Have you heard of the Roma?
I first heard of gypsies from Tintin comics, where they appear in a few panels of one comic called “The Castafiore Emerald” which shows one view of gypsy lives and their music; this was when I was in India. When I came to Czech Republic, I saw a few people who looked like Indians, and I was really surprised. It was only later I got to know that they were not Indians, but “gypsies” and I was very excited to know that I found some real gypsies!
The next question that came to my mind was how come their looks and skin tone resembles ours?
Some people say gypsies are a group of nomads from northern parts of India and reached Europe at the end of their nomadic travels. These nomads are found in most parts of Europe because they kept on migrating until they reached Central Europe. In the process of migrating to new places, their culture has mixed with the native cultures of nearly all the regions that they passed through, while still retaining their own. This is very obvious in their food and music. Influences can be seen of Persian, Ottoman, Slavic cultures.
Some other sources[Wikipedia] say they are member of a wandering race (by themselves called Romany or Roma), of Hindu origin, which first appeared in England about the beginning of the 16th century and was then believed to have come from Egypt. The word gypsy derives from the word for Egyptian in Latin, the same as the Spanish Gitano or the French Gitan. It emerged in Europe, in the 15th century, after their migration into the land of the Romani people (today part of Romania). They were given this name by the local people either because they spread in Europe from an area named Little Egypt, in the Southern Balkans or because they fitted the European image of dark-skinned Egyptians. Several spellings appear in text during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries: Egipcian, Egypcian, 'gipcian, 'gypcian. The current image of the gypsy or Roma people has evolved from these beginnings and includes other stereotypes like nomadism, exoticism, etc.
Roma are famous for their music. Their dance is also famous, because it is colorful and their music with haunting tunes. I also heard Flamenco is a form of Roma dance (maybe Spanish Roma). When I went to Slovakia, I met an old couple who told me that some people from the Indian army who had come to Slovakia for training were able to understand what Roma people spoke, so the languages of north-west India (maybe Punjabi) and Roma are still related.
The next question that came to my mind was how come their looks and skin tone resembles ours?
Some people say gypsies are a group of nomads from northern parts of India and reached Europe at the end of their nomadic travels. These nomads are found in most parts of Europe because they kept on migrating until they reached Central Europe. In the process of migrating to new places, their culture has mixed with the native cultures of nearly all the regions that they passed through, while still retaining their own. This is very obvious in their food and music. Influences can be seen of Persian, Ottoman, Slavic cultures.
Some other sources[Wikipedia] say they are member of a wandering race (by themselves called Romany or Roma), of Hindu origin, which first appeared in England about the beginning of the 16th century and was then believed to have come from Egypt. The word gypsy derives from the word for Egyptian in Latin, the same as the Spanish Gitano or the French Gitan. It emerged in Europe, in the 15th century, after their migration into the land of the Romani people (today part of Romania). They were given this name by the local people either because they spread in Europe from an area named Little Egypt, in the Southern Balkans or because they fitted the European image of dark-skinned Egyptians. Several spellings appear in text during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries: Egipcian, Egypcian, 'gipcian, 'gypcian. The current image of the gypsy or Roma people has evolved from these beginnings and includes other stereotypes like nomadism, exoticism, etc.
The term "gypsy", because of its historic association is now seen as offensive. Therefore the term "Roma" is preferred.
When I pass through certain areas in Brno, I sometimes feel that I might be mistaken for one of the Roma because I am dark skinned myself. Brno is the second largest city in Czech Republic, and although the situation has improved over the recent past, the city is not as familiar with foreigners (especially South Asians), when compared to Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. However, when they see me reading an English book, they are sure to realize that I am not. Given the prevalent discrimination in the schooling system, it is very rare that anyone from the Roma community knows English. Having said that, the good thing about the majority community here is that if you are educated, no matter who you are and from where you are, they give you respect.
Roma are famous for their music. Their dance is also famous, because it is colorful and their music with haunting tunes. I also heard Flamenco is a form of Roma dance (maybe Spanish Roma). When I went to Slovakia, I met an old couple who told me that some people from the Indian army who had come to Slovakia for training were able to understand what Roma people spoke, so the languages of north-west India (maybe Punjabi) and Roma are still related.
Some say during communist rule, the Roma as a whole were mistreated. For example, during communist time, Roma children were not admitted into normal schools, but they were sent to mentally retarded schools. Much of today’s discriminative attitudes of the white population stems from the fact that most Roma are thought of as living on state benefits. They are seen as misusing the generous state benefit system without proportionately contributing to it.
It is a habit of Roma people that they speak rather loudly when compared to Europeans. Be it in the tram, roads, and shops. But I do not want to generalize as I have also seen Roma, who maintain “manners” in public and get along well with locals. I have myself encountered such Roma here who behave oddly in public just to irritate, especially old people who still believe in the Communist mindset. Roma’s behavior might have become worse also due to neo-Nazis which comes back to racism. I have seen in news channels that there have been clashes between neo-Nazis and Roma people.
As a whole I feel the behavior of the Roma, their uncaring attitude is mostly a combination of their own shortcomings as well as the attitudes of the majority. On the one hand, while they are getting help from government (in the form of free primary and secondary education), the Roma do not send their children to schools. At least, they do not make an effort to see that their children go to school and stay there. They misbehave in front of their children, they allow their children to smoke which I have seen myself. Again this is not the case with all Roma, but I am speaking about most of them. They need to see that at least some of the improvement of their lot needs to come from their side.
On the other hand there are institutionalized racist attitudes. Most of the administration reacts towards the Roma through the lens of the worst stereotypes. The most extreme form of course, comes through as neo-Nazism.
Quite a lot of money has been pledged both by the local as well as the EU administrations towards improving the lot of the Roma. There are NGO people who work with Roma to improve the way of their lives. I have even met a retired man here who works with Roma. Much of this support of course, is not used efficiently. Mostly due to mismanagement, but also due to a lack of awareness among the Roma.
However, if I speak about Roma who have gained good position in the society, I can give several examples like newsreaders, reporters and musicians. There is a music band here called Gypsy.cz which is famous not only in Czech Republic, but also in the neighboring European countries. I hope I will see more such examples coming through in the near future....
Cheers..
It is a habit of Roma people that they speak rather loudly when compared to Europeans. Be it in the tram, roads, and shops. But I do not want to generalize as I have also seen Roma, who maintain “manners” in public and get along well with locals. I have myself encountered such Roma here who behave oddly in public just to irritate, especially old people who still believe in the Communist mindset. Roma’s behavior might have become worse also due to neo-Nazis which comes back to racism. I have seen in news channels that there have been clashes between neo-Nazis and Roma people.
As a whole I feel the behavior of the Roma, their uncaring attitude is mostly a combination of their own shortcomings as well as the attitudes of the majority. On the one hand, while they are getting help from government (in the form of free primary and secondary education), the Roma do not send their children to schools. At least, they do not make an effort to see that their children go to school and stay there. They misbehave in front of their children, they allow their children to smoke which I have seen myself. Again this is not the case with all Roma, but I am speaking about most of them. They need to see that at least some of the improvement of their lot needs to come from their side.
On the other hand there are institutionalized racist attitudes. Most of the administration reacts towards the Roma through the lens of the worst stereotypes. The most extreme form of course, comes through as neo-Nazism.
Quite a lot of money has been pledged both by the local as well as the EU administrations towards improving the lot of the Roma. There are NGO people who work with Roma to improve the way of their lives. I have even met a retired man here who works with Roma. Much of this support of course, is not used efficiently. Mostly due to mismanagement, but also due to a lack of awareness among the Roma.
However, if I speak about Roma who have gained good position in the society, I can give several examples like newsreaders, reporters and musicians. There is a music band here called Gypsy.cz which is famous not only in Czech Republic, but also in the neighboring European countries. I hope I will see more such examples coming through in the near future....
Cheers..
Bhavana
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