Drawing upon 500 pages of letters and remittance records exchanged between his maternal grandfather, P.K. “Java” Raman, a typist in Batavia, and his family in Malabar, Aditya Balasubramanian (Australian National University) explores the overlooked experiences of Indian middle-class migrants in Southeast Asia and contends that migration and transnational connections persisted during the Great Depression, revealing the economic insecurities, emotional challenges, and remittance networks that linked Indians across the Bay of Bengal and across imperial boundaries.

Bunche Hall, Rm 10383 4:00 PM (Pacific Time)