Philipose Vaidyar
Gypsies are nomadic people groups who wandered and settled
in different parts of India; some of them continue to roam seasonally or
regularly in search of livelihood.
Gypsies around the world are said to be originated from
Central India:
“The Romani (also spelled Romany /ˈroʊməni/, /ˈrɒ-/), colloquially
known as Gypsies or Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally itinerant, living mostly in Europe and the Americas and originating from the northern Indian subcontinent,[57][58][59] from the Rajasthan, Haryana, and Punjab regions of
modern-day India.[58][59]
Genetic findings appear to confirm that the Romani "came from a
single group that left northwestern India about 1,500 years ago".[60] Genetic
research published in the European
Journal of Human Genetics "revealed that over 70% of males belong to a
single lineage that appears unique to the Roma".[61] They are a dispersed people, but their most concentrated populations are located in
Europe, especially Central, Eastern and Southern Europe (including Turkey, Spain and Southern France). The Romani originated in northern India and arrived in Mid-West Asia and Europe around 1,000 years ago.[62] They have been associated with another Indo-Aryan group, the Dom people: the two groups have been said to have separated from each
other or, at least, to share a similar history.[63]Specifically, the ancestors of both the Romani and the Dom
left North India sometime between the 6th and 11th century.[62] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romani_people
There are several gypsy communities in India, the Raj Gonds,
Banjaras, and Narikkuravar are a few to mention.
A few hundred years ago, when we did not have enough roads
or railway several people from different countries had come to our nation many of them also went to other parts of the world. They came not to settle down here for a better
life, but that we will have a better life! Most of them traveled on bullock carts and on
horseback to give us education, health care, give us the written Word and to
lead us from darkness to light. Many of them did not even return to their own
countries, died and buried here. Now having all these, it’s our turn to help;
to go and settle in their countries to serve them! None of us (exemptions are
there) want to go to any African countries to minister or to settle as no Africans
came to help us. Word or deed, let our children prosper in lands that have honey and money and a bit of snow on top!
There, will our descendants be called gypsies, some day?
