Little piece of Gujarat lives in Vladivostok

Vladivostok is the last place one would least expect to see Gujarati diamond workers slogging away in good numbers. Located in the Far East of Russia, however, it has undergone tremendous transformation.

In its heydays, it was the last city to fall to the Bolsheviks when the Russian Revolution broke out. Today, it is a free port and home to a healthy global diaspora. With Chinese and Korean migrants, Indians, too, form a small but effective populace of the city. Indians are involved in tea and diamond industry. But, Gujarati diamond workers are the top of the pyramid as changes in the global diamond industry have led to expansion. Indians have benefitted immensely as Russia, Botswana and South Africa want their rough diamonds to be polished and trimmed in their own country.

This has created impetus for the Gujarati and Rajasthani diamond merchants to diversify and become a global force to be reckoned with. Today, Indian diamond merchants have opened shops in Russia and Africa. With this expansion, skilled Gujarati worker has also found new avenues. Vladivostok boasts of a small, but highly-skilled Gujarati worker from Surat. The companies which host them ensure that they do not miss Gujarat. Last time, when Gujarat Chief Minister Vinay Rupani came to Vladivostok, he ended up eating at one of the diamond merchant's canteen because it was all Gujarati.

Speaking to WION, Rajesh Kothari, a diamond merchant said, "Diamond industry is not being relocated from Surat; it is being expanded."

So even as the city readies to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he is the keynote speaker at the upcoming Eastern Economic Forum, all eyes are on his bilateral meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin as the cosmopolitan city has become a gateway to Russia's Far East. It is further supported by the Russian government as it wants to improve its development in contrast to European Russia.

But the bottom line is that the success of diaspora does not lie in big deals. It lies in big steps for common people like skilled diamond workers of Gujarat who leave everything behind to seek better pay and dividends. It is this spirit which defines Indian entrepreneurship and Gujarat personifies the best of it.

Zee Media Newsroom