a significant Muslim presence are: Coastal Digest, Sahilonline, iKonkani, Bhatkallys.com

and Karnataka Muslims. iKonkani is a Konkani Muslim portal which has an extremely resourceful section for its

target users, containing links to a host of other community organisations and websites across the globe. There

are visible Gulf links on all of these portals through advertisements (see Figure 5) and news items.

Kinnigoli, named after the small town in Mangalore, has an interesting segment devoted to local issues and

happenings. To offer an example, the site contains a report on a house robbery, including photographs of the

inside of the house after the robbery. It also offers a section for reader comments. In this way, the regional

space (for example a village or small town) is transposed onto or recreated in virtual debates through the

concerns and interests of readers, their participation, and their demands.19 This forms a clear contrast to a

portal like Daijiworld. Their difference begins with the user interface.20 Kinnigoli does not display a busy

interface with several advertisements or multiple sections, unlike portals with a large outreach like Daijiworld

and Mangalorean.com.21

19 Kinnigoli. ‘House break at Kinnigoli’. Accessed May 25, 2012.

The latter news portals also have a large number of news items ranging from ‘Gulf’ and

‘World’ to local political news.

News and information portals also follow the everyday activities of online groups. The nature of this

participation is an important means of assessing target audiences and their socio-cultural, economic and

political opinions. For instance, the Mangalorean.com site features a section where local recipes can be

exchanged called ‘Kitchen’, a place to display artwork and articles called ‘Inner Circle’, and a section where

readers contribute their comments on current issues in the section entitled, ‘Express your thoughts’. These

interactive sections are of great significance since they represent not only cultural connections but also public

opinion and reactions to the politics of development in the region.

http://portal.kinnigoli.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4571:mrlionel-pinto&catid=1:parish-special-events&Itemid=9. 20 Graphic user interface refers to the graphic design of the point where the individual user meets the software. 21 Although not substantiated, we suspect that the dearth of advertisements on Kinnigoli signifies the website’s limited reach and may indicate less investment opportunity for privatised developers or industrialists in the town.

18

Like Mangalorean.com and other similar sites, Daijiworld also has a series of interactive webpages, which serve to

indicate the primary user group apart from the nature of online activities engaged in by users. For example,

the matrimonial page on Daijiworld has a largely Roman Catholic presence, and their ‘Charity’ page facilitates

donations. The matrimonial pages on other sites such as Sahilonline.com, which have a mostly Beary Muslim

presence, tell us about the user social group. Daijiworld.com also has a series of interactive pages that contain a

creative kind of participation where people can send in their short stories and cartoons (see Figure 4).

Portals like Sezari.com, Ferar Online (founded by Roshan D’Souza, founder of Mangalorean.com), Daijiworld,

Mangalorean.com, Canaraworld, Kemmannu, Bellevision, Milagreans, and Kinnigoli also contain a particular feature that

allows public exchange of personal greetings for occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries. This page is

usually called ‘Sandesh’ which translates to ‘message’. On Mangalorean.com this section is referred to as

‘Subhashai’, which roughly translates to ‘greetings/ goodwill’. Reviewing the names of individuals listed, we

note that a majority of members of the Christian community use this section to exchange greetings for

anniversaries, birthdays, and other occasions. During the month of December 2011, over a span of ten days,

about fourteen out of the twenty-six greetings listed Gulf addresses. Christians in the Mangalore region and

abroad in the Gulf (as well as the United States and the United Kingdom) are the primary contributors to the

activity on these pages. It is not unusual to find the same greeting connecting the same set of people across

more than one of these portals at the same time. This feature sets these portals apart from the rest. The

Figure 3: Short story published on

Daijiworld’s ‘Red Chillies’ page

Figure 4: Daijiworld’s weekly newsletter for

the week of May 25th features a front-page

article titled: ‘Why demolish old churches?’

19

Milagreans and Ferar Online portals offer a means to bring together people belonging to the same parish. They

carry news about their respective parishes and try to keep members updated on events and activities.

Figure 5: Advertisement featured on the home page of Bhatkallys.com 22

To give a few more examples, websites, interactive pages, news portals and associations for Konkani speakers

engage in a very spirited display of pride in their language and cultural identity. While religious festivities and

philanthropy characterise the Konkani Catholic sites, the Konkani language sites display a propensity for

promoting cultural solidarity among Konkani speakers and aim to retain the cultural practices associated with

them while uniting all Konkani speakers. The Bunt community has a leading presence among the Tulu-

speaking community online, with sites such as Bunts UAE, Kuwait Bunts, and Bunts Bahrain. This reflects their

large presence in the Gulf, where they are active in the hotel industry, business, and medicine. There exist

sites for the Tulu language similar to the Konkani dictionary projects. Some dictionary websites, created to

preserve these languages, also involve user interaction where individuals can ‘contribute a word a day’.

Nevertheless, Tulu language sites differ from the Konkani-speaking community sites in that their focus lies

more on pride in their homeland. It is not uncommon to find photographs of cultural events like the Bhuta

Kola,

23 the Kambala24

22 Bhatkallys.com. Accessed May 28, 2012.

and images of iconic figures on their language and culture related sites, as these images

form an important part of their cultural self-representation.

http://www.bhatkallys.org/. The advertisements on this page keep changing. 23 The Bhuta Kola is an ancient ritual practiced by the Tulu-speaking group. It is a form of daiva or spirit worship that is ‘conducted annually at the daivasthana and in the traditional households of Bunts in the southern part of Tulunadu’.

20

However, some sites focus more on the affiliation and identity of the ‘NRI’ rather than specific caste or

religious affiliation. NRI Speaks is a forum that is significantly different from the rest in that its stated aim is

‘to share the educational info with fellow NRI community’. Carrying a picture of Anna Hazare and showing

support for the campaign to eradicate corruption in India, this blog tells us that one of its authors has

previously lived in the United States. In another example, NRI Divorce, self-described as ‘Blog, stories and

articles on personal issues and challenges faced by South Asians and Non Resident Indians (NRIs)’, is

another forum unique in its concept. It links Indian migrants who are undergoing divorce procedures and

forms a virtual support group where people can interact, share their stories, and get counselling.

2.3 Organisation-Based Websites

Organisation-based websites, listed in Appendix C, Table 4, focus on online self-representation, philanthropy,

community histories and event promotion, more than discussion and debate. We call these sites ‘organisation-

based’ due to the fact that they revolve around and publicise the activities of particular groups or associations.

Cultural, community or religious associations and committees based either in India or in the Gulf maintain

these sites, most of which are dedicated to promoting or retaining cultural identity and solidarity. They

emphasise the history of the organisation, the need for its existence, and ways to propagate the cultural unity

of the community. Furthermore, upon closely inspecting the lists of committee members, associates, donors,

networks and leaders of organisations on these websites, political and religious leanings often become

apparent. For example, UAE Bunts provides information to members of the Bunt community in the UAE,

listing the contact information of organisation leaders and offering a section of news about the work of

members in business or philanthropy. The Mangalore Cricket Club site provides the background to the

organisation and its goals as well as sections containing information on meetings, newsletters and classified

advertisements, all geared toward community needs in Doha, Qatar.

To summarise, a focus on affiliation and cultural pride is evident in all of these internet networks and news

portals. Videos of cultural activities, theatre performances, musical performances, felicitation of literary

figures, and online dictionary projects are very prominent ways to unite and maintain cultural and at times

linguistic solidarity among members.

(Hegde 2008: 187). 24 The Kambala is a buffalo race held under the authority of landowning Bunt chiefs/ heads.

21

3. DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES AND PHILANTHROPY ONLINE

Debates over development initiatives in Dakshina Kannada, particularly in Mangalore and the surrounding

areas, have a large presence on these regionally connected sites. The region is undergoing a real estate boom,

much of which is driven by NRI investment, while the government has targeted Mangalore as a site for large

public investments such as in a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), development of the port, and for industries.

Much of these changes are promoted through advertisements and transactions that are facilitated by the

transnational online spaces connecting these two regions. As Sassen notes, ‘Digital space has emerged not

simply as a means for communicating, but as a major new theater for capital accumulation and the operations

of global capital’ (Sassen 1998: 547). While some commentators welcome such development as a form of

‘modernisation’, online debates reveal that these initiatives have also created social conflicts over environment

and land ownership. Web-based research carried out in November 2011 showed that certain developmental,

political and religious issues in the Mangalore region were foregrounded in news coverage and websites. In

addition, organisation and community-based websites mobilise funds, often from NRIs, for various

philanthropic or political purposes. The extensive NRI participation in local issues in the region in these sites,

such as comments on news portals, reveals a great deal of interest in development-related transformations in

their homeland.

3.1 Debating Development Issues Online

The main development issues that emerged online were the proposed Special Economic Zone (SEZ) along

the coastline, the success and political performance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka in

promoting and implementing development in the region, and developments surrounding the Mangalore

airport. In this report we provide examples of discussions primarily on the airport issue. Other issues will be

explored in future reports.

Sites such as Skyscraper City discuss and post information about projects related to city planning and

development projects across the globe, but have an active section on Mangalore. This local section provides

journalistic articles, artists’ visions of completed infrastructural projects including the Mangalore airport,

images of construction projects in progress, and oppositional opinions regarding certain development

projects including the proposed land acquisition by the government for the SEZ.

Most of the recent debates on the Mangalore airport are concerned with the table top runway and the air

crash that occurred in 2010. This airport caters not only to domestic flights but also connects Mangalore with

the Gulf countries. In this case, the state continued with land acquisition and construction despite protests

22

from NGOs pertaining to the logistical problems of a table top construction.25 The table top runway became

operational in 2006, marking the traffic of international flights to and from the airport. News portals contain

articles that demonstrate enthusiasm within the NRI community in the Gulf about the addition of flights and

expansion of the airport into a ‘world-class’ facility.26 However, in May 2010, the airport witnessed a major air

accident when an Air India flight from Dubai crashed into the table top runway, leading to a series of

questions and objections about the safety of a table top runway. A more recent development regarding the

airport was the government’s decision to confer the status of ‘international’ to the airport. Figure 6 below,

from Mangalorean.com, illustrates the range of opinions following the government’s announcement of its

intention to declare the Mangalore airport an ‘International Airport’. Note that many of the comments from

Muscat, Oman express frustration with officials. Since Muscat is a main destination route from the Mangalore

airport, it is revealing that many residents of that place contributed to the discussion. Entitled ‘Mangalore

Airport to be Declared International Airport Soon’, the following article was published on January 5, 2012:27

Antony, UK Jan 6, 2012

I think Mr.Moilee thinks people of Mangalore are "bakras" who do not remember what was promised just couple of months ago. Every time he comes he promises the airport will be "international" soon. Everyone knows that Air India will not allow that in order to keep their monopoly of the Gulf Route.

JP Nayak - Muscat, Oman Jan 6, 2012

It will be a great relief for Mangaloreans in Gulf who are unfortunately required to fly with Air India Express (Budget airline!!!) with one way air fare is more than nominal return fare charged by other airlines to many other destinations in India.

Chinmay, Oman Jan 5, 2012

Every one in Mangalore knows that Moileejee has a history of broken promises. He always tries to play to the gallery.

25 The first PIL was filed in 1997 but was dismissed. NGOs persisted with their objection after the construction began and petitioned in 2002 but were again not considered by the High Court. See http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-05-24/news/28490625_1_mangalore-airport-international-airport-airport-authority. 26 See http://www.mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=broadcast&broadcastid=38507, http://www.mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=broadcast&broadcastid=33601 accessed on January 29, 2012. 27 See http://www.mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=local&newsid=287532.

23

Max and Jessie Rasquinha, USA Jan 5, 2012

Thanks very much, Mr.Veerappa Moily for your kind consideration and assurance. As and when we travel comfortably with a peaceful mind and a grateul heart through the smooth roads of Shiradi Ghadi we shall remember you and many others who have made the comfortable and safe journey possible. Good roadways are the lifeline of success for successful trade and commerce as well as successful tourism. The economic prosperity has lot to do with smooth transportation and communication too. "Dhanyawaadh" and wishing you all a very Happy New Year.

Reshmi Salian, India Jan 5, 2012

Moilijee..when? when? when? Last time you promised the same for December. No idea which December..Please don't promise if you cannot keep up the promise.

Figure 6: Comments following article titled ‘Mangalore Airport to be Declared International Airport Soon’, from Mangalorean.com

Such commentary and online debates are significant because they are widely read and considered. During

interviews in the Mangalore area during April-May 2012, various people emphasised the importance of these

sections in influencing public opinion or even in altering the direction of a debate, mentioning Mangalorean.com

and Daijiworld as playing an important role in such debates. These two portals are seemingly more extensive in

news coverage and in readership, as indicated by the activity on the interactive sections. These exchanges

reveal various perspectives of NRI participants, stakeholders and activists working for specific causes as well

as the exchange of ideas.

3.2 Real Estate and Changes in Land Use: Reading Advertisements

Advertisements provide insight into the role of NRI investment aspirations and practices in the rapid

development and urbanisation of the region. Aside from these state-involved development initiatives, the

innumerable real estate advertisements on the sites and in the classifieds sections on news portals (Table 2)

reveal the extent to which many NRIs are investing in real estate and property in the Dakshina Kannada

coastal region. To illustrate this, real estate developers had placed nine of the sixteen advertisements on the

home page of Mangalorean.com, compared to only two that had been placed by local educational institutions.28

28 Viewed on May 23, 2012.

The significance of real estate investment by NRIs was also highlighted during interviews conducted during a

research visit – informants suggested that the largest real estate and developer groups in the region all have

connections to the Gulf and other areas outside of India. The presence of NRIs in real estate development in

Mangalore is seen mostly in the development of hotels, tourism projects, upscale apartments, and malls.

24

Daijiworld contains almost an overabundance of advertisements on the bottom half of the main page, far

outnumbering most other news sites. Real estate development and construction companies such as

Mahabaleshwara Promoters and Builders, In Land Traders and Shalimar Heights have a strong presence on

the online paper as well as other news portals. A popular advertisement regularly figures very prominently on

the page for the UAE Exchange, which facilitates the international transfer of money and remittances. These

advertisements are relevant as a new form of ‘development’ in Mangalore. The site also commonly features a

‘Properties’ section containing sales advertisements for flats in the Mangalore region with contact addresses

based in the Gulf. For example:29

Figure 7: Advertisement for property for sale from Daijiworld

The fantasy of manicured lawns and open spaces is a sought-after sign of status and allure in renderings of

development projects in India’s metro cities. Visuals of some of the property advertisements in Gulf-

Mangalore online newspapers similarly show high rise apartments against deep blue skies and bordered by

clean broad empty roads, very unlike the typical ‘congested’ Indian road.30 For example, the website of

Mahabaleshwara Promoters and Builders in Mangalore advertises the following properties:31

29 Daijiworld.com. ‘Properties’. Accessed May 28, 2012.

http://www.daijiworld.com/classifieds/properties/default.asp?p_id=1966. 30 Mahabaleshwar Promoters and Builders. Accessed July 31, 2012. http://www.mpb.co.in/. 31 Mahabaleshwar Promoters and Builders. ‘Classique Village’. Accessed July 31, 2012. http://www.mpb.co.in/classique_village.php.

Flat for sale & Land for sale Mangalore

Date : Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Ref : 230512P2

Flat sale: Large 3 BHK 1675 , and 02B.H.K 1450 sqft apartment for sale

behind St Sebastian's Church, Bendur, Mangalore. Brand new apartment with

Moduler kitchen cabinet, carpark, Elctricfitings. Etc

LAND FOR SALE: 13 cents land for sale derebail mangalore

Contact no U.A.E

25

Classique Village, an extravaganza housing layout of plots, luxurious Villas and eye catching

landscape! The very first of its kind in Mangalore City!

The ‘Gated Community’ concept which ensures exclusivity and security to the residents is,

gaining popular ground as it were in the ‘Metros’ around the country and is on offer for the first

time in Mangalore.

The advertisements also reveal a growing need for accommodation and holiday homes for NRIs in the home

region.

3.3 Online Philanthropic Endeavours and Their Implications

Philanthropy has emerged as an important component of resources that are sent by migrants to their

hometowns (Dekkers and Rutten 2011; Upadhya and Rutten 2012). NRIs often ‘give back’ to their homeland

through donations to charitable organisations espousing specific causes or by starting up their own charitable

enterprises. Often, specific migrant or diasporic organisations direct online philanthropic initiatives and fund-

raising opportunities towards community causes. Websites solicit donations for various causes such as

education for disadvantaged children, maintenance of temples or mosques, helping ill community members,

or funding cultural events. For example, the Muslim Welfare Association of Udupi solicited donations for

‘utensils for hiring’ and ‘for the poor and downtrodden Muslim children’s circumcision program’. Such social

welfare oriented pages are especially prominent in organisation-based websites (Table 4) and some of the

community-specific informative sites (Table 2). Hence these charitable sections on websites provide

important insights for understanding region or caste-specific sources of the donations.

Within the Beary community, a few prominent websites help to channel philanthropic activities in the Gulf

and also from the Gulf to DK, as compiled by Mustafi (2012). The Hidaya Foundation, a Beary welfare

organisation, maintains a Facebook page that provides updates about their events and social work. The Beary

community also maintains a site for community service, kkma, representing itself as an ‘organization of

ordinary Indians in Kuwait’ whose ‘activities are mainly members-welfare oriented’. Their main promoted

activities are assistance for kidney patients and an ‘investment center’ to promote financial empowerment,

which is linked to a Kerala-based association. The site, jamiyyatulfalah, acts a portal for the NGO’s community

development, clinics, schools, and hostels.

26

The Tulu Koota Kuwait site states its objective of creating ‘“Unity through language” by bringing Tulu Speaking

people under single umbrella and promoting cultural social & charitable activities’.32 The site mobilises

support for unemployed community members and those afflicted with illness and cannot pay for treatment. It

lists some of its achievements as follows:33

Finally, education is a prominent way to channel community welfare, and education lies at the intersection of

philanthropy, community self-representation, profit-making initiatives, and social welfare activities. For

example, trfmangalore, a Beary-run site of the ‘Talent Research Foundation’, promotes employment

opportunities, career counselling, scholarships and training. Websites often promote educational institutions

and request forms of support and donations. Among those portals targeting members of mainly the Navayath

Created Kshemanidi Fund for the welfare of needy members wherein provisions are made for

health grant for sick members and family support grant to the next of kin of the deceased

member Provided temporary amenities to the Indians who were stranded without job and two tuluvas

were provided back home ticket.

Two needy Indian housemaids who had taken shelter at Indian Embassy were given air tickets

to India.

The Bunt Community website has an interesting component called ‘Contributions’, with sections labelled as

‘Donations Required’ and ‘Monetary Donations’. The former section mobilises donations for a certain cause

to the site administrator, who will then make a formal notice of the request. To establish the authenticity of

the request they also demand necessary ‘supporting documents’. According to the site, some of the causes

which warrant donations include: ‘kids schooling expenses, sport sponsorship, old age funding, medical

expense, marriage support, funding to perform annual rituals for a particular deity, man power for certain

function’. The other section, ‘Monetary Donations’, provides a specific list of needs and community-led

projects for which donations are solicited; two of the donation options given are: ‘Donate $10 or Rs. 500 to

the cause’ and ‘Donate $50 or Rs. 2500 and become a member’. The ‘$’ and the ‘Rs.’ options shows that

contributors may be NRIs interested in funding causes specific to the community. The same website gives an

option to channel funds towards a deity or a religious cause. Within the Bunt community, funding requests

for religious events such as the Bhuta Kola also have a social aspect; associations and committees of influential

NRI individuals often mobilise funds during the ritual season.

32 See http://www.tulukootakuwait.org/Default.aspx?tabId=3&lid=25. 33 Ibid.

27

and Beary communities, the Karnataka Muslims displays education-related advertisements on its home page

(see Figure 8).

Figure 8: Advertisement taken from the Karnataka Muslims website – CIPET is the Central Institute

of Plastics Engineering and Technology34

This preliminary analysis of internet content revealed a number of emerging themes. First, the website

content points to a reproduction, and perhaps even a strengthening, of specific caste, religious, and linguistic

identities among diasporic groups from the Dakshina Kannada region. Of the total websites, Facebook pages,

blogs and online fora that we documented, those targeting specific caste, religious, linguistic groups of the

region significantly outnumber associations or activities with primarily place-based affiliations such as the

Dakshina Kannada region or a particular town. These affiliations seem to be strengthened through

Also, websites may include advertisements for educational institutions or provide informative articles on their

activities, most prominently of the popular Christian-run St. Agnes and St. Aloysius colleges, and

advertisements for Father Muller charitable institutions.

4. CONCLUSION

To conclude, online websites, news portals and social media act as virtual transnational publics connecting the

Gulf region and Dakshina Kannada. In particular, Gulf migrants represent their socio-cultural identities and

engage with local political and developmental issues in their hometowns in Mangalore and Dakshina

Kannada, while in India, family members of migrants, aspiring migrants, business people, and activists,

among others, interact with community members abroad. This survey of websites and other internet activity

demonstrates the significance of these exchanges: of the circulation ideas and new expertise, participation in

debates, new forms of development politics, investment and social change, and the highlighting of regional

issues and community-specific interests.

34 Karnataka Muslims. Accessed May 28, 2012. http://karnatakamuslims.com/portal/. The advertisements on this page keep changing.

28

associations formed by migrants, as indicated by the plethora of organisation-based websites and community-

specific engagement in social and cultural activities.

Secondly, reflecting on the participants of transnational online exchanges, the results of this research raises

questions about the strong role of NRIs in regional representation and social change. As Sassen writes,

‘Digital space, whether private or public, is partly embedded in actual societal structures and power dynamics:

its topography weaves in and out of non-electronic space’ (Sassen 1998: 553). From the list of websites and

their content examined in this report, it is very clear that specific religious and caste groups are more visible

than others, and that they engage in various kinds of activity including philanthropy, cultural endorsement,

and dissemination. These trends follow migration trends, as certain groups have a larger presence abroad due

to their particular migration histories, types of business and status maintained while abroad, and the

connections maintained in the Gulf. As news portals and websites gain a larger audience in both regions, data

from internet research can complement further studies on community influence in social issues and changes

in the Dakshina Kannada region.

Finally, development issues that are debated on internet fora reveal possibilities for further research on

various groups of NRIs with differing ideas and claims to homelands. Online content, especially news portals

and commentaries, reveals tensions between how and where to develop new infrastructure in the home

region, as well as gives voice to locals whose livelihoods may be affected by new flows of capital into the

region. Both of these topics will be further explored in subsequent research. Significantly, this research

complements current work on development and reverse flows. These portals, interactive fora and other

websites serve to link individuals with their homeland through their philanthropic initiatives, cultural, political

and business endeavours. The internet, therefore, has been an aid for community strengthening and exchange

between regions.

Overall, this report does not aim to answer larger theoretical questions about the role of virtual publics or

transnational politics; rather, we have provided an overview of the kinds of interactions online that link

Dakshina Kannada with the Gulf, given the paucity of studies on such patterns at the regional level in India.

This preliminary study highlights the prominence and reproduction of very specific social affiliations and

identities rooted in the home region among overseas groups. The notion of regional identity comes out

strongly within these transnational networks. While living abroad, migrants maintain an active citizenship of

the home region by reading and commenting on social issues in their hometowns by donating to various

causes and investing money in development projects. Online fora and portals also channel resources into the

region, which facilitate these activities and the strengthening or reconstitution of community identities. While

internet-based research has certain limitations – for example, we could not estimate the representativeness of

29

the sample, and the content of sites is in constant flux – we have nevertheless offered an overview of the key

characteristics of these virtual publics as well as the issues of importance to Dakshina Kannada migrants

living in the Gulf and to mobile people who inhabit this transnational space.

30

6. REFERENCES

Adams, Paul C., and Rina Ghose. 2003. India.com: the construction of a space between. Progress in Human

Geography 27, no. 44: 414 - 437.

Bose, Pablo Shiladitya. 2008. Home and away: Diasporas, developments and displacements in a globalising

world. Journal of Intercultural Studies 29, no. 1: 111 - 131.

Heerink, Maudi. 2012. Connecting India: Virtual and real linkages between the Telugu diaspora and

their home region in Andhra Pradesh. Provincial Globalisation Research Report No.1. Bangalore:

National Institute of Advanced Studies and Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research.

Hegde, Krishnananda. 2008. History of Bunts: Medieval Age to Modern Times. Mangalore: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.

Levitt, Peggy. 1998. Social remittances: Migration-driven, local-level forms of cultural diffusion. International Migration Review 32, no. 4: 926 - 48.

Mustafi, Sulagna. 2011. Transnationalism and Muslim identity in Dakshina Kannada, India. Unpublished

paper, Provincial Globalisation Programme. Bangalore: National Institute of Advanced Studies and

Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research.

Mustafi, Sulagna, personal communication, November 2012.

Ong, Aihwa. 2006. Neoliberalism as Exception: Mutations in Citizenship and Sovereignty. Durham: Duke University

Press.

Rashmi, M. 2012. Spatial Configuration of World Wide Web: A Semiotic and Web Sphere Analysis of

Kannada Websites. MPhil diss., Hyderabad: English and Foreign Languages University.

Rutten, Mario, and Sanderien Verstappen. 2012. Middling migration: Contradictory mobility experiences of

Indian youth in London. Provincial Globalisation Working Paper No. 5. Bangalore: National Institute of

Advanced Studies and Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research.

31

Sassen, Saskia. 1998. Globalization and its Discontents: Essays on the New Mobility of People and Money. New York:

New Press.

Sassen, Saskia. 1998. On the internet and sovereignty. Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies 5, no. 2: 545- 559.

Tsing, Anna. 2000. The global situation. Cultural Anthropology 15, no. 3: 327 - 360.

Upadhya, Carol, and Mario Rutten. 2012. Migration, transnational flows and development in India: A regional

perspective. Economic and Political Weekly 47, no. 19: 54 - 62.

Van Kampen, Wanda. 2012. Money to India: Transfer channels for remittances in the Guntur region, Andhra

Pradesh. Provincial Globalisation Research Report No. 2. Bangalore: National Institute of Advanced Studies

and Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research.

Vertovec, Steven. 2004. Migrant transnationalism and modes of transformation. International Migration Review

38, no. 3: 970 - 1001.

32

APPENDIX A: METHODOLOGY

Kalyanaraman conducted the internet-based research for this project from November 2011 to mid-December

2011. Therefore, we review the sites, Facebook communities, egroups and blogs per availability of data during

the specified period unless otherwise specified. Most of the illustrations and examples we used range from

December 2011 to May 2012.

The research process took the following trajectory:

• Compiling a list of the main social groups in the Mangalore region;

• Formulating the structure of the search keywords to ensure that a large surface area was covered and

maximum results were collected;

• Reviewing all the websites, blogs, Facebook communities and email groups within the scope defined for

the study and then deciding which ones to include in the survey based on relevance and activity;

• Mapping and categorising the data.

1. Keywords

Keywords are those words that users feed into search engines to access sites, social networking communities,

blogs that may be relevant to or yield information pertaining to the keyword in question. In short, they

describe the search. The search engine essentially provides relevant websites as results after rapidly sifting

through all the data available on the internet. These results usually give information about the keyword or

contain the keyword in the content of their pages.

To ensure that a substantial surface area was covered while searching for web pages, the search keywords

included an organised combination of language/ religious group/ name of region, with each Gulf country.

Collectives such as ‘Gulf’, ‘associations’, ‘Non-Resident Indians’ (NRIs) and ‘diaspora’/ ‘overseas’/ ‘abroad’

were also used. For example: Mogaveer+Kuwait+association/ Gulf+Mogaveer/ NRI+Mogaveer+Gulf.35

Search engines are those programmes that serve as an interface between the user and cyberspace. They

search, assimilate and provide results of websites, blogs, social networking fora and egroups relevant to the

information requested (as indicated by the keywords that are fed to the search engine). The internet-based

search for this project was conducted using two search engines: Google and Bing. Though Google was the

2. Search Engines

35 More in-depth information, such as location of domain Internet Protocol (IP) address, words used to access each site and user activity level, can be found using www.trafficestimate.com and/ or www.alexa.com.

33

preferred and main search engine used, when searches were conducted through Facebook, the results were

automatically yielded by Facebook’s preferred search engine, Bing.36

• Media portals play a significant role in encouraging interaction between specific target groups. Many

of them permit comments by readers to articles, provide chat rooms for registered members, and

offer other kinds of interactive platforms (for sharing short stories, articles, and so on), thereby

presenting an overlap with interactive sites and discussion fora that are meant for a similar exchange

of opinions and creativity.

3. Challenges in Data Organisation

While devising categories to segregate the data, one of the challenges Kalyanaraman met was in finding

categories that minimised overlaps and at the same time served as a pertinent and comprehensible way of

representing the data. Given below are descriptions of the kinds of overlaps that can be found in the data

recorded.

• Several of the listed Facebook pages or groups are affiliated to websites or blogs (e.g. Mangalorean.com,

Daijiworld.com), and many posts that they contain are usually ‘shared’ articles from the website itself.

Therefore, there is an overlap in content. Nevertheless, the Facebook page only contains a fraction

of the actual amount of the content present on the website. Usually an article or two from the main

website are selected and put on Facebook at frequent intervals.

Several media portals also target very specific communities – e.g. Konkani speakers, Muslims, Mangaloreans,

etc. – and members of those communities contribute a large amount of reader activity on these portals.

Therefore, a noticeable overlap exists in purpose with organisation-based websites that openly target only

specific communities. However, the approach of the two kinds of websites to targeting community-specific

audiences is very different.

36 Orkut is Google’s official social networking site but now there is also Google+. Facebook has a tie-up with search engine Bing, which is a Microsoft product. One of the possible drawbacks with Google as a search engine is that, upon entering the keywords, the search engine usually yields results that are most popular followed by the less popular ones (these search results run into several pages). This might have resulted in the possible omission of other more relevant but not very popular websites. These were among the limitations experienced while executing Internet-based research.

34

APPENDIX B: SOCIAL GROUPS MENTIONED IN THE REPORT

1. Language: Tulu and Kannada are widely spoken languages in the coastal region. The Konkani Catholics and the Goud Saraswath Brahmins mostly speak Konkani. The Navayath Muslims from Bhatkal speak a dialect of Konkani, and Beary Muslims speak Beary Bashe. The major groups (by language) in Mangalore are:

• Tuluva • Konkani • Kannadiga • Beary

2. Religious and caste groups: the three main religious groups in the region are Hindus, Muslims and Christians: • Main Hindu groups mentioned in the report:

i. Goud Saraswath Brahmins – a Konkani-speaking community who migrated from Goa to Dakshina Kannada in the late 1500s.

ii. Mogaveera – a Tulu-speaking fishing community found along the western coastal areas such as Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and even Kerala.

iii. Billawa – are a group whose members speak mainly Tulu in addition to Kannada and Malayalam. iv. Bunt – predominantly a landowning group among the Tulu-speaking communities and are

among the most socially influential groups in the region. The Bunts also have a fair number of members migrating to other parts of the world especially the Gulf countries.37

v. Devadiga – traditionally a Tulu-speaking community of temple musicians.

vi. Shivalli Brahmins – speak mainly Tulu (also Kannada). This community is also found in Udupi, Kasargod and Shimoga.

• Christian groups: i. Catholics – mainly the Konkani-speaking Catholics who are originally migrants from Goa to

Dakshina Kannada. Migration to the Gulf countries and other parts of the world is fairly common among this group as is indicated by their online presence.

ii. Protestants – consist mainly of Tulu and Kannada speakers. • Muslim groups:

i. Navayath – reside mainly in Bhatkal, which is about 150 km north of Mangalore. These Muslims speak a dialect of Konkani.

ii. Beary – these Muslims speak Beary Bashe a unique language specific to community members. They have strong transnational links with the Gulf countries due to migration.

3. The main vernacular and English terms used to reference the region or the geographic boundaries within

which Mangalore is located: • Mangalore/ Kudla (in Tulu)/ Kodiyal (Konkani)/ Mangalooru/ Mangaluru • South Canara/ Dakshina Kannada • Tulu Nadu

37 See Hegde (2008).

35

4. The six Arab states that constitute the ‘Gulf’ include: • Kuwait • Saudi Arabia • Oman • Qatar • United Arab Emirates (UAE) • Bahrain

36

APPENDIX C: TABLES

Table 1: Total Number of Websites by Category

Category Number of online networks 1. News media and information portals 39 2. Interactive fora 63 3. Organisation-based websites 25 TOTAL (minus 2 overlaps) 127 (– 2) = 125

37

Table 2: List of News Media and Information Portals

Website Name URL

1. The Dakshin Times http://www.dakshintimes.com/ 2. Mangalorean.com – Serving Mangaloreans

around the World http://mangalorean.com/

3. Gulf Kannadiga – A reflection of Karnataka in the Gulf

http://www.gulfkannadiga.com/

4. Indians in Kuwait http://indiansinkuwait.com/Default.aspx 5. Coastal Digest – A voice for all http://www.coastaldigest.com/

6. Canara World Foundation Inc. – Uniting Mangaloreans Worldwide

http://canaraworld.com/nsite/htdocs/

7. Sezari – Website for Konkani Speaking People Worldwide

http://www.sezari.com/

8. Bellevision http://www.bellevision.com/index.php?action=home

9. Daijiworld – A Portal Linking the West Coast of India and the World

http://www.daijiworld.com/home.asp

10. Kemmannu http://www.kemmannu.com/index.php?action=home

11. Konkani Friends http://konkanifriends.com/index.php

12. Mangalore Today – The only English monthly of Dakshin Kannada and Udupi

http://www.mangaloretoday.com/mt/index.php

13. Sahil Online http://www.sahilonline.org/ 14. Mangalore Headlines http://www.mangaloreheadlines.com/show-

contents.php?id=6446 15. Mangalore City http://www.mangalorecity.com/ 16. Mangalore Mithr http://mangaloremithr.com 17. Overseas Indian http://overseasindian.in/ 18. YaHind http://www.yahind.com/ 19. NRI Realty News http://www.nrirealtynews.com/ 20. Karnataka Muslims http://karnatakamuslims.com/en/ 21. Devadiga.com – Bringing community

members on one page http://www.devadiga.com/

22. Gulf NRIs http://www.gulfnris.com/ 23. NRI Forum Karnataka http://www.nriforumkarnataka.org/ 24. Bhatkallys.com http://www.bhatkallys.com/home.asp 25. Ferar Online http://www.feraronline.com/index.php?page=ho

me 26. Milagreans.com http://milagreans.com/AboutUS.aspx 27. iKonkani – A Complete Konkani Muslim

Community Portal http://www.ikokani.com/

28. Mangalore | Mangalooru http://mangalorecity.blogspot.com/2006_04_01_archive.html

29. Kinnigoli/ Konkani World http://portal.kinnigoli.com/

38

30. The Indian Diaspora http://www.indiandiaspora.nic.in/Inputsforwebsite.htm

31. Mangalore http://allaboutmangalore.com/FeedBack.aspx 32. Mangalore City http://www.mangalore.com/

http://www.mangalore.com/members/memberlist_a.html

33. Mangalooru.com http://www.mangalooru.com/ 34. Bunt Community http://worldofbunts.com/ 35. Shivalli Brahmins http://shivallibrahmins.com/ 36. World Tuluvas Network38 http://worldtuluvasnetwork.socialparody.com/m

ain

37. Towards All http://towardsall.com/index.php?option=com_c

ontent&view=frontpage&Itemid=1 38. Beary Muslim Village http://bearyvillage.com/index.php 39. Mrbankal (Youtube) http://www.youtube.com/user/mrbankal

38 Also appears in Table 4.

39

Table 3: List of Interactive Fora

FACEBOOK

Name URL

1. My Mangalore http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=56305152281&topic=9486#!/groups/my.mangalore/

2. Mangalore http://www.facebook.com/mangalore.city 3. Mangalorean.com – Serving

Mangaloreans around the world

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mangaloreancom/105701546200753?sk=wall

4. Mangalore Today – The only English monthly of Dakshin Kannada and Udupi

http://www.facebook.com/MangaloreToday.web

5. Festivals in Mangalore http://www.facebook.com/FestivalsInMangalore?sk=info 6. Proud to be a Mangalorean http://www.facebook.com/pages/Proud-to-be-a-

Mangalorean/155695121132480?sk=info 7. Mangalore (Kudla) http://www.facebook.com/groups/174279132645180/ 8. Mangalore http://www.facebook.com/groups/19798717096/ 9. Mangalore http://www.facebook.com/Mangalore.kudla?sk=info 10. Anglo-Indians, Goans and

Mangaloreans in the UAE http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=208673669924

11. Mangalorean Catholics http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=147347518619588&v=wall

12. Mangalore Konkani Catholics

http://www.facebook.com/groups/207672569274824/

13. Konkani Catholics http://www.facebook.com/groups/44837676461/ 14. Vishwa Konkani Kendra http://www.facebook.com/worldkonkani?sk=info 15. Saudi Konkan Youngsters

(SKY) http://www.facebook.com/pages/Saudi-Konkan-Youngsters-SKY-Dammam/272251302799720?sk=info

16. Konkani Amchi Food http://www.facebook.com/groups/182144290454/ 17. Konkani Dictionary Project http://www.facebook.com/savemylanguage 18. Sezari – Website for

Konkani Speaking People Worldwide

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sezari/278037608878482?sk=info

19. Chaptekar Saraswath Brahman Samaj

http://www.facebook.com/people/Chaptekar-Saraswath-Brahman-Samaj/100002467639240?sk=wall

20. Devadiga United http://www.facebook.com/DevadigaUnited?sk=info 21. Devadiga.com – Bringing

community members on one page

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Devadigacom/105392932908162?sk=info

22. World Tuluvas Network http://www.facebook.com/World.Tuluvas.Network.WTN?sk=info

23. Mogaveeras http://www.facebook.com/mvmandali?sk=info 24. Mogaveera Club http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mogaveera-

CLUB/154771097873836?sk=info 25. Royal Bunts http://www.facebook.com/royalbunts 26. Bunts Well-Wishers Kuwait http://www.facebook.com/pages/BWWK-Bunts-Well-Wishers-

Kuwait/286297978058701

40

27. Bunts Oman http://www.facebook.com/groups/195043022600/ 28. Bunts Bahrain http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bunts-

Bahrain/105559803029?sk=wall 29. World of Bunts http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_1745957659056

82&ap=1 30. Qatar Bunts Association http://www.facebook.com/groups/Qatar.shetty/ 31. Bunts World http://www.facebook.com/pages/buntsworld/306234717656?sk

=wall 32. Qatar Bunts http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=359367600218&v=wa

ll 33. Billawa http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=142468482445350&v

=wall 34. Indians in Kuwait http://www.facebook.com/IndiansinKuwait?sk=wall 35. Gulf Kannadiga - A

reflection of Karnataka in the Gulf

http://www.facebook.com/gkannadiga

36. Milagres Gulf Association, Dubai

http://www.facebook.com/groups/milagreans

37. Dakshin Times http://www.facebook.com/The.Dakshin.Times?sk=wall 38. Coastal Digest – A voice for

all http://www.facebook.com/CoastalDigest

39. Daijiworld – A Portal Linking the West Coast of India and the World

http://www.facebook.com/daijiworldnews

40. Sahil Online http://www.facebook.com/pages/SahilOnline/207639729060?ref=sahilonline.org

41. YaHind http://www.facebook.com/yahindcom 42. Hidayah Foundation http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hidaya-Foundation-

Mangalore/422225814510943 43. Beary, Nakk-Nikk http://www.facebook.com/#!/nakknikk BLOGS AND E-GROUPS/ DISCUSSION FORA

44. The World of GSB Konkani http://gsbkonkani.blogspot.com/ Blog 45. Festivals in Mangalore www.festivalsinmangalore.blogspot.in Blog 46. NRI Divorce http://www.nridivorce.com/ Forum/ E-group 47. NRI Speaks http://nrispeaks.wordpress.com/about/ Blog 48. Mangalore-Gulf related Blog

series39http://www.blogger.com/profile/08243995634899423938

Blogs

49. Skyscraper City http://www.skyscrapercity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=3122

Forum

50. Goanet http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org

E-group

51. Mangalorean Catholics http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MangaloreanCatholics/

E-group

52. Save My Language http://www.savemylanguage.org/ Forum 53. Konkani Catholics http://www.konkanicatholics.com/ Egroup+Blog 54. World Tuluvas Network http://worldtuluvasnetwork.socialparody.c

om/main Forum

39 Also appears in Table 4.

41

55. Bunts World http://www.buntsworld.com/index.php Forum 56. Canara Waves http://www.canarawaves.com/about_us.p

hp Forum

57. Royal Bunts http://royalbunts.blogspot.com/ Forum 58. Riyadh Bunts – A Tulu

Speaking Community in Riyadh

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/riyadhbunts/#ans

Egroup

59. Tulunadu http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TULUNADU/#ans

Egroup

MATRIMONIAL SITES 60. Bunt’s Matrimonials http://madimechavadi.com/ 61. Konkani Matrimony http://konkanimatrimony.com/ 62. Goud Saraswath Brahmin

Matrimonial http://www.gsbmatri.com/

63. Goa Matrimonials http://www.goamatrimonials.com/

42

Table 4: List of Organisation-based Websites Website Name URL 1. Konkani Language and Cultural

Foundation http://www.vishwakonkani.org/

2. Mangalore Konkans

http://mangalorekonkans.blogspot.com/

3. Gulf Karnataka Forum (Website) http://www.gulfkarnatakaforum.com/index.asp 4. Mangalore Cultural Association, Qatar http://www.mcaqatar.org/mcaqatar/index.html 5. Karnataka Sangha Dubai http://www.karnatakasanghadubai.com/index.htm 6. Abu Dhabi Karnataka Sangha http://ellakavi.wordpress.com/category/kannada-

kootas-sanghas-gulf/abu-dhabi-karnataka-sangha/ 7. Mangalore Cricket Club http://www.mccqatar.com/AboutUs.asp 8. Tulu Koota Kuwait http://www.tulukootakuwait.org/Default.aspx?tab

Id=1 9. Kuwait Canara Welfare Association http://kcwa1.com/index.htm 10. Kuwait Kannada Koota http://www.kuwaitkannadakoota.org/ 11. Milagreans Gulf Association, Dubai http://milagreans.com/AboutUS.aspx 12. Moodabidri Varado Catholic Association http://www.mvcaglobal.com/aboutus.asp 13. Karnataka Sangha http://www.karnatakasanghaqatar.com/about_us.

html 14. Kannada Sangha http://www.kannadasangha.com.bh/ 15. Muslim Welfare Association Udupi http://mwaudupi.org/aboutus.html 16. Dakshin Karnataka Sunni Centre http://dksconline.com/ 17. Mogaveers UAE http://www.mogaveers.com/index.htm 18. Billawa Badiga Dubai http://www.billawabalagadubai.com/portal1/inde

x.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=150&Itemid=29

19. UAE Bunts http://www.uaebunts.com/ub/index.php 20. Buntara Sangha Kuwait http://www.kuwaitbunts.org/ 21. Buntara Yane Nadavara Mathr Sangha http://www.buntsmathrsangha.net/federation-of-

bunts-association.html 22. Jamiyyatul Falah http://jamiyyatulfalah.org/index.php 23. Hidayah Foundation http://www.hidayahfoundation.org/hfportal/ 24. Karnataka Beary Sahithya Academy http://www.karnatakabearysahithyaacademy.org/h

ome.html 25. Talent Research Foundation http://www.trfmangalore.org/about_trf.php

ABOUT THE PROVINCIAL GLOBALISATIONPROGRAMME

The Provincial Globalisation research programme (‘ProGlo’) explores transnationalconnections between Overseas Indians and their home regions, especially the effects of‘reverse flows’ of resources, including remittances, philanthropy, investments, andknowledge.

The programme consists of five independent but interlinked research projects (threePhD and two postdoctoral) located in three states of India – Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,and Gujarat. The research documents a broad range of resource transfers by migrants,including economic resources (such as household remittances, investments in land),social remittances (including flows of ideas, support for NGOs), and cultural flows(such as religious donations), and their influence at the regional level.

The PhD projects are intensive studies of three selected regions – Anand District inGujarat, Guntur District in Andhra Pradesh, and Dakshina Kannada District in Karnataka– focusing on the effects of resource transfers by migrants in the key provincial townsand their rural hinterlands. The two post-doctoral projects provide macro- and meso-level mappings of transnational linkages and flows at the regional, state, and nationallevels. By tracing these transnational networks and the modalities and destinations ofresource transfers comparatively across three regions, the research programme providesinsights into the economic, social, political, and cultural consequences of OverseasIndians’ engagements with India.

‘ProGlo’ is a five-year collaborative research programme of the Amsterdam Institute for SocialScience Research (AISSR), University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and the National

Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bangalore, India, funded by the WOTRO Science forGlobal Development programme of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO),

the Netherlands, initiated in 2010.

www.provglo.org

Programme directors:

Prof. Mario Rutten (AISSR)Prof. Carol Upadhya (NIAS)