Archiving Absence: Instagram and the Diasporic Genius Loci of the Sindhi Hindu Community

Abstract

This paper examines how the Sindhi Hindu community, displaced after the 1947 Partition of India, sustains its cultural identity and memory despite lacking a physical homeland, state-sponsored archives, or traditional monuments. It introduces the concept of a "diasporic genius loci," arguing that the "spirit of place" is maintained not through physical territory but through affective and aesthetic repetition, primarily via digital media like Instagram. Drawing on critical visual studies, memory theory, and digital ethnography, the study positions Instagram as a "prosthetic geography" and a "quiet archive" where fragmented cultural elements—such as ritual gestures, culinary traditions, and linguistic nuances—are reassembled and circulated. The paper analyzes how user-generated content, including food videos, devotional reels, and personal narratives, functions as a vernacular, participatory, and emotionally charged repository, enabling mnemonic reconstruction and fostering belonging without a fixed geographical anchor. It challenges traditional understandings of heritage tied to material permanence, demonstrating that cultural continuity for the Sindhi Hindu diaspora thrives through distributed, everyday digital practices and the "aesthetic recursion" of memory. While acknowledging potential drawbacks of this platform, the study ultimately posits Instagram as a foundational, rather than auxiliary, site for cultural survival, where repetition and resonance generate a living, non-territorial sense of place.