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The US–Mexico border fence at Tijuana, where crosses memorialise migrants who died attempting to cross — the northern end of the illegal 'dunki' route. Photo: Tomás Castelazo / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Read the cover storyThe Cover Story ·Visas & Law
The 'dunki' route: the deadly underside of the migration dream
It doesn't run through Ceuta. India's version of the migration crisis is the illegal 'dunki' route — a multi-country smuggling network that charges families ₹45–50 lakh, sends young men through the Darién jungle, and too often ends in a deportation flight, or worse.
Recent Cover Stories
Previously featured
Hall of Fame
Figures of the diaspora whose work the wider public has not yet adequately recognised
Inaugural Class of 2026 — coming soon.
The first cohort of inductees is being researched. The class will be announced as a cover-story feature later this year.
See the Founders' Roll →Archive
The Founders' Roll
Figures of the diaspora whose recognition is already universal · hover to pause
Kamala Harris
Politician, lawyer
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Rishi Sunak
Politician
Dadabhai Naoroji
Politician, economist, social reformer
Cheddi Jagan
Politician, dentist
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Sir Anerood Jugnauth
Statesman, lawyer
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Sundar Pichai
CEO, Alphabet/Google
Satya Nadella
CEO, Microsoft
Indra Nooyi
Former CEO, PepsiCo
Lakshmi Mittal
Steel magnate, ArcelorMittal
Amartya Sen
Economist, philosopher
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
Astrophysicist
Har Gobind Khorana
Biochemist
Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan
Structural biologist
Sir Salman Rushdie
Novelist
Sir V. S. Naipaul
Novelist, essayist
Jhumpa Lahiri
Novelist, short-story writer
Mira Nair
Filmmaker
Sir Anish Kapoor
Sculptor
Kalpana Chawla
Astronaut, aerospace engineer
Capt Sunita Williams
Astronaut, US Navy
Sir Ben Kingsley
Actor
Pandit Ravi Shankar
Sitar maestro, composer
Mindy Kaling
Writer, producer, actor
Basdeo Panday
Politician, lawyer, union organiser
The Series Shelf
All series →The flagship series
5 of 5 published
The OCI's Guide to India
A reference series for the Indian diaspora navigating life back home — the rules, the routes, the practical work.
About the series →Also on the shelf
- The Yoga ConversationDiaspora Dreams interviews the teachers, scholars, and practitioners shaping how the yoga tradition lives outside India.4/4
- The Masters Who Crossed the OceanTwelve Indian masters of the long twentieth century who carried yoga and Indian spirituality across the world — published one a day.12/12
- Children of the GirmitThe Girmitiya diaspora, one country at a time — how the descendants of indenture built nations across the old plantation world.6/6
- The Living GurusThe present-tense companion to The Masters Who Crossed the Ocean — today's Indian spiritual leaders and the global movements they command.7/7
- The Diaspora PlateHow Indian food remade itself abroad — the dishes migration invented, from the British curry house to the Trinidadian roti shop.6/6
- Power AbroadThe Indian diaspora's rise to political power — the prime ministers, presidents and leaders of Indian descent across the world.6/6
- Mother TonguesWhat happened to Indian languages abroad — the tongues the diaspora kept, lost, and remade.6/6
- Temples of the DiasporaA diaspora announces its permanence in stone — the great temples the Indian world built abroad, and what they mean.6/6
- The NRI Money GuideThe money companion to the OCI's Guide — one careful explainer on each financial system an overseas Indian has to navigate back home.6/6
- The CrossingThe Indian student's journey abroad, end to end — choosing the country, clearing the visa, finding the money, and weighing the return.5/5
- The Diaspora ScreenIndian cinema and the diaspora — the films made for us abroad, the film-makers we produced, and the stories the screen tells about leaving.8/8
From the desks
6 desks · latest
Business
The overseas box office: how the diaspora became Bollywood's other homeland
19 Jul 2026Read →Culture
From Apu to authenticity: how the diaspora took back its image on screen
19 Jul 2026Read →Heritage
The Indians of South Africa: from Natal's cane fields to Gandhi and the fight against apartheid
19 Jul 2026Read →Opinion
Generation Desi: How Indian Diaspora Gen Z Is Rewriting the Rules of Identity, Career & Culture Abroad
12 May 2026Read →Yoga & Spiritualism
Siddheshwar Brahmrishi Gurudev: the 'Siddhguru' who built a following online
13 Jul 2026Read →Education
America's new four-year rule: what the student-visa cap means for Indians
24 Jul 2026Read →
Every story lives at its desk — Business · Culture · Heritage · Opinion · …
The interview voice
In Conversation
Healing, Conscious Living & Transformational Retreats
🌿 PART 1: Awakening & Life Path Q: You’ve shared that your spiritual awareness began early in this lifetime—what did that experience feel like as it unfolded? Yes… from a very young age, I was aware of many things that others around me didn’t seem to notice. I could see beings—spirits, entities from another dimension—
Exploring Yoga with Malin Loibner: Insights from a Youthful Practitioner
Questionnaire for Ms. Malin Loibner for DIASPORA DREAM Q1. What initially drew you to Yoga? Can you share a brief overview of your journey? My journey with Yoga began at a tender age, as I mimicked my mother’s practice while learning to use my feet. Over time, Yoga became a constant companion, offering me a […]
Exclusive Interview: Carla Natario Reflects on Her Yogic Journey
Q1. What initially sparked your interest in Yoga, and how did your journey begin? My venture into Yoga commenced unexpectedly during my formative years at the gym. While primarily dedicated to physical fitness, I chanced upon a Yoga session led by a teacher from the esteemed Sivananda lineage. This class offered a comp
Latest
Applying for an OCI card inside India just got simpler — no more RC or RP
From 17 July 2026, foreign nationals applying for an OCI card from within India no longer need a Registration Certificate or Residential Permit — a valid long-term visa with at least three months left now suffices, the Bureau of Immigration says.
Tamil cinema's other homelands: how Kollywood conquered Malaysia, Singapore — and Japan
Tamil films have a second life abroad — in the packed cinemas of Malaysia and Singapore, and, improbably, in Japan, where Rajinikanth's Muthu ran for 23 weeks and held a box-office record for 24 years.
Hollywood's Indians: from Irrfan and Dev Patel to Priyanka Chopra and Mindy Kaling
For decades, Indian faces in Hollywood played cab drivers and terrorists. A crossover generation — Irrfan Khan, Dev Patel, Priyanka Chopra, Mindy Kaling, Aziz Ansari — turned that into leads, Oscars and authorship.
British Asian cinema: from My Beautiful Laundrette to Blinded by the Light
From a Wandsworth launderette to a Springsteen-loving teenager in Luton, British Asian film built a body of work about the second generation — made by the British-born children of South Asian migrants.
It is not arrival. It is something like return — a word the English language uses thinly. The diaspora has its own word for it; everyone uses a different one.
The diaspora auteurs: Mira Nair, Deepa Mehta and Gurinder Chadha
While Bollywood made the diaspora its muse, three Punjabi women — Mira Nair, Deepa Mehta and Gurinder Chadha — made it their subject, turning the immigrant's double vision into world cinema.
The NRI film: how DDLJ taught Bollywood to love its diaspora
In 1995, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge made the non-resident Indian Bollywood's hero — and the diaspora its most valuable audience. How the 'NRI film' was born, and the movies it made.
The diaspora's game: how Indians took cricket to America, Canada and the Gulf
A record 34,500 packed a Long Island field for India–Pakistan in 2024. From Major League Cricket to the UAE's ILT20, the Indian diaspora is turning cricket into a global business, far from home.
Where Indian students are going in 2026 — Germany, Ireland and France, not the Big Four
As the US, UK, Canada and Australia raise the drawbridge, Indian students are pivoting to Germany (near-free tuition), Ireland (a 24-month work visa) and France. The numbers, the visas and the trade-offs.
The Ugandan Asians: how Idi Amin expelled 80,000 in 90 days — and where they rebuilt
In August 1972 Idi Amin gave Uganda's South Asians 90 days to leave. Some 80,000 people, many holding British passports, scattered to Leicester, Toronto and beyond — and rebuilt. The expulsion and its long afterlife.
India targets migration fraud with a new safe-migration drive in Rajasthan
The Ministry of External Affairs and the Rajasthan government held a 'Videsh Sampark' outreach in Jaipur on 17 July 2026 to steer would-be migrants away from fraudulent agents and toward safe, legal overseas jobs.
Not BLS anymore: Al Hind takes over Indian passport and visa services in the UAE
From 1 July 2026, Indian passport, visa and OCI services for the UAE's 4.3 million Indians moved from BLS International to Al Hind — across 16 new centres, at a flat Dh19 fee. What changes for applicants.
UAE ends visa-on-arrival for Indians on a UK visa — who still qualifies in 2026
The UAE has dropped the visa-on-arrival route for Indian passport holders relying on a UK visa or residence permit; holders of US, EU, Canadian, Australian and other listed visas still qualify. What changed.
One bad signature can now sink a US visa case — the USCIS rule that just took effect
A US immigration rule that took effect on 10 July 2026 lets USCIS deny an already-accepted H-1B or green-card filing if it later finds the signature invalid — and keep the fee, with no chance to fix it. Indians, who dominate both queues, are most exposed.
The West overtakes the Gulf: who sends India's record remittances now
For the first time, the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and Singapore together send more money to India than the Gulf — 51.2% of remittances against the Gulf's shrinking share. Behind India's record inflows is a diaspora quietly changing shape: from Gulf labourers to Western professionals.
Four more Indian-origin peers join the UK House of Lords
Uday Nagaraju, Geeta Nargund, Neena Gill and Shama Tatler have been appointed to Britain's House of Lords, deepening the Indian diaspora's footprint in the upper chamber.
India's e-OCI card goes live — with a new $25 fine for the forgetful
India has formally launched the fully digital e-OCI card, letting more than five million overseas citizens apply, renew and download entirely online. The catch: a new $25 penalty for not updating your passport on the portal within three months.
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Milind Soman joins Nutrazen to champion preventive health and healthy ageing
Fitness icon, supermodel and endurance athlete Milind Soman has become brand ambassador for Nutrazen, a plant-based, science-led nutraceutical company, in a partnership built around preventive health and healthy ageing.
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CodeSkin's CLARIFI AC Spot targets monsoon acne and pus-filled pimples
As homegrown Indian clean-beauty brands win a global following, CodeSkin's CLARIFI AC Spot offers the diaspora a targeted fix for the red, pus-filled pimples that flare up in humid weather — wherever home happens to be.
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With 'Rudra' on ReelDrama, award-winning Assamese cinema reaches the diaspora
The Assamese thriller 'Rudra', led by award-winning actor Ravi Sharma, is now streaming on ReelDrama — part of a wave of regional Indian films reaching diaspora audiences worldwide through OTT.
Paid post by ReelDrama
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