From Madras to Tanzania: Exploring Nurse Migration in Benyamins Nishabda Sancharangal

Title

From Madras to Tanzania: Exploring Nurse Migration in Benyamins Nishabda Sancharangal

Creator

Zacharias, Prabha

Description

This chapter examines Nishabda Sancharangal (Benyamin, 2020), a Malayalam Novel that reconstructs the life of a Syrian Christian woman from Central Travancore who pursued nursing education in colonial Madras. In 1941, her journey took her to Borneo in the Malay Archipelago and later to various locations across the British Empire, culminating in her tragic death in Ifakara, Tanzania, in 1954. By weaving together fragmented accounts from diverse sources, the novel maps her silent and often-overlooked migration within the Empire. Her letters to her family serve as crucial narrative devices, revealing her motivations and sacrifices. She willingly endured hardship, war, and relentless toil to secure a better future for her family who faced their own internal migration from Central Travencore to North Malabar in search of cultivable land. The chapter also examines the transformations within the Syrian Christian community in the early twentieth century, shaped by socio-economic crisis in the agrarian sector and patterns of both internal and transcontinental migration. The novel highlights the transition from a predominantly agrarian way of life to one defined by migration and care labour, positioning these shifts within the broader colonial enterprise. Through this lens, the chapter explores the far-reaching impact of empire on the rural lives of an agrarian community, illuminating the intersections of labour, gender, and displacement. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2025.

Source

Beyond the Ocean: Literature, History and the British Empire;pp.25-36

Date

01-01-2026

Publisher

Springer Nature

Subject

British Empire; Colonialism; Malayalam Literature; Migration; Nurse Migration; Transnational Migrations

Coverage

Zacharias P., Department of English and Cultural Studies, Christ (Deemed to be University), Delhi NCR, India

Rights

Restricted Access; Hardcopy may be available in the library

Relation

ISBN: 978-981952137-1; 978-981952136-4;

Format

online

Language

English

Type

Book chapter

Identifier

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-95-2137-1_3

https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105037778582?origin=resultslist