The Gujaratis—A Portrait of a Community

‘The Gujaratis—A Portrait of a Community’, Salil Tripathi’s most recent book, aims to draw attention to the uncommon traits of Gujaratis that the outside world is ignorant of. Gujaratis are renowned for their abilities to organise, manage, and oversee intricate projects. He creates a captivating portrayal of the community he was born into and is glad to be a part of through extensive research, distinctive knowledge, and a lifetime of observation. With a keen eye and a sense of humour, Tripathi analyses the Gujarati community’s strengths, shortcomings, and quirks both in India and abroad.

The Gujaratis Salil Tripathi

Gujarati exists as a language. It is neither a diet nor a religion, and it surely is not a caste. It’s also not a nationality. Hindus, Muslims, Parsis, Jains, Christians, Jews, and others all speak Gujarati. The word Gujarati comes from Gujaratta, which is the territory governed or guarded by the Gurjar people, who are from the Gurjar nation of Gurjar-rashtra. Gurjars live in the northern plains of India, which stretch from the Narmada Valley in the centre to the Himalaya and Punjab in the north.

Interestingly, pictures of Gujarati men appear on Indian and Pakistani currency notes, with Hindu Bania Mohandas Gandhi on one side and Khoja Muslim Mohammed Ali Jinnah on the other. Paradoxically, even as communalism has spread throughout Gujarat, they take pride in the fact that Pakistan’s founder was a Gujarati. Conflicting thoughts coexist naturally in their minds. Many of them claim to despise Pakistan, and Jinnah’s Gujarati root is a source of pride. Mohandas Gandhi is as much of a Gujarati as Mohammed Ali Jinnah, even though Gandhi specifically reprimanded Jinnah for his poor mastery of Gujarati.

In the fifteenth century, Narsinh Mehta resided in Junagadh. Narsinh referred to Dalits as “Harijans” (children of God), a term Gandhi would use centuries later. The word ‘Harijan’ is deeply patronising to Dalits. However, Narsinh Mehta’s decision was groundbreaking; Gujaratis have always referred to Dalits with even more derogatory and offensive language.

Tripathi writes, “There is a Gujarati saying, ‘baar gaame boli badlay,’ or ‘the language changes at the twelfth village.’ Someone speaking in Kachchhi (a language perhaps closer to Sindhi than it is to Gujarati to untrained ears), would not be understood easily by people in other parts of Gujarat. There are variations in pronunciation too: Kathiawadis turn ‘ch’ into ‘h’, so ‘chalo (come or let us go)’ becomes ‘haalo’, and some words end with different suffixes, ending with -anu instead of -ayu, as in dekhanu, and not dekhayu, for something that is seen. Other words too change— ame avya, or how Gujaratis say ‘we come home’, beomes ‘ame aiva’, and ‘e gayo hato (he had gone)’ becomes ‘i gyoto’.”

Gujarati thought was greatly influenced by Bengal, even though they did not completely accept it. Reformist Gujaratis believed in congregational assemblies, while the Brahmo Samaj in Bengal shifted towards personal monotheistic worship. The Renaissance man Rabindranath’s brother, Satyendranath Tagore, was a Brahmo who spoke at the more orthodox and ritualistic Prarthana Samaj while serving as an assistant judge in Ahmedabad. Gujarati translations of Bengali poetry were underway.

Debendranath Tagore, a philosopher, also travelled to Ahmedabad. His children included Satyendranath and Rabindranath, who visited too.

Gujarat was a natural junction, positioned at the intersection of the spice and silk routes, which was vital to the success of Gujaratis. Gujaratis witnessed the passage of Chinese silk, Arabian horses, African ivory, Gujarat’s own cotton, Malwa’s opium, and Kerala’s spices through their interconnected ports, which covered a quarter of India’s coastline.

In his shop, the vegetarian teetotaller Gujarati has no qualms about selling canned meat and alcohol; the fundamentalist Hindu trader may curse Muslims anonymously on social media, but he will have a friendly business relationship with a Sunni Arab businessman in Dubai who would be unaware of the Gujarati’s online remarks.

Despite spending a long time in Zanzibar, Gujarati traders hardly ever carried their families or accounting records with them. Kachchh Gujaratis were vital in the development of Oman, turning Muscat from a backwater to a bustling commercial centre. Men from Kachchhi wore mussar, an Omani turban. It’s astounding how Gujaratis dominate multiple sectors, such as independent pharmacies in the UK and motels in America. Gujarati is currently the fourth most spoken language among South Asians in Britain, following Bengali, Punjabi, and Urdu. Tripathi describes Gandhi’s experiences in South Africa. By 2010, South Africa had over a million persons of Indian origins, with approximately 40,000 Gujarati Hindus and 60,000 to 80,000 Gujarati Muslims. The author goes into great detail on Gandhi’s contributions to society.

The Gujaratis use the idea of karma as a smokescreen to defend inequalities, suggesting that there is no intrinsic right to obtain a prize and that hard work leads to rewards. Because of this, Gujaratis enjoy the market ethic despite unequal results. From Jamsetji Tata to Mukesh Ambani, the author discusses a number of Gujarati business tycoons. Tripathi writes, In thumping their chests and saluting the flag, the Gujaratis are second to none. They burst with nationalistic pride: they send memes on the internet with patriotic songs and videos and are prompt in burning effigies of Pakistani leaders when border tensions mount. but they are largely absent from the roll call of army honours or even representation. The statistics are glaring: Nepal, whose population is half the size of Gujarat, has sent more soldiers to fight wars for India than has Gujarat. In 2009, 719 Gujaratis enrolled in the Indian Army, numbering 1.4 million—that represented a jump from 230 the previous year.


Caste-based animosity has remained entrenched in Gujarat, and headline-grabbing riots have erupted with alarming frequency. The author also discusses the terrible reality of discrimination against Muslims, Adhivasis, and tribes that exist in society. Tripathi says, “During my 2016 visit, in Rajkot, I met Shantaben Chavda, a former Congress party legislator. She was a Dalit leader and wrote poetry. She moved around with some difficulty; she had lost part of her leg due to gangrene. She had been ailing—a fact I did not know then. (She died a year later.) ‘Gujarati asmita means generosity,’ she told me. It means being karmasheel (hard-working); it means believing in yourself; it means no komvad jativad or fisaad,’ referring to the three scourges that have bedevilled Gujarat—communalism, casteism, and riots.”

If one starts reading the book, they won’t be able to stop till they’ve finished it since it is so captivating. It is arranged topically and is quite easy to read.

Shahruk Ahmed Mazumdar is a Writer, Columnist

X/Twitter id: @Shahrukhahmedsk

Email Id: [email protected]

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