Emigration from South Asia has been a dominant behavioral pattern in the subcontinent for centuries. Emigration has its origins in the Indus Valley Civilization whose merchants frequented other lands. Important movements began after the death of the Buddha (563-483 BC), when his disciples traveled to Central and Eastern Asia to propagate his teachings. The nineteenth century brought a radical change in the character of the Indian diaspora: small-scale emigration became a mass movement to provide cheap labor to the British colonies. Extreme poverty conditions in some parts of India or the prospect of acquiring wealth abroad have motivated people to sell themselves into servitude. Since India gained independence in 1947, emigration has continued; it was not limited to England and the new Commonwealth, but spread to the United States, Australia and the Middle East. When India gained independence in 1947, many Westerners greeted the event with skepticism. The departing English were certain that the Indians would beg them to return and rule their country within a year. But India is one of the few countries that has maintained a relatively stable government after gaining independence. India is a country with diverse cultures: three major racial groups, four major religious communities, and many linguistic categories. An important fact for the country's development is that, starting with Jawaharlal Nehru and continuing with Dr. Manmohan Singh, India has embarked on an ambitious program of industrialization. With the industrial and technological development of the country, the emphasis on education has enabled India to produce highly educated and technically skilled people. However, India cannot employ them, hence… middle of paper… pressures from the dominant culture; once they leave their homeland to settle in foreign lands, they begin to adopt the beliefs and behavior of the dominant group. The assimilation of one cultural group into another can be evidenced by changes in language preference, the adoption of common attitudes and values. Works Cited1. Naipaul, VS, In a Free State (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1971) 52.2. Naipaul, V.S., “One Among Many” In a Free State (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1973) 34.3. Ibid., 34-35.4. Ibid., 38.5. Quoted in Kinsley, David R. The Sword and the Flute: Kali and Querns Dark Visions of the Terrible and the Sublime on Hindu Mythology, (Berkley: UP of California 1975), 155.6. Naipaul, VS, The Middle Passage (Picador, 2011), 84.7. Naipaul, VS, The Mystic Masseur (Picador, 2001), 10-118. Naipaul, VS, The Middle Passage (Picador, 2011), 87.