As I read ‘The Hunchback of Notre-Dame’ I come to pity the lives of the gypsies in the 15th Century Paris. The entire premise, part fiction and part non-fiction goes on to narrate the metamorphosis of expression from rock to paper and at the same time ‘the gypsies’, who though discarded and unwanted in the social existence, were universally present across Europe and were significant enough to influence Victor Hugo to publish the book first in 1837.

What drags my attention even more is the research done on the roots of the gypsies. Major research claims the roots as the Northern India. My cousin who researches on these gypsies (I met her first around 8 yrs back) had a kick every time she discovered new connections with India. They have influenced the societies more subtly than any other oppressed class, while the genteel class was being defined in Europe. Like the unwanted ruffians and ragamuffin might be ignored while driving on a street in India but they certainly do shape our thoughts and take the blame for pulling the progress of the city down. Why else would the Government want to drive them out of the town in hoards during the Common Wealth Games 2010? We don’t have them…Not us? Is it?

The European countries are still grappling with their presence. While they were blamed for stealing babies and eating human flesh in the 15th Century, they take other blames now, for instance defacing the face of a town, making it shabby.

Here is a clipping from the European Channels to the French President Sarkozy’s inclination to deporting the Romas from France. The unwanted people.

The gypsies have been mutilated, exterminated in hoards to sweep out pestilence. Even Hitler acknowledged their roots as Aryans and still turned them to Ghetto to maintain the purity of blood. The Nazis were left free to perform any kind of brutal experiments on this class. Here is a chart from the work done by Ian Hancock in ‘History of Holocaust: Handbook and Dictionary’ published in 1994. The chart numbers Romani population before and after the II World War.

While the gypsies still don’t have a home, we are producing more of them in India. Research claims their roots from Jats, Punjabis and the other North Indian aborigines, however the tale would have evolved if all flourished across the world. While they are still a concern in Europe as a Minority that has no takers and even after centuries there are reasons amidst the ruling populace to treat a section as unwanted and for various reasons they have failed to blend with the country. Their culture, language and lifestyle sets them apart and makes them noticeable enough for a political agenda and at the same time a footnote that they are aborigines who migrated from India in the 11th Century.

While I turn the pages in Indian undocumented history and that Kolkata came from Kalikata that was a land of thugs and cheats and people who sacrificed humans. Travelers were prone to abduction and being laid to rest at Goddess Kali’s feet by aborigines who established their own culture. If you recall the movie ‘Alexander’ the Indians and the force of ‘Porus’ were shown as people wild enough to stand out distinctly from the advances in the ‘Genteel’ civilization of Europe. And perhaps the depiction is right. India was advanced, but only in pockets…Delhi, Cholas, Maurya, the major towns in cities that would be a percentage of the population in the subcontinent. While the entire country would have been green from the Satellite, the entire country would also have had brutal practices that would have left St. Joan winking. Brutal by today’s standards, but perfect then, we indeed have come a long way. The Western world has pulled us up we have equally helped ourselves. The Bengali populace acted sycophant to Brits could have been the first step. We certainly never stood a chance in revolting. Preserving our culture to the very end and that too the ancient one, is impossible, we shall be too demonic. We can’t make progress without joining hands and accepting our fallacies. The Global Citizen tends towards that appearance which makes it difficult to distinguish one from another. But should we follow a rigid stance, we have the Romanis to exemplify. Being a Minority would be more of a challenge, though for various reasons one might not have a choice. What could be the reasons for the Romanis to stand apart even after ten centuries?