We’re Not What You Think: Contesting Stereotypes and Negotiating Belonging in The Lives of Anglo-Indians in Odisha

Abstract

This article, ‘We’re Not What You Think: Contesting Stereotypes and Negotiating Belonging in the Lives of Anglo-Indians in Odisha’, explores how members of the Anglo-Indian community in Odisha challenge enduring stereotypes and negotiate a sense of belonging in contemporary India. While dominant narratives—shaped by colonial legacies, media portrayals, and scholarly generalizations—often homogenize the Anglo-Indian identity, this study offers a grounded, region-specific counter-narrative. Drawing on the works of Glenn D’Cruz, Dorothy McMenamin, and Megan Stuart Mills, as well as oral histories and ethnographic fieldwork in towns such as Jatni, Cuttack, and Bhubaneswar, the article examines how Anglo-Indians in Odisha resist reductive labels through professional employment contributions, cultural rootedness, and everyday acts of resilience. By interrogating the production of stereotypes in scholarship and media, and foregrounding lived experiences of otherness and inclusion, this article contributes to a more nuanced understanding of Anglo-Indian identity and belonging in postcolonial India.