Sanyog Srivastava - JP/ Wahyoe Boediwardhana

Sanyog Srivastava, a 49-year-old Indian citizen who currently resides in the city of Surabaya, East Java, is confident enough to guarantee that almost all Indians living in Indonesia would echo his sentiments about the country.

Indonesians are very courteous toward foreigners, demonstrated by smiling faces, high sense of solidarity, easy willingness to help other people and the attitude of respecting others coming from different cultural backgrounds, according to S. Srivastava.

“I feel like living in my own home country. This is funny because when I first came here 19 years ago, I didn’t even have any idea where a country called Indonesia was located. Back then, I only knew about Bali,” S. Srivastava told The Jakarta Post recently in an interview in his workplace in Surabaya.

Similar views on Indonesian people and culture are also shared by Ashish Kumar Srivastava, a citizen hailing from the Kanpur city, Uttar Pradesh province in the northern part of India, who has been living in Surabaya for the last 12 years.

“I really like Surabaya. I have visited 18 countries across the world so far, and this is my favorite city. The residents are very friendly and are eager to lend their hands to help others,” A.K. Srivastava said.

The Indian, who came to Indonesia in 2004, now works as the engineering manager of PT Jindal Stainless Indonesia. His second daughter was born in the city.

According to S. Srivastava, a native resident of the Bhopal city in the Madhya Pradesh province of India, there are around 100 family heads or around 300 Indians currently living in Surabaya, most of whom still retain their Indian citizenship. They are affiliated with the India Association of Surabaya.

Aside from working as textile and sports equipment traders, the majority of Indians who live in Surabaya also work in the mining, metal industry as well as finance sectors.

Once in every two or three months, the Indian residents conduct regular gatherings in previously arranged venues, be they local hotels, clubhouses or Indian restaurants scattered around the city.

Indians living in Surabaya pose for a photograph.(JP/ Wahyoe Boediwardhana)

Their favorite culinary hotspots include the Sitara India cuisine in Jl. Hayam Wuruk street, the Golden Saffron restaurant in the Bukit Darmo Boulevard area. The Sitara restaurant is often cited as the center of information regarding the activities of the India community in Surabaya.

“When Indians arrive in Surabaya for the first time, they will immediately look for Indian restaurants where they can eat. The restaurants become the spots where the Indians could connect with their fellows who have stayed there longer,” S. Srivastava said.

S. Srivastava cited the absence of reliable documents on which they can trace the period when their ancestors from India came to Surabaya for the first time. He, however, was very sure that the Indians came to Indonesia for the first time in the 19th century, with the arrival of their first settlers in Medan, North Sumatra.

“The Indians came to Indonesia mainly to become traders, particularly to trade textiles, machines, clothes, metals to sports equipment,” he said.

The man, who currently serves as the president of the India Association Surabaya from 2008 to 2016, estimated that there currently are two to three generations of Indians in Surabaya who had settled there since they first set foot in the city. “Most of them have become Indonesian citizens,” he noted.

Those who have become Indonesian citizens have their own associations and keep communication lines open among one another through mailing lists as well as WhatsApp messenger chat groups. “So far, however, they do not have their own media outlets, like magazines or bulletins, yet,” he pointed out.

“When we are about to celebrate big religious holidays like deepavali or holi, we will gather in a large space. There are only about 100 of us, so we also take other people along to celebrate with us,” said S. Srivastava, who currently works as engineering expert in PT Gunawan Dianjaya Steel Tbk.

Meanwhile, both men find no difficulties in accessing formal education for their children in Indonesia. A.K. Srivastava and his wife have chosen to send their children to the India Interaction School in Surabaya, while S. Srivastava chose to send his children to the city’s public schools.

“My children are even more fluent in speaking Javanese than myself, because every day they interacted with native Indonesian students from their generation [when they were still in school]. Now they have gone to Indian universities, going to engineering and medical schools,” S. Srivastava said.

Both S. Srivastava and A.K. Srivasta are of the view that Indians who live in Surabaya assimilate easily to Indonesian culture thanks to similarities shared by both cultures, particularly in terms of religious affiliation. The Indian Muslims, for instance, partake in observing Ramadhan as well as celebrating Idul Fitri by visiting one another’s house to ask for forgiveness.

“Similar to India, where 150 million of them subscribe to Islam,” S. Srivastava said.

Through the cultural mission regularly organized by the Indian Embassy to Jakarta, members of the India Association of Surabaya can take an active part in building mutual understanding between the community and Indonesians.

Indian cultural ambassadors who come to Indonesia are sure to traverse big cities like Jakarta, Medan in North Sumatra, Bandung in West Java as well as Surabaya. In order to make the events successful, the association is assisted by the city’s tourism and cultural agency.

“We are helped by [Surabaya Mayor] Tri Rismaharini in order to book venues to stage Indian cultural performances, be they films or dances,” A.K. Srivastava said.

Indian culture is introduced to Surabaya residents through food festivals, where Indians from the country’s northern, central and southern areas gather and introduce the art of their original foods to visitors. In return, they also encourage Surabaya residents to introduce their signature local foods.

The socio-cultural interaction between Indians and Indonesians is so smooth that the former often bring their family members along to come and visit Indonesia.

“My family members asked me not to come home to India yet, since I already feel comfortable to work and live here. My big family is very happy with Surabaya and its residents,” A.K. Srivastava said.

S. Srivastava and his wife, meanwhile, have yet to decide whether they will spend their old days in Indonesia or India.

“I would like to spend my old days near my children, so I’ll leave it up to them to decide,” he said.