Out of all the groups in India, why is it that its mostly Punjabis who emigrate?

[Admiral Yi]

Canada I can definitely see.  Can't walk a block in Canada without bumping into a Singh.

[grumbler]

Patel reflects a caste as well.  It means something like landowner.  I think it's related to the English name "Payne",  Most south Asian immigrants come from the higher castes.

I don't think it is a 'Varna' type situation though. That is what we normally think of 'Caste'.

That sounds like a 'Jati' which is more like a class system as I understand.

But I always found it very confusing. Probably because it is very confusing

Think of Jatis as occupations, within the caste system.  Subcastes, in other words.  Varnas are the traditional four castes, while jatis number in the thousands.  We speaks of castes, but Hindus (and many non Hindus) speak mostly of jatis.    The offense on the football team is a caste, and each position group is a jati.

[Valmy]

Speaking of India and football you can always remember the rhyme: 'Bobby Singh won all three rings' if anybody ever asks you who the only player in professional football history was to win the championship in three different leagues (in his case the NFL, CFL, and XFL).

[Fate]

I feel like Gujarati last names are way more common (Patel, Shah, Desai, Amin, etc). But similar story to the Punjabis... definitely over represented relative to their population back in India (4%). Gujarat is one of the most economically prosperous parts of India. I guess they have their shit together when it comes to visa applications.

[Ed Anger]

Who are the indian shit heads who run the smelly convenience stores, sketchy gas stations and nasty motels?

Love the Indian doctors though. When I can understand them. Seem to like getting into urology.

[Admiral Yi]

I have an Indian doc.  Name is Sarin.  But he's 2nd gen.

[HVC]

I had an Indian doc. His name was Israel and he was Christian. Dude was all over the place.

[Admiral Yi]

I had an Indian doc. His name was Israel and he was Christian. Dude was all over the place.

Lacks focus.

[Valmy]

My roommate in College was Indian. His last name was Thomas and his family had been Christians for centuries. And he was second generation and had a thick west Texas accent. So boy was I surprised when we first met in person and he was an Indian guy.

[Eddie Teach]

I don't currently know any Indians, aside from Gupta and Garbon.

[Capetan Mihali]

deep state

Ugh.

[dps]

So I started looking it up.  In most countries, Sikhs / Punjabis (as I understand it all Sikhs speak Punjabi, but not all Punjabi-speakers are Sikhs) Punjabi-speakers form the majority of South Asians in Canada, as well as in the UK and US. 

Where did you find that information?  Because I tried to look it up, but I couldn't find anything that clearly breaks down the linguistic/regional origin of Indian-Americans.

[garbon]

So I started looking it up.  In most countries, Sikhs / Punjabis (as I understand it all Sikhs speak Punjabi, but not all Punjabi-speakers are Sikhs) Punjabi-speakers form the majority of South Asians in Canada, as well as in the UK and US. 

Where did you find that information?  Because I tried to look it up, but I couldn't find anything that clearly breaks down the linguistic/regional origin of Indian-Americans.

Only main thing I found was mentions that Indian immigrants in US primarily come from Punjab or Gujarat.

[Valmy]

I hear that the Bangladeshi population is growing rapidly as well. Seems weird that their Indian Bengali neighbors might not be.

I am skeptical it is really that regional. I suspect most parts of India are well represented in the US.

[Josquius]

Pretty fertile rural place, albeit with major urban centres and not too far from Delhi so they're not entirely bumpkins?
The Punjabis in the British army leading the way?

I have heard that back in the 50s when bulk labour was being recruited for the British factories that muslims and sikhs were very well looked upon as there was some racist belief about their religion making them better and more subservient workers than the hindus.