Click to play videoKolkata: A Chinese-medium school is perhaps the only remnant of their culture among the Chinese community in Kolkata.
And yet, the Chinese-medium school has few takers. Today, there are just 50-odd students here. Most of the others go to English-medium public schools. And the reason for this swing is evident.
"We consider India as our home now. I have never been to China," says an Indian Chinese in Kolkata.
"We have adapted to the Indian culture and this feels like home. I have never thought of going back there," says another Indian Chinese.
Today, as Chinese President Hu Jintao comes calling on India, this community seems almost indifferent to the visit.
Having adapted to the Indian environment, they say they feel more Indian than Chinese.
In fact, many of the Chinese in Kolkata now worship Goddess Kali at a temple in Kolkata's China town. The one thing they have held on to is their cuisine. After the closure of tanneries, from which most of them earned their livelihood, many Chinese families have opened restaurants. It's these restaurants that now drive their economy.
Their children have been born and brought up in India. For most of them, China is perhaps just another country on the world map and the only thing Chinese in their lives now are their lessons at the Chinese-medium school and the awesome Chinese food that many Indians swear by.
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