The People’s  Linguistic Survey of India provides an overview of the extant and dying  languages of India, as perceived by their speakers. It is the culmination of a  nation-wide survey of languages, documented by linguists, writers, social  activists and, most importantly, members of different speech communities. The  work chronicles the evolution of these languages until 2011, and incorporates  their socio-political and cultural dimensions. Critically, it encapsulates the  world view of the speakers of the languages.
  Diasporic communities strive to find or forge a  language that speaks of their specific cultural experience, which is a blend of  loss and discovery. Diaspora language, therefore, is characterised by both  resilience and compliance. Considering the heterogeneity of the Indian  diaspora, it is not surprising that the status of Indian languages varies  significantly in different diasporic locations. 
  The contributors to the present volume, who are  located in different parts of the world, explore a range of language situations  and histories. They provide a conceptual overview of native languages in  non-native lands, and analyses of one language in multiple locations, multiple  languages in one location, and other such complex contexts. The volume covers  language situations in locations such as Trinidad, East Africa, USA, Canada,  Singapore and the Arabian Gulf. This  volume, the forty-seventh in the series People’s  Linguistic Survey of India, seeks to capture the language experience in a  diasporic location, and to offer a snapshot, a state-of-the-language report.