Lessons from a Yemeni immigrant in India

Tucked away in a bylane in Delhi's Hauz Rani lies a small Yemeni restaurant.

The restaurant is run by the refugee Yasir who has made India his home. He is married to a Manipuri but kept it hidden from the family he loves.

Yasir finds himself in India because of both desire and disruption. He had always wanted to come to India as a child today he cannot go back because of the war.

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The opportunity and freedom afforded by India have made him what he is today.

Yasir serves authentic Yemeni food to thousands of West Asians who flock to India for cheap medical care. There is a reason why his restaurant is placed right in front of a massive hospital — it creates footfall.

In pictures: Yemeni refugee who found a 'home' away from home in Delhi

The area is full of people from West and Central Asia. Some come to India for treatment, others to make a quick buck. Some also disappear into this vast land.

This is not new to the subcontinent. For thousands of years, it has seen migration which led to new cultures, languages and food. Like Hyderabadi cuisine which is a fine example of the blending of two cultures — Deccani produce and Iranian technique.

Yasir finished his education from Aligarh Muslim University.

He wants to bring his mother here. In fact, such is the crisis in his part of the world that his parents and siblings do not live together — to try and avoid death.

Yemen has seen mass bombings. Families stay apart in the hope that at least some will survive in case of a terror or military attack.

Immigration is perceived as a problem the world over today. It is seen as a threat. In fact, most right-wing governments owe their success to the immigration of Muslims from West Asia.

But the fact is that it was western intervention in West Asia and North Africa that caused the immigrant outflux back to Europe and the rest of the wold.

Interventions by the West or backed by it destroyed stable states in the region, leaving the people no option but to flee.

It is the modern world that has ended up creating the maximum number of refugees.

But refugees also enrich the places they go to. Their culture and food becomepart of the local tradition. Yasir’s story has been like that (although Muslim refugees today are seen through the prism of Islamist fundamentalism.)

He has built a life in India,has done well for himself, and he wants more.