Migration: Relocation, Journey of the Self, Shifting Identities

Nothing and nowhere women found it easy after changing, redefining and adding an identity. The departure from the origin has been a journey of the self, elucidates Dr. Deepanita. An exclusive for Different Truths.

Women and migration have a deep relationship. Women are relocating in different phases of their lives to new places, since inception.

The institution of marriage is the catalyst. Historically and culturally, women are a part of this trend! They are the individuals who have successfully shown paths of relocation and shifting.

Therefore, the concept of resettlement for women is not new. A woman is ready and approachable for marriage when she reaches a specific age. Groom girls and customise their minds to accept this lifestyle.

But we define her existence and belonging over the years? What about the environment and systems of living in which she grows up? All is left behind to accept the new.

Changing Identities

As they say, nothing is permanent, women and their identities keep changing with time. The motto of life is thus shifting, changing, adjusting, accepting and moving on. This is believed to be natural and obvious when it comes to women. They inevitably embrace this fact. To them, adjustment is constant and continuous.

It is interesting to find children, especially girls, adjusting to facts more easily than adults. A girl child often notices her mother regulating and following a system of life and manufacturing ideals.  These ideals become the way of their life. The life that seems to be different from the one she has grown up with.

In daily conversation and struggles, the woman in the family often complains about this shift. This displaced self is hence witnessed by the children in their tender age. We flag off the meaning of migration for women from there.

No one has taken migration so hopefully and positively as women have received and proved. They became the strongest entity to deal with migration. Cases differ. Lives are different. Women from diverse strata of society experience this fundamental change with vigor and grace.

All Women Relocate

A bride may shift from one village to another. A financially independent woman may find love and migrate to a foreign land. Conventional ordinary women from a small city may shift to a metropolitan environment. So, relocating to a new place has been there from the beginning. And it applies to all women equally with all moral conditions.

Still, surprisingly we consider women as emotionally weak. Well, nothing justifies this fact. No matter in which location a woman shifts, she manages to establish a home away from home. Learning to like and learning to love the people is again a part of this process. Accepting a different woman as the mother and another gentleman as a father is very much an integral part of this resettlement.

This training is not restricted to emotional aspects. Practically a woman speaks, follows, and executes all the migration rules with utmost devotion and care. People may change, moods and lifestyles may change. But the role of a perfect bride never changes.

Women’s Migration Experiences

We redefine the concept of home and family probably through women and their migration experiences. Some have found the strength to face terrible situations. While a few succumb to difficult environments. The stories are different but the longing and the sense of belonging nowhere, are sometimes common.

Nothing and nowhere women found it easy after changing, redefining and adding an identity. The departure from the origin has been a journey of the self.  Hence the journey of a girl child begins by witnessing their mothers and grandmothers. They see how the changes take place. They listen and feel how their mothers relocated. Passing from one generation to another, the flights of migration become relatable.

Travellers to Unknown Land

Often a child is found to be more sensitive to the duties and images the women in the family portray. The responsibility is, therefore, shifted to the new individuals. They are going to be the next travellers to an unknown land.

The daughters-in-law and the mothers-in-law sail in the same boat. Only their journey differs with time, periods, occasions, and places.

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